Bacterial Infection?

[bricko]

Hi folks
I hope somebody can help with this, 2 days ago I noticed my female Keyhole did not come out to feed, usually there straight away. She was hiding away at the back of some bogwood and looking quite lathargic and breathing heavily. I kept an eye on here and she gradually moved around the tank a little which is when I noticed white stringy poo hanging from her I imediately began a course or Myxazin and Primafix as these where the only meds i curerently had in stock

I know that these are more for external bacteria infections but do you think it should do the trick?
I have noticed today that a much thicker white poo is just poking from here anus and the very tip of it is red! What do you think this is and can it be cured? water stats are amonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 15
Very gratefull for any assistance with this matter.

Thank in advance.

Mark

 

[bricko]

Anybody

 

[shane87]

what else is in the tank..what size.....what yu feeding thme ...how often.....answer these and im pretty sure 'wilder' will answer these later on and help with the diagnosis

 

[bricko]

what else is in the tank..what size.....what yu feeding thme ...how often.....answer these and im pretty sure 'wilder' will answer these later on and help with the diagnosis

260L planted tank,pair of Keyholes, pair of curviceps, 7 denisoni barb, 2 BN catfish & fry, 2 Botia Loach, 7 Corie various,1 x FSAE, 3 african fan shrimp, 8 amano shrimp and 6 Nerite snails 2000l ph filter, 2 x 25% water changes weekly, feed 2 - 3 times a day on flake, bottom pellets and frozen tropical treat / cichlid treat 1 - 2 frozen blocks per day. try to vary it a bit.

 

[WILDER]

Does she look bloated or thin.
Do you feed any red foods.
is the anus enlarged or red and inflamed.
Is her belly sunken in.
Does she swim on her side or tilt to oneside.
Does she look pale or darker in colour.
Does she lay on the substrate tilting to onside.
Is she still eating.
What do her gills look like.
Does she try to get of bottom of tank only to fall down again.

 

[shane87]

some times you need to introduce greens into there diet, the blanched pea is always a winner it helps clean them out....sometimes white stringy poo is an infection but also it could be constipation.....blanch a frozen pea .. cut it in to small pieces and feed them on it

 

[bricko]

Thanks for the replies guys but unfortunately she was floating by the time i got home from work yesterday. Also the female curviceps developed similar symptoms and also passed. This is very strange as it has only happened to the female cichlids, the males, at present seem unnafected by the illness. I am wondering if the thicker white (poo?) way have acually been the egg tube as in both cases it had retracted to the red tip once deceased.

I beleive the female curviceps was the actual carrier of this as she was the last fish introduced to the tank a couple of weeks ago. After a week in quarantine I had notice the white lump from her rear and was reassured by the fish shop that this was just the egg tube and quite normal. Foolishly I believed this as I have never kept curviceps before.

If anybody has had a similar experience I would like to hear as I intend to return to the pet store and have a little word with them

Would like to have all my facts in place prior to this so any additional info on cause of death would be greatly apreciated.

Regards,

Mark

 

[bricko]

Does she look bloated or thin. No
Do you feed any red foods. A little bloodworm in the cichlid mix frozen blocks
is the anus enlarged or red and inflamed. No
Is her belly sunken in. No
Does she swim on her side or tilt to oneside. No
Does she look pale or darker in colour. Darker
Does she lay on the substrate tilting to onside. She seamed to rest on anubias leaves or the subsrtate alot toward the end but not noticably tilting
Is she still eating. No I had not noticed her eat for 3 days
What do her gills look like. Normal although she was breathing a little heavier
Does she try to get of bottom of tank only to fall down again. When she swam around she could still hold position midwater but prefered to rest on objects.

Hope the above can help assist in a diagnosis

Thanks Wilder

Mark

some times you need to introduce greens into there diet, the blanched pea is always a winner it helps clean them out....sometimes white stringy poo is an infection but also it could be constipation.....blanch a frozen pea .. cut it in to small pieces and feed them on it

Thnaks for the reply shane,

I believe there is plenty of veg in the cichlid frozen blocks but I may be wrong. A little late now for my ladies but I will try some peas on the rest of the gang

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
It sounds bactrerial.
Let the board know how you get on with the med.

 

[bricko]

Ok.
It sounds bactrerial.
Let the board know how you get on with the med.

Just a quick update,

There have been no further deaths and I have now completed the course of medication on the tank, (Myzazin and primafix at full dose each).

There has been no ill effects toward any of the shrimp or snails in the tank.

Think if I had caught it earlier I may have saved all the fish, not sure when it began as I had been away for a couple of days, had a friend feeding the fish so maybe caused by overfeeding causing a spike in water quality which had cleared up by the time I noticed poorly fish.

Anyway I would reccomend both these products for use on suspected batcerial infections in your tank, hope you never have to use them but worth having on standby. Need to go to the shop and restock myself now!

 

[WILDER]

it sounded like a bacterial infection then.

Signs are being pale or darker in colour, being listless and lethagic, heavy breathing, resting, not eating, stringy white poo.

Keep an eye on your other fish for when they go to the toilet.