disease ID

[Kittycat]

For the past year or so I've been keeping fish, I've had some fishes die the same way, but I can't figure out the causes. Symptoms are, the fish stops swimming much and often just stays in one place, away from the rest. The body looks thinner than the gills. Fins become clamped. Then, within a couple of days or so, the fish is dead.

Another mysterious cause of death in my tank is when the fish suddenly looks "bent" sideways, swims funny, then die within a day or so.

Can anybody ID the problems?

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Sorry to hear of you losses, it isn't nice.

It would help viewers greatly if we were to know the water parameters, but if you don't have a testing kit, may I suggest doing a water change. This'll beat poor water quality within your tank

If this still doesn't work, then do a complete clear-out, including cleaning out your filter media. Sterilise what you can, throw away the rest. This may eliminate any dangerous microbes, parasites, or leaching toxins

Fishes are sensitive to unnatural chemicals, be it from tap water, or some strange man-made tank accessorries, so 1) try and use de-chlorinated water, 2) only use natural tank accessories, 3) don't over-medicate, 4) don't mix diseased/new fish with healthy ones, 5) get a quarantine/hospital tank (if you don't have one), 6) don't over-crowd your tank, 7) don't use incompatible fish.......

If deaths still persist, then the problem could be an internal parasite or disease, and if so, then you may need to euthanaise. Prepare for this eventuality and don't introduce any more fishes until then.

If you haven't, then do set up a cleaning rota, a feeding rota, and form a plan of action. The TFF is a fountain of knowledge so always ask if you have any questions.

There's probably a lot more I could add, but I won't. The main jist is to keep things as natural as possible within your tank. What may look nice to you, may be totally unsuitable for the fish/es.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[sylvia]

Were the fish with the bent spines old as far as you know? Were the fish with the wasted away look producing white or particularly stringy poo? Do you feed your fish a good variety of foods? What species are they?

If you see any of the symptoms you mentioned showing up again, treat for internal infection with an antibiotic - prefferably something added to the food. It probably wont have much affect in which case you should also try a stronger med. Remove fish with symptoms to reduce the chances of other fish catching the disease but do treat the whole tank.

If the bent fish were old and the wasted away fish showing signs of internal parasites (stringy, white poo), forget what I said above as an antibiotic would have no effect. Instead, treat fish with stringy poo with an anti-internal parasite med and the bent fish are simply old so there's nothing you can do.

 

[parker313]

I've had several fish die from the first way you described. To help treat it, I took out all of the filter media and washed it thoroughly in dechlorinated water. I used dechlorinated water to make sure not to kill the beneficial bacteria, but I also knew there was a TON of crud and junk in there that I wanted to get out.

I found it easiest to turn off the filter, lift the whole thing out and take the filter to the sink and then take the media out. If I tried to take the media out of the filter while it was plugged in and running, it just released all that nasty crud into the tank and made the water really foul.

I did that and haven't lost a fish since whereas before, I could *not* add a new fish or it would die.

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Right on Parker313.

If the filter media isn't cleaned properly, and regularly (once a month is my choice), it can cause a build-up of gunk. This can be bad for the water circulation, can cause a build-up of anaerobic bacteria, and 'greedy' fish can eat this gunk to their detriment.

Believe me when I say this stuff IS bad for the general health of the tank.

 

[Kittycat]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys.

The fishes were mostly guppies, with 2 rams and a large platy. As for bent spines, I'm not sure of their age, but they were adults when I got them and they had been with me several months, so I guess they could have been old (considering their lifespan). The death comes very fast after symptoms start showing, so usually they either die right away or I euthanize.

The fishes are in a 50 gallon tank that is almost bare except for a few hiding spots--terra cotta, fake log and java moss. Food is primarily a couple of types of flakes, occasional pellets, occasional frozen bloodworms, live microworms, BBS. I follow the 1 inch per gallon rule, if ever I may exceed it a little, due to some juvenile fry.

I do 20% water changes at least once a week, and clean media in tank water at the same time. I've only tested ph and hardness, ph is around between 7-8, water is rather soft (I forgot the actual ppm value).

I've had white poop in my tanks a while back, but I treated for internal parasites, and now poop looks normal. The deaths happen every month or two, the other fishes in the same tank are normal. Strange thing is, if it were an internal parasite--the large platy that died the most recently had been eating medicated fish food with metronidazole for 10 days last month or so.