Disease In Tank - Help - 1 Gone Already

[laina45]

Hello all, 
 
I have a disease in my tank which seems to be slowly spreading. Any advice/feedback would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

 
About a month ago I had my Dwarf Neon Rainbow die from an unknown disease. here is what happened.
 
He had pop eye a few months back, but I treated him for it and it got better, no further problems. 
Then about a month ago I noticed he had a dark spot between his top dorsal fins. (Rainbows have two, yes) And it is possible it was slightly raised, but I am not sure.
No other symptoms were visible, so I treated him with Melefix thinking it may be a bacterial infection. I had to work that day and didn't have time to go to the store to seek advice. 
The next day he was seen hiding in the plants and not interacting with his tank mates, which is very unusual. He still had the dark spot and he was also opening and closing his mouth pretty fast. He had a darker bump appear on his lip, and he lost his appetite. 
I went to my lfs and they were unable to tell me what was wrong from a description and a photo, but they thought it may be a parasite, and gave me the medication for that. I treated him for that for 3 days, but he ended up dying. It did not seem to be working anyway, but in that time he would not eat, which is why I think he may have ended up dying, but who knows. 
 
I know that having diseases previously makes fish more susceptible to diseases in the future, so since he had pop eye I thought that he caught something small. No other fish got sick, so I thought the problem went away. 
 
(I will try and find a picture of him to add to the post)
 
However, a week ago, about a month after my neon passed, my australian rainbow was sick.
He had a discolored spot between his dorsal and his tail fin, and had a raised and irritated (red) looking splotch on one of his fins behind his gill. The spot reminded me of the one my neon had, and so I treated him for parasites with the medication I had left over from the neon. 
 
The next day I went to the lfs and showed them a picture and got my water tested. The again were not sure what it was, but had gotten a new medication in and recommended I try it. It is by tetra lifeguard, all-in-one treatment. it treats bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic diseases, and is supposed to be very effective against fungus and Ick. I hoped that would work. It sais to treat for 5 days, and I have.
 
On days 2-3 my fish developed these white grainy looking things coming off of the spots. I thought that maybe this was infection or whatever leaving the wounds, but the 3rd day he started opening and closing his mouth a lot. Yesterday was day 5 and while most of the white grainey things are gone, some still remain, and the swelling is the same. He is still opening and closing his mouth a lot, and today he was resting in the plants a lot, instead of swimming with his tank mates. I treated again today but I am unsure if I should since it appears not to be working. He is still as hungry as ever, but you can tell he is not as energetic as usual.

 
I have two questions
1. do you know what this is or how to treat it?
2. should I keep trying to treat the tank? 
 
I know that constantly medicating the tank stresses out all of the fish, but I don't want this to spread to them either. 
I have seen some people say to freeze the fish, but at the same time, shouldn't I keep trying to see what helps and does not help in case it spreads to the rest of my fish? 
 
I think that it may be Ick? I know it affects the gills and has a white topical look to it. But I am very unsure.
 
Tank Specifications:
55 gallons
75 degrees F
normal levels (dont have specifics, lfs tests for everything, knows the fish I have, and advises me accordingly)
live plants (dont know the types, but do not use fertilizer)
dark substrate
tank was established for over a month before I added fish, and has been running for about a year since adding them.
 
Tank Mates:
1 Dwarf Neon Rainbow (Now deceased)
1 Australian Rainbow (sick)
3 Boesemani Rainbow
1 Swordtail
1 Sumatran Cobalt Goby
 
I will try and post pics or a video is possible.
 
If you have questions feel free to ask, but I tried to be as specific as possible. If I mentioned something already, chances are I cannot be more clear. Sorry.
 
I appreciate anything that you can tell me. 


The first two pictures are of the now deceased neon rainbow, and the last two are of the australian. The spot on his gills looks almost like he has a cut behind his fin. But I don't know what he would have gotten cut on, and it does not explain the spot on his tail.

 
Here is a link the a video of him swimming and opening and closing his mouth to give you a better idea
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvVPJnuprfg&feature=youtu.be

 

[eaglesaquarium]

If you could get specific information regarding your water that would help. Rainbowfish generally require high pH and hard water. If you keep them in lower pH water they are far more susceptible to disease. (I don't know what that is, unfortunately.)


Also, no offense to your LFS, but you really should have your own test kit. My first piece of advice would be determine your water stats and we can go from there...



Other questions I have though is about your maintenance schedule. How big and how frequent are your water changes?

 

[laina45]

water changes ~25% /week. and I also put in API's stress coat for them at the correct dosage. 
 
I have an API ph test kit. its not entirely specific but its off the charts. 
Its the kind of test where you put some water from the tank into the test tube and pour solution into it. 
the chart that comes with it goes to 7.6 and shows a blue color. The test always comes out very blue. so I would say its at an 8?
Thats why I go to my lfs, because  they can be more accurate

 

[eaglesaquarium]

pH is off the charts?  Your test kit is only dealing with the regular test.
 
Well, the API Master kit has both a regular pH test (down to 6.0) and a high pH test (up to about 8.8, IIRC).  I recommend the master kit, as it also comes with ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.  The first two are vitally important to monitor if a problem arises, especially if you are using antibiotics.  Some will interfere with the filter bacteria.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

API makes two pH test kits- Low Range and High range. You have the low range kit. Their Master test kit includes both. Here is what I suggest. Take a sample of your water back to the store and ask them to test it with the high range kit. If you water is clearly in that range, buy that kit for future use. If the water tests at the very bottom of the high range kit, you can consider not spending for it. However, I would suggest getting it is the better option as it is the only way to know where your pH is with any certainty.
 
I can not tell from the pics what the problem might be. My best guess, if it were my fish, is that the lfs might be right about parasitic but wrong re the med in terms of the problem behind the gill opening. Since you have no country shown in your info, I can not suggest any meds. But what I might try is treating the fish in an H tank using an appropriate med. Many anti-parasite and deworming meds are not harmful when used according to the directions, so often the biggest risk in using them is that one has diagnosed improperly and the med doesn't work. Unfortunately, this also means whatever the real problem is, it can get worse or even fatal as it is going untreated.
 
I have no idea on the dark area.