Fin rot epidemic?

[DanMan092]

Hi I noticed a few days ago that my female honey wasn't looking too good. She had a few white spots and pale color. So I looked today and some of her back fin is missing, she has blotches of white, and is very discolored.


You should know that I started a breeding tank. I then decided that I should get a SW so I took the 7 leopard danios outta there and acclimated them to the 30 gallon. The breeding takes nitrates were way high, but other then that everything was fine.

The first day a leopard died. And every progressive day one dissapears. I cannot find them.

Let me take the parameters of the 30 gals water now...

About 2 years old
pH: stable 7.2
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: 0 ppm

3 Leopard danios are probably dead in the tank. I've lifted ALL the driftwood, rocks, and moved plants but I CANNOT FIND THEM. I noticed today that one of my dwarfs is showing the same signs. I took down the 10 gal breeder yesterday so I do not have a quarentine tank. Please I really need help I'll try to get some pictures of them.

 

[sylvia]

First off, check the inside of your filter and the floor around your tank to see if the missing danios are there. Also pay very close attention to the gap between the heater and the glass and look inside any hollow ornaments. If you can, take everything out of the tank to see if you can find them. If you don't, they'll start rotting and destroy your water quality.

How often do you do water changes in this tank? If you are using paper strips to test your water, go get a liquid-based kit instead. What are your nitrAte readings? If they are high, read up on old tank syndrome (link in my signature). This could explain the leopards dying.

Your fish have ich? Are you treating for this? If not, start doing so. Also do a couple of large water changes of about 40% at the same time (provided you've established your tank is NOT suffering from old tank syndrome). Keep the water changes up. It'll help.

As for the missing fins - do they have a black or thick-looking white edge to them? If so, fin-rot is probably the culprit. Treat with an anti-fungus and finrot med, coupled with lots of daily water changes. Fish usualy recover quickly from this sort of thing. It shouldn't be life-threatening.
If the fins simply look like they've been nipped (possibly with a fuzzy sort of edge from a secondary fungus infection) and if your CAEs are 3-4" or more in size, they are probably to blame and you should look into re-homing them.


BTW, when you say she's discolored, do you mean she's missing scales, has areas that appear to be fungused or has become completely pale? Do you have a picture? Your fish may possibly have an internal bacterial infection. Seeing as this is usualy passed on from fish that were nibbled on after death, perhaps your danios had this and she found one after it had died. Again, finding the dead danios would help - if they jumped out of the tank, they were not the cause and we can rule this out (though she still may have caught an infection from somewhere else).

What's the tank's temp BTW? And how's her appetite? Any sign of bloating or pine-coning of scales? Any red streaks or blemishes on her body or fins? How are the other fish behaving? Does anyone bully her? What have you been feeding the fish? What color is her poo and is it stringy?

 

[DanMan092]

I use liquid tests, I do not have a NitrAte test, I checked EVERYWHERE. The CAE's are fine. The dwarf chases her around ocassionaly. It is not dropsy. Here are pics.

 

[sylvia]

I see where there's a bit of fin missing but there is no actual sign of finrot there. It may be I simply cannot see it in the pics. What I can see is the white blotches you described. Assuming they are not simply missing scales (impossible to tell from the pics), to me they look like the result of an external bacterial infection. A broad-spectrum antibiotic such as maracyn I and II should help somewhat but also do regular water changes. This should also cure any finrot - provided there are no secondary fungus infections (there don't appear to be at the moment but watch in case fuzzy cotton-wool-like growths do start appearing and treat accordingly if necessary). I have to say that the extent of the damage isn't realy clear. She looks different in each picture and in some I can't realy see the white marks at all.

 

[DanMan092]

Are the medicines you suggest harmful at all to plants or other fish? Should I add it directly to the community?

 

[sylvia]

Well all the fish you have listed in your signature as being in that tank should be fine with an antibiotic med. I have no idea how plants would be effected - I tend to use meds regardkess (I'm not too good with plants). However, if you have a hospital tank available, do use it to treat any fish showing symptoms (make sure it's cycled though - you can use a filter or filter media from an established tank for this). Also make sure the temperature and pH are the same. The reason I'm saying that isolation is probably a good idea is because some antibiotics can cause problems with your biological filtration. They don't always but, occasionaly, they can cause a complete re-cycle. And I'm sure you can imagine how devestating that can be for all your fish - healthy or not.

 

[DanMan092]

Well I'm goin to the pet store anyway tonight (getting a 55 gal reef tank !!!!!!!) And I'll scope out all the bacteria meds. Thanks a bunch!

 

[DanMan092]

Well one of the Serpae Tetras died. I feel bad, but that tetra was the most diseased thing I have ever seen. It was pale, probably had fish louse, might have been developing dropsy, possible pop-eye, some sort of fungus. Kinda glad to get it outta the tank, but still... now down to 3 leopards (1 found, 3 KIF *Killed in fishilizing*

It was for a while quite healthy, and the alpha serpae

A Tribute to Alpha

 

[sylvia]

Sorry for your loss but I hope you realise that if that fish realy did die of dropsy (a symptom of internal bacterial infections usualy) and was infested with fish louse, your other fish may also have these things. The anti-biotics will help for dropsy but you need to make sure you have no fish lice... Anyway, good luck! I hope you don't suffer any more losses.

 

[DanMan092]

Yes it is quite possible that the honey has fish lice. Iv'e been puttin in the Maracyn for a few days, and so far she seems fine. She is still eating, and other than her appearence seems fine

 

[DanMan092]

One of the kuhli loaches died He was so comical with the other kuhli, I'm really gonna miss that little bugger It is very hard to get kuhlis around this time of year. I had to drive 45 minutes to get these. Now I'm going to fall into a state od depression - the likes of which you've never seen. (John Pinette)

 

[DanMan092]

She seems to have gotten a bit worse. The white spots have gotten bigger. I may give her a salt bath. I'll throw in the Maracyn for another 5 days and see what happens. I will die inside if my other kuhli goes

 

[sylvia]

It's all well treating for what the gourami has but you can't expect improvement in your other fish if what they have is different. I cannot see the fish or their behaviour so it's realy up to you to try to work out (or at least describe) what's wrong with them - there is obviously SOMETHING wrong. Also, check your water parameters - including temperature and nitrAtes, not just ammonia and nitrItes. Seeing as it isn't just your gourami that's sick, maybe it would be in your best interest to also post in the emergency forum so you can get some more help. The fact that you say the gourami's worse is not a good sign. You say the posts have gotten bigger - have they also become fuzzy or infected? Is she still eating?

 

[DanMan092]

The other kuhli died My soul has left my body.

She is still eating. The white spots have gotten a bit bigger, but they arent multiplying. Her top fin has lost some. She has been hiding more, but coming out to eat, and stays out after that. I may end up euthanizing her. Temp is stable. My other honey is fine. I need to move the tank across the room, and am worried the stress will make her worse. What is the best way/most humane way to euthanize? I'll get some more pictures later off the "white spots"

 

[sylvia]

Clove oil. Put her in a small bowl filled with tank water and start adding drops. She should 'fall asleep'. Because gouramies breathe air, it can take a little more time and clove oil to get her to sleep so be patient. Don't assume she is dead until the gills have completely stopped moving - then leave her for at least an hour. Once in the 'sleeping' mode, the gourami won't come up for air and will suffocate anyway so if the clove oil has not killed her, the hour or two under water will (it's not inhumane because she is not conscious so will not feel it).