I Just Want To Give Up

[aquaticadmirer]

She already said she doesn't have live plants.

 

[WILDER]

Ok, sorry been that busy, she asked me to take a look and I have.
I think there is a possibility that she does have flukes.

Want to ask a question, do the clown loaches look skinny.

 

[karmagl]

I read the symtoms on the fluke. It sounds just like my fish. I will pick meds up on saturday. This has been going on for over a month though why are some still alive it goes away then comes back. I lose about 1 every other week

 

[WILDER]

Fish do have flukes they can live with them in small numbers, but once they get infested thats when they start to do the damage.


http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/flukes1.shtml

 

[WILDER]

If you been treating with antibiotics when you are using them the fish are getting better then go down hill once stopped explains things.
Flukes cause bacterial infections on top as in there hook or suckers they have a nasty bacterial and once they break the skin the bacteria enters the fish.
Also if you been using antibiotics in a tank it will make your nitrate reading 0.

 

[karmagl]

All the sudden I see light at the end of the tunnel. Because they do perk up with the pimafix but a week after I stop treating they go down hill again. And about the clown loaches they haven't really grown in the 6 months I have had them they are still only an inch long but not skinny at all actually their bellies are so fat they look pregnant even the yoyo loach. Hard to tell with the others.

 

[graceofathena]

Have you considered that your problem may be overtreating? Ever heard the saying "snort, sniffle, sneeze, no antibiotics please!" Basically, what that means is that if you fish are showing signs of problems, but the problem isn't bacterial, adding antibiotics to your tank may actually harm them. The problem could be viral or parasitic, but by adding antibiotics you're actually lowering your natural "good" bacteria levels, thereby messing up your tanks natural cycling due to unnatural bacterial fluxes. Sometimes the best remedy is just to leave it alone. No water changes, no antibiotics, no new fish. Let your tank cycle completely on its own, and if after 6-8 weeks everything is doing fine, then try adding new fish. And add them slowly! No more than a few inches a week (you are following the 1 in. per gallon rule, right?). I've found that the healthiest tanks I've ever had were the ones I never messed with. Let them be their own ecosystem.

Tara

 

[karmagl]

Well normally I would agree with you totally but the only reason I started the antibiotics was because my fish were dying so fast. This has prolonged their deaths. I have been losing them from the beginnning a year ago. The only one I have had for a year is my panda cory

 

[n3ont3tra]

That's weird, in most people's experience, Panda Cories are pretty delicate fish...
My pandas are pretty hardy, though, they've gone through a cycle.

 

[WILDER]

I do agree about the antibiotics should only be used as a last resort then in issolation as fish build a resistance up to them.

You tryed a bacterial med and fungal med and they improve but once meds stop they start to get ill again.

Is it possible to wrap a fish in a cloth soaked in tank water and inspect the gills with a magifying glass.
Somne lfs do scrapes on fish as well.

 

[Darkehorse]

Also if you been using antibiotics in a tank it will make your nitrate reading 0.

Wilder,

Just curious, why does this phenomenon occur? Really useful information nonetheless.

-Darke

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

When you say you change you filters every 3 months, what exactly do you mean by this- do you completely replace the sponges in the filters?

 

[WILDER]

Antibiootics can wipe the bacteria colony out in a filter or knock it ,depends on the which antibiotic it is.

 

[Darkehorse]

Antibiootics can wipe the bacteria colony out in a filter or knock it ,depends on the which antibiotic it is.

That makes sense, but if that were the case here, then she would be detecting a spike of ammonia and/or nitrite. That fish waste has to go somewhere. Sure if the antibiotics wipes out one of the types of beneficial bacteria, then the corresponding resulting nitrogen byproduct won't be produced, but then the nitrogen source for that particular bacteria will still be present. Am I correct in this assumption? It still seems like there is an issue with the nitrate test kit. I would retest using the link I posted previously just to be sure. This is not to say that your diagnosis of gill flukes is wrong, but it just seems to me that a reading of 0/0/0 without plants is impossible.

-Darke

 

[WILDER]

I find it abit strange having a 0 nitrate too.
But there no ammonia or nitrite reading, some of the systoms the fish are showing can be bad water quality.
But there no ammonia or nitrite readings so can't understand why the gills are red and inflamed.
If she did have a tap nitrate reading then yes I would agree the tank wasn't cycled it is a puzzler.