Lethargic, Not Eating, Eventually Die

[Amunet]

I need some answers b/c I have none.
It started with my cories and pleco, then it moved to the other pleco, now it has moved to the clown loaches.
No idea what is wrong.
Water perims are exactly where they should be. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 20+ nitrate.
pH is not fluctuating. No new fish have been added to the tank in quite a while.
Only new items have been plants but the fish were dying before those were added.

Fish show no sores or anything of the sort. They just stop eating and become lethargic.
They're very aware at first and quickly dart away if they see me approach the tank, or they'll swim with their own, but after a while, I'm pretty sure they starve to death and it takes forever. It's heartbreaking to see.

I don't know what is wrong and I don't know what to do. It's a 125gal tank so dosing the whole thing is just not an option unless I want to pay some serious money.

Does this sound like a bacterial problem? I'm sure they don't have a parasite, so bacterial seems the only other thing, but like I said, they don't show any kind of physical sign of being sick other than not eating and eventually getting skinny b/c they're not eating.

 

[APs]

I had the same with my Corys, but there was a bit different problem..
The reason was two Plecos.
They just upset Corys and soon after I remove them to onather tank Corys came back to normal.

other reason mybe is Ph level and/or temperature... when these levels are makeing some changes
my Corys are acting the same as you describe.

 

[Amunet]

As I mentioned, it's not pH and it's def not the temp. There are 2 heaters in the tank that work just fine and keep the temp of the water where it should be.
Only time the temp does fluctuate is when I do water changes but even then, the fish get more active instead of getting sick.

The cories were never bothered by the plecos.
I've lost all of them anyway and whatever caused them to die has spread to my clown loaches.

I've since fished out 2 of the sickest of the loaches and put them in to a hospital tank.
Could it be fish tb maybe? Do fish with it always develop the skeletal deformaties?
None of my sick fish have had that problem which leaves me to question just what the heck this is that is spreading through my tank.


I did buy some tetracycline and b6 though and started treatment on the hospital tank yesterday. I doubt it will do much but it's something at least.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Wasting disease is parasitic in nature, not bacterial. There are a couple of ways to treat it which can use meds such as metronidazole which must be fed to be effective, levamisole hcl or flubendazole. I would urge you to read the entire article here: http/www.inkmkr.com/Fish/FlubendazoleArticle.pdf

If you are interested in purchasing either levamisole hcl or flubendazole, I get mine from here http/www.inkmkr.com/Fish/
Dr. Harrison is a good guy and is a reliable source in the states for both meds.

 

[Tolak]

I agree with what TTA stated. I started reading the first post & said to myself "break out the metro". I'll also vouch for that source of meds, I've met him, some of the bigger breeders deal with him. He's a good source for meds as well as a good source of info.

 

[Amunet]

Good read, but what if the fish aren't eating at all. That's not going to help if they won't eat or is that just for the metronidazole?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Both levamisole and flubendazole do not need to be fed. They are just dosed in the water. Only the metro should be fed.

 

[Amunet]

Okedoke.
Just sent an email to the guy. Hope he gets back in touch soon and I really hope that this is the problem.
Thanks for the help!

 

[Tolak]

With fish that aren't eating & metro you can start with it in the water. 40mg per gallon, daily 50% water change & redose daily. Bring the temperature up as high as can be reasonably expected to be safe for the fish, metro was originally designed for use in humans, thus works best at warmer temperatures. Generally after a few days of this they will start to mouth the food, from my experiences once they do this they are on the road to recovery.

With corys & plecs I wouldn't go much higher than 80-82F. Frozen brine shrimp is one of the best foods for dosing metro; the roughage seems to help with clearing out the digestive tract.

 

[Amunet]

All of the cories and plecos have died.
Whatever this is has started to affect the clown loaches and looks like the giant danio are starting to act funny as well.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

This sounds much more serious than simple internal parasites. Many deaths in a short period of time is not good and often means your fish are gone before you can figure it out. If there were a chemical contaminant that got into the tank if would likely kille the fish much faster. This sounds a lot more like a disease. Are you sure there are no signs of columnaris?

You can try medicating the tank with Maracyn Plus or Furan2.

 

[Amunet]

I don't know if it is columnaris. Like I said, there aren't any physical signs of any sort. No ulcers, no white spots or splotches. The fish aren't discolored, pale, no cloudy eyes, no bulging eyes, not even frayed fins. Absolutely nothing looks wrong with any of the fish that have died.
They just get sick, stop eating, then eventually die.

Some of them are dying quicker than others though which has me concerned that this could possibly be fish tb.
Took the giant danio out of the tank yesterday, 2 are already dead. Also took out a newly sick clown loach... also dead.
Found another clown loach and it looks like it's at death's door.

Still in contact with the parasite guy. I'll buy whatever he has and try it out, but I honestly don't think this is being caused by parasites.