Losing 2 Fish A Day

[kathy cahanin]

Hi, I'm new to this forum thing, but I don't know where else to turn. We have a 55 gallon aquarium and check water conditions diligently as well as do filter maintenance and water changes regularly.(have an electronic reminder just for this purpose). We bought several tetras at a local pet store recently and about 4 days later, fish just started dying. At first there didn't seem to be any visible symptoms,but on closer inspection, I noticed that before they died, some of them had swollen bellies and a couple had white pus-like bumps on top of their scales. I have tried several remedies suggested by the local pet stores as well as water changes. They seem to think it's parasites &/or a bacterial infection and that I may indeed lose the whole tank. I've also raised the water temp. to 85 and added 1/4 cup of aquarium salt to the tank every other day, also per their advice. My question is,obviously, what else can I do to save the remaining fish and if not, what do I do about restocking the tank? How long should I wait and what should I do to the tank to insure the infectious agents are gone? We love our tank and spent a good deal of time and money to get it the way we want it--we tend to watch the fish more than the tv that sits near it--so it's also a source of enjoyment to us. Or it was, until recently. This is pretty depressing. I'd appreciate any help you guys can give. Please feel free to email me. By the way the tank has been in operation for over 7 months.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

What are your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph readings?
What other fish do you have in the tank?

Do the white bumps look like grains of salt?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

You need to tell us the entire stocking of your tank plus all the fish you have lost in the last 2months and recent water stats as previously stated- did the fish that looked bloated before death have their scales sticking up at all like a pine cone? You say they had white pus like bumps on their skin, do they look slimey at all and how big are they on average?

 

[WILDER]

You are going have to describe the pus more, never heard of it, they can get bumps with parasites, being bloated also can mean a number of things, any holes in the fish and being bloated the fish are losing fluids out of the body.

No the writer of this information below.
Lumps and bumps that suddenly appear are usually bacterial infections. If the disease process is due to bacteria, it usually resolves by rupture (like a boil) pretty quickly. The white liquid that oozes out is pus that is formed when the white blood cells (immune cells) die while killing bacteria (in general). The most common bacteria which cause such lumps are Columnaris or Aeromonas.

 

[timmystood]

Sounds like the fish you got from your LFS fish store where kept in poor water conditions. I've got this fish disease finder thing - pus and bloated bellies comes from too much stress and severe water conditions. Do a 50% water change everyday for a couple of weeks and keep a big eye on them.

GOOD LUCK