Med. Resistant Illness Killing Off Apistogrammas.

[FishFanatic04]

Thanks. I'm very depressed at this point. A fresh start is really needed. I tried everything I could to save these fish, I need something positive to happen.


Anyone with ideas on starting over...please.

Enough is enough. The fish are all still sick. I thought they seemed better but I've had 5 deaths this week.

I am fighting not to completely give up on the hobby, so I am begging for some advise to restart.

These are the points I am concerned with:

1} Can I keep and de-contaminate plants?
2] Sand
3] wood
4] tank
5] filter


If I have to cycle again then so be it. How to a make sure the tank is safe for new fish. How should I handle this? Thank you for your advise and efforts.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Bump. I would really like to start his project this weekend. I want to completely rid my tank of any possible parasites. Any ideas on how to make sure everything is safe.

I am more worried about the substrate and plants to be honest. I know I can scrub the wood and equipment in hot water.

 

[Flute]

Hi FishFanatic, really sorry to hear that you've been having so many problems recently.
I think by now you've eliminated that possibility of most common disease and infections, and whilst I don't want to panic you, have you thought about fish TB? It could have been brought in with the Apistos.

Here's a good article on how to disinfect a tank after a suspected fish tb infection: Click here
Even if it's not fish tb (the only way you can positively confirm it is is by doing an autopsy), then I think disinfecting your tank this way will still make it safe for you to use in the future without any danger of infecting new fish in the future with what ever previously effected the tank.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Honestly. I had so many things going wrong with these fish. I know there were symptoms of parasites, but they weren't getting better after eating the medicated food. I have considered Fish tb. Especially as I now have a small spot on my hand that won't heal. I visited a Doctor yesterday and will find out soon. Because of the medications, plants, and constant water changing and pruning. My hands have been in the tanks pretty much everyday.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Doctor confirmation on Fish Tuberculosis. I am about to start a 6 MONTH!!! antibiotic treatment. The really bad thing is that I am still breastfeeding my baby and didn't plan to wean him this soon. The antibiotics aren't known to be dangerous or safe, so we are in few a rough few months.

I am going to continue breaking down all my tanks and sterilizing them. I hope that I am able to rinse away the bleach thoroughly.

My plants that I did the test run with in the 10g are all melting. I think my bleach solution was too strong. I am also not able to save any fish as the platy fry and other fish, that I thought were healthy have all been exposed. Looks like they are all in for an icy end.

 

[Flute]

I'm so sorry to hear that I'm afraid bleach wont kill the TB- you'll need to use Calcium Hypochlorite. If you don't sterilise the tank properly it could manifest in the future when you set the tank back up. And as horrible as it is, you're best off euthanising the reminder fish

You should also let the fish shop where you got the infected fish know- their stocks are probably contaminated and they could be selling infected fish to other families.

I really hope things start to improve for you now and the treatment doesn't hinder you in anyway. Good luck!

 

[FishFanatic04]

Everything I have read so far, and the talk with my doctor leads me to believe that Bleach will be fine as long as I am thorough. It is a bacteria, Mycobacterium marinum. I do not know of any bacteria that survive a thorough cleaning with Bleach. This bacteria exists in fresh and saltwater, in soil, and has even been found in poorly maintained swimming pools. It does not exist in properly chlorinated pools however, which supports the fact that bleach will kill it.


I'll start posting links if you are interested in the articles I have been reading. I appreciate your thoughts Flute, however your link is the only one so far that does not say to use bleach.


I have already begun Euthanizing the fish. This has been going on so long that all of the fish have been more then exposed, and I won't take risks with a bacteria that can infect humans and can take 6 months to cure. I want my kids to be involved with our fish keeping, and that's not possible at this point.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I do want to add that I am not against using Calcium Hypochlorite, and did not mean to sound like I was fighting against you on that.

I just have no way of obtaining any right now and luckily, I keep a few jugs of bleach around as I commonly use it around the house.

 

[Flute]

I just wanted to mention it as a lot of the articles I've read say that bleach will kill some of the weaker strains, but isn't always 100% effective on eradicating TB. Apparently also doing an alcohol soak after bleaching a tank will help improve the probability of wiping out the bacteria.

No worries and good luck with the tank in the future.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Oh, I do have some alcohol. Not enough for soaking but I could give a everything a swipe. I just did one of my external filters and I was very, very thorough. It was so terrible putting all of my media into a bucket with a bleach solution. Every new fishy instinct that I have was screaming!!


I called my LFS where I bought the fish, and they acted like I was blaming them and it got really awkward. They ordered the fish for me and bad luck left me with fish tb. I wasn't blaming anyone. They had never even heard of the disease, but they also have never heard of the nitrogen cycle. After 37 years owning the store It's hard to respect someone who thinks they have learned everything there is about a topic. There is always something new to learn.

Anyway, I think I will enjoy this hobby more then most after restarting. It has been so hard and long going...I don't even know what healthy fish act like. I can't wait to see what 12 HEALTHY cories look like in a group. I have a nice long month or so to get excited!!!!

 

[FishFanatic04]

HELP!!! The bleach dip is killing my plants. I really wanted to save as many plants as possible. Any suggestions?