Please Help........

[ianholt1980]

Hi i am new to this forum and hopefully someone out there can help me find the answer iv been searching for, for a few months now.

I have a 250l tropical tank set up with a fluval u4 filter, airstone and sand, its been up and running for around 5 months and all was going well with getting new fish etc etc, until i purchased 8 neon tetras (which i thought was the root of the problem)

at that point i had about 32 fish in the tank and now only have 18

4 x siamese flying foxes
2 x danios
2 x female white mollies
6 x platies
2 x catfish (plecs i think)
2 x neon tetras
--------------

Fish that have perished

6 x neon tetras
2 x danios
2 x black female mollies
1 x dalmation male mollie
1 x golden pencil tetra
2 x platies

1 platy died unexpectedly and was gold but had lost all colour wen dead
1 platy had hollowed out bellies (which seems to be a theme)
both danios just seems to get thin n lose the will to live
1 female mollie has blotches of white when dead
the other female mollie and the male both had hollowed bellies
the golden pencil died unexpectedly without any signs
all the neons had what i got told was a "saddle" on their fins and started getting white growths on fins as well as losing colour in tails,
i read this was NTD and tried to treat for that but then got told all the symptoms could be coloumnaris, i then treated with melafix on 2 different occasions.

Still no further forward, then i read about how if the poo was white and stringy then it could be a parasite, iv recently treated with waterlife sterazin and iv still had deaths since.............. iv done several water changes, cleaned the filter the proper way and even resorted to changing the filter media (also using the correct process of changing one out and leaving an old one in for a week longer)

of the fish that remain, the platys are all acting strange and lethargic, the 2 remaining mollies seem unaffected.
4 x flying foxes seem unaffected
2 x catfish seem unaffected
2 x neons have been quaranteened (precautionary)

Iv also tried a salt bath for the livebearers (no difference noticed)

iv had several water tests done and not once was their any reason for concern regarding that, i havnt got the latest readings for a water sample but i can get one done tomorrow and post if needed.


I just really need someones help as i really dont want to lose the remaining fish and im completly out of ideas as to what to do next,

Iv heard u can get some kind of medicated flake food for parasites

If any more info is needed then please ask


Thanks

 

[johny73]

Hi i am new to this forum and hopefully someone out there can help me find the answer iv been searching for, for a few months now.

I have a 250l tropical tank set up with a fluval u4 filter, airstone and sand, its been up and running for around 5 months and all was going well with getting new fish etc etc, until i purchased 8 neon tetras (which i thought was the root of the problem)

at that point i had about 32 fish in the tank and now only have 18

4 x siamese flying foxes
2 x danios
2 x female white mollies
6 x platies
2 x catfish (plecs i think)
2 x neon tetras
--------------

Fish that have perished

6 x neon tetras
2 x danios
2 x black female mollies
1 x dalmation male mollie
1 x golden pencil tetra
2 x platies

1 platy died unexpectedly and was gold but had lost all colour wen dead
1 platy had hollowed out bellies (which seems to be a theme)
both danios just seems to get thin n lose the will to live
1 female mollie has blotches of white when dead
the other female mollie and the male both had hollowed bellies
the golden pencil died unexpectedly without any signs
all the neons had what i got told was a "saddle" on their fins and started getting white growths on fins as well as losing colour in tails,
i read this was NTD and tried to treat for that but then got told all the symptoms could be coloumnaris, i then treated with melafix on 2 different occasions.

Still no further forward, then i read about how if the poo was white and stringy then it could be a parasite, iv recently treated with waterlife sterazin and iv still had deaths since.............. iv done several water changes, cleaned the filter the proper way and even resorted to changing the filter media (also using the correct process of changing one out and leaving an old one in for a week longer)

of the fish that remain, the platys are all acting strange and lethargic, the 2 remaining mollies seem unaffected.
4 x flying foxes seem unaffected
2 x catfish seem unaffected
2 x neons have been quaranteened (precautionary)

Iv also tried a salt bath for the livebearers (no difference noticed)

iv had several water tests done and not once was their any reason for concern regarding that, i havnt got the latest readings for a water sample but i can get one done tomorrow and post if needed.


I just really need someones help as i really dont want to lose the remaining fish and im completly out of ideas as to what to do next,

Iv heard u can get some kind of medicated flake food for parasites

If any more info is needed then please ask


Thanks

im no expert but the siamese flying foxes to me would be the culprets of attacking and killing fish as there terratorial , but someone with more knowledge might help ya

 

[ianholt1980]

Sorry i got that wrong, they are siamese algae eaters (similar) and they have never been any bother and never bothered any of the other fish to my knowledge.

On a separate note, all the fish eat when i feed them and since using the sterazin the poo has slowly turned back to brown in most fish

 

[WILDER]

Sterazin by waterlife for body flukes, gill flukes.

The fish that had sunken in bellys, did they show any of these symptoms.

Long stringy white waste, clear waste, red waste?
Have you seen any hair like parasites sticking out of the fish anus?
Do any fish show sigms of enlarged anus, red inflamed anus?
Did any of your fish have a curved spine, bent spine?
Did any fish look really thin, or bloated?


The growths on the fins. Can you describe what you saw in more detail.
Like, did they look like cotton balls on fins, cauliflower looking growth, smooth spots, cluster of eggs.

The neons. Did there red stripe area look bleached out?

It does sound more like columnaris than NTD, which the neons were showing.
Plus there no cure for NTD.
I lost a whole tank to the disease.

 

[ianholt1980]

Yea the fish had long stringy white waste, clear waste but that has started to go back to brown since using the sterazin
iv not noticed any hair like things sticking out but the other half said she might have seen that once

The curved/bent spine was visible in a couple of the neons, 1 danio and 1 Mollie.
A couple of the fish have looked rather thin not long before dying (mollie & danio)

The best way i can describe the growths on the fins is like if someone took an ultraviolet pen and drawn a thin outline on 1 edge of the fin
and the red on the neons fins did kinda look bleached out but in small patches and only a few

 

[WILDER]

These are the signs of NTD.

Red stripe area will look bleached out.
Blue area will look a golden yellow.
Black linning around the tail area.
Fish will leave the shoal and become restless.
Odd swimming, jerky movement.
Milky blotches on fish.
Bent spine.
Fish will lose weight and start to look thin.
Later stages, dropsy, popeye.

Bent spine, being thin can be fish tb, internal parasites.

I think I would worm your fish with this med.
Sera nematol. Dose the whole tank.

It hard to say that a fish has TB without more syptoms being shown. Also you really need to have test done on a dead fish to determine fish TB.

 

[ianholt1980]

I will give the Sera nematol a go and see if that helps, is that ok to put in with my catfish tho coz i know they are sensitive to some meds

 

[WILDER]

It's an internal wormer. Other fish can also get camallanus worms.
Worms can also pass onto other fish by a fish sucking on fish waste.

The cat fish should be fine. Don't want them dying of internal parasites.
The parasite does alot of damage to the internal organs.

 

[ianholt1980]

Would that be better than say....Interpet No.9 or Waterlife Myxazin

Thanks for the responses

 

[WILDER]

anti internal bacteria med by interpet, myxazin by waterlife are bacterial meds.
Are any fish still showing signs of columnaris?

 

[ianholt1980]

the only thing that the fish that are still alive are showing at the min is lathargy, and thats just the platys, the flying foxes, mollies, catfish are all acting normally

 

[WILDER]

The symtoms are pointing towards internal parasites, fish tb.

If the curved spine was not caused by an injury. I would take the internal parasite route. Worm your fish for camallanas worms.

Wash your hands afer they have been in the tank.
If you have cut and wounds on your hands. Wear latex gloves.
Just a precaution incase it does turn out to be fish tb.


get you some info on fish TB.

Just keep a look out for any of these symtoms.
http/www.torrens.org.uk/NatHist/Aqua/disease/tb.html

Information taken from above link.

Loss of appetite
Progressive thinness
Sluggish movement
Folded fins
Eye protrusion
Dark coloration and granular appearance of the cornea (this is the first sign in Angelfish).
Skeletal deformity
Hanging at the surface
Skin defects, including blood spots and open wounds that may ulcerate
Black spots, or overall dark coloration (in Cichlids particularly).
Fin rot, characterised by the outer rays falling out.
Scales loosening and falling out
General swelling and scale protrusion (as in Dropsy)

 

[ianholt1980]

ok thanks, ill keep an eye out for them symptoms and try the wormer

 

[WILDER]

This is the med you need to treat with.