Several Different Fish Died Over Time - Something Fishy With My Tank

[sophos9]

Bummer, another update! After having a close look at the tetras, I'm sure there is really something up.

This is hard to explain so please bear with me. The tetras gills (and a few danios) look like the gill covers are more open than they should be (making there head look larger in appearance) and the gills seem pretty red, is this all part of the same thing?

Does this point towards gill flukes?

 

[MHunt]

You can get other meds for internal parasites, bacteria etc. They might not be as good as the flubenol, but might buy you some more time till that arrives. Have a look at the waterlife range (can't think of a specific med off the top of my head), i have also had success with interpet 9 after a spate of mysterious deaths in my main tank.

The other thing i would suggest is while the fish are weak, keep the tank conditions in tip top shape, extra water changes and make sure you don't overfeed which could pollute the tank further if the fish aren't feeding well due to illness.

 

[sophos9]

have just got confirmation from Flubenol that they will ship tomorrow so should be with me Tuesday

I just read this on a website:

Gill Flukes
Gills hang partly open and may pump fast. Gills may pump fast. Gills may appear red
Small gill parasites (Gyrodactylus) monogenetic trematodes.

This seems the current symptoms... Is it fair to assume that gill flukes will not really kill the fish but make it more prone to a secondary infection?

Tolak, what do you think?

 

[Tolak]

Flubenol 15 should take care of them, I usually use copper sulfate, though this is a med you have to use with caution, as a little too much is toxic. You are shooting for a concentration of 0.15ppm, your water has to be harder, no less than 50ppm tds, and it will kill any invertabrates, meaning snails, shrimp, or other crustaceans. It will concentrate in any algae, and if any algae eating fish eat it they will die.

Larger fish will often have a fluke or two, it's similar to a dog having a flea or two. I would be more concerned with the internal problems, but the same med treating both problems is a plus.

 

[kuhliloacher]

Kuhliloacher, your problems could have easily come from your attempts to alter the pH. Generally, the use of those products keeps the pH in constant swing. That is much more dificult on the fish than a pH that may be outside their optimal zone but is at least stable. Actually, a pH of 6.6 is well within the range of most loaches and corys. As a matter of fact, for panda corys, 7.0 is on the very high side of their optimal range. They would most likely prefer the 6.6. And for kuhli loaches (I guess that's what you have based on your name), 7.0 is on the high side for them too.

Thanks for the info. Kuhlis are my favorite. I also have Burmese Border Loaches and Yoyo Loaches. I have only been fish keeping for about 4 months now, after a 15 plus year lapse, so everything is pretty much new to me. I hope these problems are solved. Hopefully the PH issues are a thing of the past and a lesson well learned.

 

[sophos9]

Flubenol 15 should take care of them, I usually use copper sulfate, though this is a med you have to use with caution, as a little too much is toxic. You are shooting for a concentration of 0.15ppm, your water has to be harder, no less than 50ppm tds, and it will kill any invertabrates, meaning snails, shrimp, or other crustaceans. It will concentrate in any algae, and if any algae eating fish eat it they will die.

Larger fish will often have a fluke or two, it's similar to a dog having a flea or two. I would be more concerned with the internal problems, but the same med treating both problems is a plus.

Tolak, thanks for the confidence vote! Can you clarify a few points please?

You said I should shoot for 0.15ppm? The recommended dosage is 1ml/1gram per 25 gallons of water, will that give me 0.15ppm (if not how can I measure it?)
What really worries me is your point on algae. I have a fair bit of algae with Ottos, BN plecos, Flag fish and RTBS, are you saying chances are they will die?

This is a real nightmare, my medical tank is no way big enough to hold them (RTBS would go crazy), any ideas?

Tolak, really appreciate your time and dedication to helping me

 

[Tolak]

The 0.15ppm concentration is for copper, follow the instructions given for flubinol. Copper is a problem with algae & invertabrates, flubenol is not.

Maybe I should have been more clear, you are shooting for a concentration of 0.15ppm with copper, your water has to be harder, no less than 50ppm tds, and it will kill any invertabrates, meaning snails, shrimp, or other crustaceans. It will concentrate in any algae, and if any algae eating fish eat it they will die.

 

[sophos9]

Tolak, you scared me then

Great, am dosing with Flubenol 15 so will follow recommendations...

How long should I expect before I know if the treatment was successful?
To help with dosage, do you suspect that the parasites are egg laying (hell I dont know, are gill flukes egg laying?)

Dam, if only I knew about these problems I could have saved my 2 lovely L260's

 

[sophos9]

I PM'd Paulf (who runs the flubenol site) and he PM'd back (as the poor guy has been banned) with some advice about running Interpet Number 9 at the same time. I've just purchased some and will get them running ASAP

I will post up with some results soon, in the meantime - feel free to add anything you like

Cheers

 

[WILDER]

I've tryed the hole in the head med by waterlife and it did nothing.

 

[sophos9]

The little Krib despite trying to hang on died sometime last night exactly the same as both the L260's. I'm 95% sure that this is the same parasite/bacteria that took the L260's

The good thing is that I'm prepared to tackle it SO.... that means once this things has cleared up, I can buy another L260 whilst having the knowledge to deal with things if they start looking strange!

 

[AlexAndCarmen]

From the sound of it, it sound like something is poisoning your fish. Stick your fingers into the substrate of your tank, right down. If bubbles come out, it could be that your substrate has gone anaerobic. It happens if you have new deep substrates which don't allow water movement between. Sometimes it's best to build the layers up between. Also look at ornaments and plants that could be rotting and/or poisoning the tank. Where about in the UK are you?? Just now it's the water and we all have to keep a look out.

What dechlorinater do you use??

Hope things are sorted out soon, sorry to hear about all your fish loses.

Alex

 

[sophos9]

Alex, Hi

Thanks for the post. The substrate is built up of several layers, laterite, JBL Proflora, Tetra substrate pro then silver sand and silica grit, when I set the tank up I made sure I disturbed the substrate to ensure it had settled. I've only got slate and bogwood in the tank, all other fish (inc. those from day 1) remain unaffected. I can see that some of the laterite has made its way to the surface - not sure if that would cause any problems?

These fish have died over a period of say 2 months? In my other tank I have seen danios with open pumping gills, this is the tank I used to hold the L260's when they got ill so the parasite could have transferred

I'm in Norfolk, have checked with Anglian Water, the up-to-date water reports are fine, to dechlorinate I use Seachem Prime in the controlled dosage

The RTBS, BN & Clown pleco, clown loaches and ottos are showing no signs, behaviour and gill function is normal. I have noticed the AFF occasionally flashing, gill function looks OK and some of the tetras gills are half open, behaviour of the tetras and AFF seems agitated.

 

[Majjie]

I had a lot of trouble with the fish in one of my tanks - starting last summer when it was really hot. One at a time, they'd get stringy poo, lose their appetite and then start breathing heavily, before dying. I thought it was probably bacterial but never managed to save any of them with proprietary treatments from the lfs - I think I probably tried all the common ones, over a period of several months. I also have a young angelfish in the tank who stopped growing and became a very picky eater.

I didn't try anything stronger like Flubenol - so good luck with that - hope it works.

The reason I've posted is because I eventually bought a UV steriliser off e-bay and put that in the tank. I reasoned that although whatever was affecting the fish only affected one or two fish at a time - they were probably continually excreting bacteria (or other parasites - I never knew for sure it was bacterial) and that put the other fish at risk all the time. A bit of stress - and another one would get infected.

I've had no trouble at all since I had the steriliser ... and the ailing angelfish has started to grow a little - I think
I can't be sure, of course, that the UV light made the difference - but the fish have never looked healthier. I think it cost about £40 including post and packing - it might be worth thinking about.

 

[sophos9]

Hi, thanks for posting

Thats interesting, as you say, seems the same as what I'm experiencing. Thanks for the pointer towards a UV steriliser, will see how the combo of treatments go and then see what I've got in my pocket! I've just read a few good articles on UV sterilisers, they seem to do an excellent job with only a few nags...