Something is off....

[Alice B]

some bacterial infections manifest differently in different types of fish. I spent a couple of years studying Enteric Septicemia after picking it up in 4 rosy barbs from a petsmart in 1999. It's temperature sensitive, doesn't multiply over 82 degrees or under 69 I think (it's been a while), so I quarantined at 82, and the ES was dormant, I moved fish out to other tanks and fish started dying, and when one died, the others ate it and they got ES from eating the dead fish. The aquatics industry cleaned up ES or it would have taken the whole thing down, I learned to treat and quarantine for it, and life went on, but internal bacterial infections can be very tricky and research is a good thing.

(This was actually excellent preparation for dealing with European Foulbrood in beekeeping - similar transmission system. )

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Unfortunately here in the UK antibiotics are unavailable over the counter, and like you said, without knowing exactly what I'm dealing with it's difficult to know how to treat. There would be no point setting up a quarantine now as it's a whole tank issue by now. She was an old cherry so it was a bit sad to put her down. I'm not convinced the white poo is anything sinister at this point, the crypts are just melting away to nothing and the fish are eating them, so I'm hoping that's what it is.

The rainbows are coloured up, displaying, and I'm pretty sure they're breeding....but they are still flashing now and then...

 

[Alice B]

the salt is probably hurting the plants, maybe replace the salt treatment with more frequent water changes?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I'm already doing a change nearly every day...which is a damn pain! One more week with the salt and I'll go from there...

 

[Alice B]

sounds good

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

sounds good

Thanks for your input Alice, I appreciate it

 

[Colin_T]

Why are you doing so many water changes?
Every second day seems a bit much.

If fish have stringy white poop and are eating well, they have intestinal worms. Section 3 of the following link tells you about treating them.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Because my plants are melting! I've got crypt goop everywhere, I try to pick out the leaves before they turn to mush but I might as well just pull the lot out at this point. I'm just siphoning out the mess 10% ish and then a big change once a week

 

[Colin_T]

Don't pull the crypts up. They might shed the leaves but often recover and regrow new leaves after the salt is removed.

 

[Alice B]

move crypts to a bucket of water without salt outdoors?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I've now got a bloated male praecox who's breathing heavy I'm so sad and cross with myself! I'm not sure what to do, I'm not experienced with bacterial illness in fish, thankfully its not something I've had to deal with surprisingly! I wouldn't have a clue what to medicate! I'm going to do my best to get a quarantine set up today, I really want to save this fish, I hope I'm not too late!
Video, they think they're being fed which is why they're all at the front...and sorry again for the glare

 

[Colin_T]

Is the M. praecox eating?
What does its poop look like?

If it isn't eating and did a stringy white poop, and it bloated up overnight, euthanise it now. These are the most common symptoms of Fish Tuberculosis in rainbowfish.

Make sure any food you give them is good quality.
Do not use frozen bloodworms that have not be irradiated. Some of the cheaper brands of frozen bloodworms and occasionally brineshrimp, can have a lot of bacteria in and this can cause the fish to bloat up as well. Irradiated foods are cleaner and don't have the bacteria.

Make sure they get plenty of plant matter in their diet.

Don't put your hands in the tank if you have any cuts, sores or open wounds. If it is Fish TB, you can get a localised infection called a granuloma, if you get Fish TB contaminated water in open wounds.

If you know of a fish vet, get them to do a necropsy on the fish and see if it has Fish TB. Some places have a Department of Agriculture and they usually have a fish health section that does free fish necropsy for the home aquarist.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

What?! am I going to lose them all then??

I've not seen him poop yet and he's definitely eating, I noticed he had a big tummy after the feed yesterday and just thought he was a greedy git. I feed Hikari micro pellets, spirulina and green flakes and they do get frozen brine shrimp and black mosquito larvae...

...what do I do now?

 

[Naughts]

Oh-oh. That constant mouth movement is what my original praecox had. A couple lasted ok in quarantine and made it to the main tank, only to succumb later. Out of 3 batches over a year or so only 2 survive, I gave up replacing them. I run their community tank as a closed system now because every now and again I lose a fish or two and I believe the disease is still in the tank.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I've euthanised him I'm feeling sick at the possibility of having to cull the whole lot. I'm noticing a few fish with white poop, it's not stringy but white in colour...I don't know what that means, I feel like I'm all over the place and can't get my head together. I've had a rotten few months to come back to a tank in dire need of some tlc...and now this. Its my own fault.

I phoned up the LFS to ask if anyone else had queried the possibility of TB and of course they told me no.

I can't fathom the thought of starting again from the very beginning I'm truly devastated