Think I Have A Problem

[razorkai]

Hi all.

Last night I noticed one of my platys was hanging near the surface and seemed really listless. Before I even had time to react, I returned from work today to find him dead on the bottom. I started examining the other fish and noticed a small white fluffly bit on the lower lip of one of the Bosemani Rainbow fish I bought a little over two weeks ago. My research appears to indicate it is Cotton Mouth, but I have been unable to find a photograph of a fish with the disease to compare to. Anyone know where I can see an example image of this? I tried to get a photo of the fish concerned but they just move too fast and the photo is always blurred (rubbish camera too!) I don't know if the two fish problems are connected but seems a little coincidental to me. Have had no issues for a couple of years until I added the rainbows... Anyone help with diagnosis?

TIA.

John.

 

[dzsigmond217]

Have you checked your water stats? Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate etc.
Poor water conditions can cause this.
It sounds like Columnaris and should be treated ASAP before mouth rots away.
Once mouth rots away I beleive its gone forever!
Heres a pic..Hope you get more info from other members!

 

[WILDER]

Fluffy bits on the mouth is columnaris a bad strain can soon start to rot the mouth away.
Uk myxazin and pimafix.
United states maracyn one and two.

 

[razorkai]

Ammonia is 0
Nitrites are 0
Nitrates are fairly high, but I always struggle to figure out where on the scale I am with these - once it gets into the red section it is hard to read which level of red your water is at. I would say they are at least 50, but then they have always been high in this tank.

I have bought some Pimafix but could not find any myxazin. I have some Anti-Internal bacteria ffrom Interpet, would this suffice as a myxazin alternative? Can/should the two be used together?

I am going to do a 50% water change first to try and reduce the nitrates and then dose the Pimafix. Await reponses on the myxazin.

Thanks.

 

[Colin_T]

Rainbowfish are notorious for damaging their mouths, especially when they are new in a tank. It is more likely a tiny bit of fungus (different from columnaris) that has gotten in because the fish bumped its nose on the glass.

Keep an eye on water quality and PH. If the PH is too low or the other parameters are out the rainbows become quite nervous and skittish.

Columnaris is characterised by a reddening of the mouth then white lips. After a few days the lips start to disappear as the bacteria eats them away.

Fungus is characterised by white fluffy bits growing away from the fish. Fungus will only grow in damaged tissue.

Salt might clear it up or use a broad spectrum medication to take care of either disease. Make sure you remove any carbon from the filters before treating. Increase aeration and if you have scaleless fishes, (catfish, loaches, etc) then use a half dose if it is recommended on the container.

 

[razorkai]

Rainbowfish are notorious for damaging their mouths, especially when they are new in a tank. It is more likely a tiny bit of fungus (different from columnaris) that has gotten in because the fish bumped its nose on the glass.

Keep an eye on water quality and PH. If the PH is too low or the other parameters are out the rainbows become quite nervous and skittish.

Columnaris is characterised by a reddening of the mouth then white lips. After a few days the lips start to disappear as the bacteria eats them away.

Fungus is characterised by white fluffy bits growing away from the fish. Fungus will only grow in damaged tissue.

Salt might clear it up or use a broad spectrum medication to take care of either disease. Make sure you remove any carbon from the filters before treating. Increase aeration and if you have scaleless fishes, (catfish, loaches, etc) then use a half dose if it is recommended on the container.

Hi Colin

Interesting that you think it could be fungus, could I treat that with the Pimafix I just bought? Should I use the Interpet stuff I mentioned earlier? I just spent a good while studying all fish in the tank and I noticed that my smallest Gold Tetra is not looking too great either. He has fins that look torn and is being chased continuously by a larger Gold Tetra. I just looked up the shredded fins thing and that also seems to point to Columnaris. Why would the Tetra pick on his mate like this? It is constant he just won't leave him alone. I have never noticed him doing this before.

I have done a 50% water change and got the nitrates down to what looks like 40. I tested the tap water too and that is coming up at 10 for nitrates. I have also started dosing the Pimafix, so I hope I am doing the right thing. I can't see any other fish with problems at the moment, although the last remaing Platy looks a bit miserable - probably because he lost his mate yesterday . When things calm down a I'll get him some firends

John

 

[Colin_T]

I have never used Pimafix so can't comment on it. I am sure others on here have more experience with it.
The interpet antibacterial should work if it is columnaris but might not if it is fungus. Some antibacterial medications will treat fungus too but not all of them.

How many gold tetras do you have? If you only have two or three of them then the agressive behaviour is from stress. Tetras are schooling fish that need to be kept in groups of at least 6, preferably more.

Columnaris/ Mouth Fungus only affects the mouth and in really bad cases can move up the face. Normally the fish dies before it gets that bad. It does not affect the fins. There is a good picture of it in the second post by dzsigmond217.

The columnaris affects both top and bottom parts of the mouth whereas the fungus will only affect a small area that is damaged. The fungus is also longer, a couple of mm normally.

Don't add any new fish for at least a couple of weeks after everything is ok.

 

[WILDER]

For columnaris in the uk you use pimafix with a bacerial med.
Yes you can use anti internal bacteria med by interpet.

 

[razorkai]

I only have three gold tetras. There were six a couple of years agao but 3 passed on. I know they are shcooling fish and I do intend to get more but after I have set-up my new bigger tank - the one I have now is quite full. I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the rainbow fish has improved dramatically. It is actually quite hard to spot which one had the problem now, whoch is great news!
The bad news is that the last remaining platy that I mentioned was very listless after his mate passed on has died

I just hope my remaining fish will all make it. Thanks for the help on the meds guys!

 

[WILDER]

R.I.P.
Good luck.

 

[razorkai]

Sigh, this has not gone away. The rainbows do look better now but some of them do seem to have white lips. I'm not entirely convinced that this isn't their natural colour though. Their lips don't look like they have cotton wool on them anymore, but then they don't look quite normal either. Hard to say what if anything is wrong there. Anyway, during my treatment with Pimafix and the Interpet med I noticed a zebra loach had a weird looking eye. Suspect it is/was popeye, but it doesn't seem to have got worse or better. It is not really swollen like some of the photos you see of this problem but it has a sort of white circle around it that just looks strange. he is the smallest of the loaches by far so probably the weakest. If a fish gets popeye and is treated does its eye return to normal appearance or will it always look odd?

This morning I came down to find a dead zebra loach and assumed it was the one with the dodgy eye, but was dismayed to find it wasn't. What is going on to cause all these problems in such a short space of time?

 

[hollyday]

Hey ;; x
my crab is on the bottom of my tank .. not moving and upside down ...
is it dead or is it changing its skin .? please reply NEED HELP !

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like you have a bad bacteria infection in your tank.
How many gallons is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite,nitrate, and ph.
Have you done a good gravel vac by removing ornaments so you can remove the waste underneath them.

 

[razorkai]

Sounds like you have a bad bacteria infection in your tank.
How many gallons is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite,nitrate, and ph.
Have you done a good gravel vac by removing ornaments so you can remove the waste underneath them.

Last night I found with some relief that the loach that died WAS the one with the dodgy eye. I had assumed it wasn't based on looking at the body I removed which looked normal out of the water albeit with faded colours. At the moment I am hopeful that I did have a bacterial infection but it is hopefully gone now that it has been treated. I think the loach may have had the eye problem already but I just didn't notice, and the medication I used was too late for it to survive.

Tank details are in my profile and water stats are in the OP. I haven't got a ph reading and nor have I removed all ornaments to do a gravel vac. I was always a bit wary of stressing the fish out if I did this.

 

[WILDER]

R.I.P.
You do need to remove ornaments now and then to vac underneath them as bad bacteria pockets can thrive this way.