uh oh

[Fiddlesticks]

So the scoop is that I had a rainbow which I beleive had a parasite. He didnt eat for 3 weeks. And when I saw some mucus looking thing comming out of his ass, I took him out and started medicating for parasites. That fish eventually passed away. This morning the other parkinsoni has a similar whitish (not poop) thingy comming out of his lil but. He also wouldnt eat. Water params are perfect. Should I put this fish down before he infects the rest of the tank. If hes got what the other one had he is only going to get worse, and very skinny, and sick looking. I just dont know what to do.

 

[~FairyAngelFish~]

Hmm... I dunno how's the fish doing now? Maybe u could keep it in a seperate bowl...

 

[tstenback]

Normally a whitish excrement indicates an internal parasite is at work. If you can isolate then treat with a parasite med then that nay help. These things are hard to cure most of the time but i have had limited success using parasite guard. I was initially thinking that it might be camalanus but those guys are red in color. If you cant isolate the fish then its your call. Do you want to put all the fish through the treatment or not. What ever it is seems to have only affected the rainbows so perhap the fish were ill when you got them. I would keep a very close eye on all the tank members over the next few days as if this is contagious it will certainly show in that amount of time as i guess most of the fish were in the tank when the rainbows were introduced and now that the other rainbow has the same symptoms the other fish may start exhibiting soon if infected. Keep us posted.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

This is very strange. I went home at lunch, and put some food in. He ate this time. Im gonna see if I can find something to medicate him in. I dont want my angels or corys to get medicated if they are showing no signs of illness. I did Buy both the sick fish at the same place but they showed no indication of being sick. I even quarentined them. Anyone have a 10 gal they can lend me? Just kidding.

 

[cation]

I wouldn't bother to quarentine - if you see suspected parasite activity, you can assume that one of its larval stages is probably present in the tank. In my opinion, you should treat the whole tank.

 

[Fiddlesticks]

Can I medicate the tank with my corys though? The lfs told me this medication will kill my bf bacteria. Which will cause my tank to cycle again.

 

[tstenback]

usually you half the dose when scaleless fish or small tetras are involved, but it should say that on the container or on the instruction sheet. Also some meds will kill off the bacteria and others wont again it will usually say. If it doesnt say then just look on the container for the chems used and post back. HTH

 

[Fiddlesticks]

Ok so Iv decided against medicating at this time. I am keeping a close watch on the tank. The rainbow has eaten every day since the one day that I started this post. Im starting to think now that he was depressed, because his friend died. This may sound silly to some, but I cant think of any other reason for him to not eat for a day, and then be back to normal. After all that was the only rainbowfish of his kind, so even though there are 2 boesmani in the tank. He is the only parkinsoni left. Im gonna hope the other fish was just a runt, or had something wrong with him other than a parasite. Does this theory hold any water? Please let me know if I am just deluding myself here. I will keep you informed if there are any changes in the behavior of the others. If I do need to medicate I will check the container and post back if I have any questions. Thank you tstenback and all others for your help.

Oops c- for spelling