Very sick SAE

[rdd1952]

I am posting this in the Emergency Forum although I doubt there is anything that can be done. I was doing a little cleaning a little earlier on my 75 gallon and noticed one of my last 2 SAEs head down in the corner dead. Or at least I though he was. I got my tongs and fished him out by the tail and dropped him into a plastic cup to take to the disposal. When I did, he started barely moving. I looked to see that his gills were still moving but he was very stiff almost like he was paralysed.

I put him in my quarantine tank which is cycled and he kind of flitted around but he couldn't swim. I pulled him back out to have a closer look and noticed a small spot (brown not bloody or red about 1/8" in diameter) on his side. His color was partially gone too. The stripe down his side was broken almost like he was missing scales but that wasn't the case. He was also very stiff, like a dead fish. He could only move his mouth and gills. I put him back in the q-tank with some maracyn 2 but I doubt that he is going to make it.

This is very sudden as both of the 2 SAEs were out swimming like normal when I came home from work today. What ever this is came on in a matter of about 4 hours. Has anyone ever heard of or had anything similar happen. I checked all the water parameters and they are perfect: ammonia and nitrite 0, pH 7.0, nitrate 5 (actually that's a lot lower than I need is for my plants but not a problem to the fish). CO2 is only 1 ppm.

 

[tttnjfttt]

The only other thing that I can think of doing for him is adding an airstone to the quarentine tank to increase the oxygen he is getting. Also, leaving the room dark will help ease stress as well. You are right, it doesn't sound good for this little guy, and i've got absolutley no clue as to what it might be.

 

[rdd1952]

It already has an airstone in it and the entire room is now dark. I had also lost another SAE in the last month but I never saw him dead. The tank has so many plants, I think when something happens to them they hang up under the plants and the other fish eat them. I have had these SAEs since April and there haven't been any problems in the tank until the last month. Notheing else has changed in the tank in that time.

 

[WILDER]

Brown patches or spots can mean sometimes that they have a parasite, any sign of heavy laboured breathing, or twitching , the fitting can sometimes indiciate a parasite infection.

 

[rdd1952]

Brown patches or spots can mean sometimes that they have a parasite, any sign of heavy laboured breathing, or twitching , the fitting can sometimes indiciate a parasite infection.

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No signs of any of that other than he did twitch a little when I put him in the q-tank but I'm sure that was just because of the slight difference in temp and the fact he had been out of water for a minute or so. When I same him he was already pretty much gone. By about 11 last night he was dead. I really don't know what happened. It was very sudden.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry for your loss R.I.P., you will no but just keep a close eye on the others good luck.

 

[WILDER]

Found this for you, not the writer of this informaion.




Columnaris disease is a bacterial disease of freshwater fish. It is the second highest killer of farmed catfish in the USA 3, and it is widely accepted that most species of fish are susceptible to columnaris disease 4. The aetiological agent of columnaris disease is the gram negative rod bacteria, Flexibacter columnare (ex Herbert Spencer Davis 1922) Bernardet and Grimont 1989 (Synonyms: "Bacillus columnaris; Chondrococcus columnaris; Cytophaga columnaris; Flexibacter columnaris. It is often referred to as "fin rot", "cotton wool disease", "cotton mouth disease", or "saddleback disease" 3, 4.

Outbreaks tend to occur following environmental stress and clinical signs or symptoms may include yellowish brown or white lesions on the gills, skin, or fins. The bacteria attach themselves to the fish where they release protein and cartilage degrading enzymes. It may be argued that the most important site of attachment is that of the gills. The bacteria attach to the gills where they multiply, and eventually cover and destroy the entire gill filament - if untreated, substantial damage can occur, subsequently leading to the death of the fish 3.

In the early stages of the disease, the lesions may simply appear as an area that is ‘less glossy’ than the surrounding scales. Advance lesions may be round or oval in shape, and can if untreated, progress to an open ulcer. In some fish the lesion may appear as a pale band, encircling the body of the fish – hence the name saddleback disease 3.

 

[rdd1952]

Thanks for the info wilder but I don't think that's it since it all happened so suddenly. I watched them yesterday morning when I fed them and everyone, including him, looked fine. He wasalways the most active and the biggest SAE too. He was the fattest of them all. Definitely not a matter of net getting enough to eat. It's very puzzling.

 

[WILDER]

Good luck anyway, hope the rest of them will be fine.

 

[rdd1952]

Good luck anyway, hope the rest of them will be fine.

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Thanks. Everyone else was fine this morning and eating like normal. I hope I can find some more SAEs as I really like them. They do a good job with algae and are very active.

 

[Bigjakee]

I've had exactly the same thing happen to me today with a clown loach. Last night before I switched the light off I noticed him lying on his side but when I checked he was breathing quite normally so I thought he was just resting in that rather peculiar way that CLs do sometimes. Turned the lights on about lunch time today and he was in exactly the same position still breathing away so I decided to give him a little nudge with the net and he's stiff as a board! No body movement at all just the gills working away. Every other fish in the tank is happy as larry...

It's really strange and to be honest it would put you in mind of something similar to a stroke in humans.