Why Do I Bother

[catxx]

my fish have all been dropping like flies and it's really depressing me now. down to 2 bettas (lost my favourite silver one last week, to old age, i cried) and now my two remaining ones consist of a skeletal geriatric one who wobbles when he swims but refuses to die, and my other moth-eaten boy (he's a tail biter) i've just seen is starting to pinecone, but only on the back half of his body.

my endlers are also randomly dying from a wasting disease.

it's times like now you want to give up.

 

[kj23502]

Wow...that's really sad. I'm sure someone will come along and help you sort things out. Maybe you just need to empty and clean out the entire tank and start over. Did you quaratine your fish for awhile before adding them? Or were they already established for a long time?

 

[Bloo]

Why don't you try "wormer plus" - available on eBay and most fish stores. It contains Flubendazole which helps against wasting / skinny disease (not just for discus - for use with all fish and doesn't harm inverts). I use it every few months and whenever I introduce new fish.

 

[pricey]

clean your tank out and have a fresh start kat! Rearrange the decor. add a couple more fish and ull have a smile on ur face in no time. or u cud just crack open the wine

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

my fish have all been dropping like flies and it's really depressing me now. down to 2 bettas (lost my favourite silver one last week, to old age, i cried) and now my two remaining ones consist of a skeletal geriatric one who wobbles when he swims but refuses to die, and my other moth-eaten boy (he's a tail biter) i've just seen is starting to pinecone, but only on the back half of his body.

my endlers are also randomly dying from a wasting disease.

it's times like now you want to give up.

Scales pineconing sounds like what is killing off your fish is a bacterial disease, i would advise treating your fish with a strong anti internal bacterial med ASAP- a few months back i had a vicious bacterial disease which spread through one of my tanks and killed off about 25fish in just a few weeks. What are all of the symptoms which fish that have died have shown? How quickly are fish dying after showing symptoms on average?

 

[catxx]

i have 3 tanks, the old betta/2 amanos/2 dwarf corys in one, the endlers in another, and the pineconing betta in yet another with an oto.

i have interpet anti-internal bacteria which i have been using, to not much effect.

bloo - i will seek out that wormer - is it safe to use with inverts? i have a spixi apple snail in the endler tank.

the biggest die off is with the endlers, i've been losing them since i first got them over a year ago to this wasting disease - they'll get skinny and then they die, i don't see pineconing in them. the pineconing betta isn't skinny.

 

[WILDER]

If you are losing alot of livebearers you could be dealing with camallanous worms, and wormer plus is no good on camallanous worms.
You would need a vet to perscribe some levaimsole.

 

[catxx]

are these worms specific to livebearers then? i've spoken to other endler breeders after i lost my first ones who reported a similar problem occasionally rearing it's head.

 

[wendywc]

Sorry to hear. Bettas and livebearers are heartbreakers sometimes. Maybe it's time to restart and try other types of community fish. Good luck.

 

[WILDER]

http/www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/nematodes.shtml

 

[Bloo]

bloo - i will seek out that wormer - is it safe to use with inverts? i have a spixi apple snail in the endler tank.

It appears not safe to use with snails. So I'd suggest removing your snail during treatment. However my amano shrimp were fine.

Note: this product is particularly aimned towards discus (as they seem to suffer from all of this more than other fish), but is for use with ALL aquatic fish.

WORMER PLUS, THE 100% LEGAL AQUATIC FISH WORMER, FLUKE & PARASITE KILLER.

From the 1 st November 2007 big brother in the form of the VMD will be ensuring ALL aquatic wormers complies with the good manufacturing practice (GMP). New…wormer plus complies with all the latest up to date regulations.

Worms are a fact of life for discus; every discus carries its own complement of worms. When in good health these worms are not a problem, but as soon as the fish is stressed or bullied etc its natural immunity is compromised and worms can take a hold. A sure sign of a worm problem is when a discus still eats, yet is wafer thin with the famous pinched in look above the eyes. New wormer plus will rid discus of tapeworms, leeches, gill flukes, body flukes, and internal helminths such as round worms, pin worms, nematodes, hydra, ick, velvet and protozoa plus a host of other pest. This product can be mixed with other aquarium products and medications. Even snails will never again be a pest when using this product, just once a month. Although a second dose after seven days may be needed in heavy infestations of flukes, or if treating for Hexamita. So when your discus looks emaciated or just worn out use new wormer plus on a regular basis and do them a favour. Using new wormer plus once a month will help to keep your valued discus and tropical fish in tip top health. It is not necessary to turn off U/V sterilisation during its application, but it is advisable to remove carbon etc whilst using this medication for full effect. This product can be used with rays and is safe to use in aquariums with plants, and it will not harm the biological filtration in your filters.

Not to be confused with the old wormer plus, the new version has a different mix of ingredients and is manufactured by Kusuri products ltd that holds a manufacturing licence to this product (SAM0002). It is different to the recently used powdered wormers. Flubendazole is still the main active ingredient in the new version. Then naturally sourced calcium carbonate acts as a gentle booster and pick me up after the pests are killed. This product does not contain antibiotics and is still marketed with the small animal exemption scheme. It is 100% legal; VMD approved, passed with risk phrases also safety phrases and has been covered with a COSHH sheet. The new wormer plus has a easy to use 30 gallon measuring scoop (supplied) in every pack which is another improvement, making it easy to measure out and to administer the treatment. Instructions are on the back of every pack. This wormer will not raise your PH, TDS or GH, if fact with the many test Kusuri and Plymouth discus have done you may get a slight drop. Great news for Amazon species.

The new wormer plus is very shop friendly and can be hung on shop board hooks and is bar coded. It looks great in its shiny gold packets, and is available in two sizes, 500 gallons and 2,000 gallons. Now keeping your favourite tropical fish has never been easier.

Some one at the recent Glee trade show in Birmingham said to me, “after 30 years of discus keeping why all of a sudden do I need to worm my fish?” The answer is simple, 30 years ago discus was said to be difficult to keep, many said impossible. Discus then had a bad name as a difficult fish to keep. NOT SO, just misunderstood. As long as they have the right conditions, free of parasites etc they are just as easy to keep as any other tropicals, with understanding. Then came all the different worming tactics that actually seemed to work. Was this a fad? Or was this something that someone actually had a hook on? All of a sudden discus was easier to keep, not just because of the parasite control, but more. Discus keeping in the old days was regarded as a fish shrouded in mystery, and difficult to keep. Just to be kept by the experts and the highly experienced. It is recommended to worm your discus once a month for trouble free discus keeping, and this will give them a flying start if introducing new stock. For more help or information visit www.wormerplus.com or for telephone sales: - 01752 784671 / 07976 200454. For technical advice telephone 01626 836600.

Available on eBay here.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Although some online pictures of Camallanus worms make them appear quite visible, they can in fact be very difficult to spot...when I first noticed it appeared that an ultra fine hair was protruding about a millimeter out of the anal vent.

Levamisole Hydrochloride had no negative affects on my inverts or biological filter, and dosing doesn't have to be perfect either. I believe I used 1/10 of 1/4 a teaspoon for every 10 gallons of my aquarium for 24 hours. The way the stuff supposedly works is paralisation of the parasites so that they can be expelled. The problem is finding the stuff...I had to buy it as a large pouch of sheep/cattle soak at a local farm co-op. Regulation may be more controlled in the UK.

If you want to read a journal of my tank treatment: http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/21...Levamisole-Hci/

 

[catxx]

well now they're really dropping like flies. i wasn't loosing ANY for months, now more and more are going. i've treated with interpet anti-internal, and i'm not sure if it is the worms, internal bacteria, parasites, what, i don't want to treat with the worm meds (which i imagine are going to be hard to get hold of) and still have no effect. le sigh!

can snails harbour these worms and parasites? in case all the endlers do go and i'm left with 1 snail (who's perfectly happy bumbling about - eating dead endlers before i have a chance to scoop them out).

 

[Bloo]

i don't want to treat with the worm meds (which i imagine are going to be hard to get hold of) and still have no effect.

Why do you not want to treat with the worm meds ? Which btw. is really not that hard to get hold of as I gave you that link. Buy it on eBay from Plymouth Discus and you have it on your doorstep the next day. And how do you know it's going to have no effect?
Just spend a Fiver on the Wormer plus and give it a go. It seem like you actually have nothing to lose at this point - other than more fish. Sadly.....