Scarring

[peety]

Everythings going grreat!!! ;D ;D

Fry are about 8-9 days old and growing huge.

My concern is for poor old mom and dad. One of my fish (still not sure who's who yet :-\ ), has got some large scarring and some large areas of missing slime coat due to feeding. I have about 30-40 fry so don't think it's a large number, but is there anything I can do ? I am feeding bbs 3 times a day and using the salt water as well, so am doing a light salt dose (tho its gonna be small).

I assume since this is natural it's gonna be OK. But want to know if I need to look out for infection.

W/c's are about 3-4 times a day at the mo, about an hour after feeding and 20%.

thanx
peet :) :)

[Carol_Roberts]

I'd keep an eye on it. I don't recall seeing skin problems after a week . . .
Carol :heart1:

[peety]

Yikes!!!!

I have 1 parent that just did a 100 mile an hour sprint around the tank and totally freaked, its not even the one with scarring. The only change I have made lately is I am using frozen bbs because mine didn't grow out fast enough...

Shes now swimming in circles on her side.... :-[ :-[

No outward signs of anything and only just happened....

She has righted now maybe knocked herself silly ??? Also breathing a bit faster than other parent.

Fry still appear fine..... (with exception of a runt or two) Maybe salt getting too high ? (shouldn't be with high changes - maybe my changes too often and water not cycled ... jeez )

PLease please ....any clues... ??? ??? :'(

Not now :'( things have been going really good.

1 parent going all looney and other has scarring... bloody kids !!!!

[Carol_Roberts]

Your water changes are with aged water the same temp? You'd think the fry would have problems first if it was the water. . . .

I'm worried about a bacterial infection in the adults - have you recently bought any new fish into your home?

Carol :heart1:

[peety]

Nope nothing new.....

Also the fish that freaked out has got lost scales and hasn't fixed herself shes doing a 45 degree list.....

All water is aged outside then warmed again inside so should be fine.... same as I've been doing for months. No new fish . And fry are fine. More than I thought .... about 50.

Water is 30 degrees exactly and hasn't changed.

The one that went crazy looks worn out.... colours are dark but have been anyway.

I don't want to risk losing all fry now. Should I separate mom and dad and half the fry... I have another cycled tank handy :-\ :-\

worried now.....

[peety]

Just checked water parms... all are good. Quite a lot of water changes lately so I expect them to be.....

Sigh.....

[jeep]

Mom may be stressed out and weakened from taking care of the fry, in which case she very well could be develping a bacterial problem.

I'm no expert, but I've had experience with 3 fish in the past few months that have done the exact same thing. The thing that has worked for us is to isolate the fish in question and treat with 1tbs salt per 2 gallons with water temp at 82 - 85. kanacyn or pennicillin is a good treatment for 6 days.

Good luck!

[Carol_Roberts]

yes, take her out. One parent is enough for your fry. Jeep's advice is sound, although I'm not sure if you can find the meds needed.
Carol :heart1:

[peety]

Moms in another tank... and still freakin out. :-\

Got the salt thing goin but no meds.... anything else I can use.... have furan-2, formalin, meth blue... buggar all available here..... if not I'll get to the vet tomorrow. Any other things I could use in case?? (or ask for at vets)

Fry and dad are still fine... ???

[Carol_Roberts]

One of memebers, Terry cotton recently had a similiar experience. Why don't you IM him (click on little green scroll thing on left under your gender, etc.) and ask what he used (I looked and couldn't find the thread ??? )

Carol :heart1:

[peety]

Thanx Carol and Jeep,
I don't know if its too early to be cracking open the champagne, but.... shes swimming OK!! I can't believe that just salt had such a quick effect :o :o

She was fully horizontal this morning swimming in tight circles, and then just quit swimming altogether.... but she has gotten better all day.

She has a lot of exposed skin... so has Dad (and he's still looking after the kids), and she had a lot of scales falling off as well. But she seems calm now, breathing back to normal.

Absolutely stunned with the results. ;D ;D

I will stick to the high salt levels for the next few days and hopefully she'll be right.

WOW

thanx again
peet

[Carol_Roberts]

Glad things are looking up - you may have to pull dad real soon too ???
Carol :heart1:

[peety]

Carol,
I was afraid of that.... fry are only about 1 1/2 weeks free swimming. I've been keeping an eye on them and they are chasing bbs, but only just started....

I don't want to risk hurting dad but don't want to risk losing all of the fry ::) ::)

He doesn't look to be in any discomfort at all, but does have some huge scar's, one by his gill plate is about 3-4 mm !!

I'll keep a close eye unless you reckon I should pull them now :-\ :-\

thanx again
peet

[jeep]

Peety,

I'm glad she's comming around. You may want to try adding some melifix to the dad's tank if you can find it there. It's a natural liquid anitbiotic used for treating minor injuries and such. It's not real powerful and some people don't report very good luck with it, but I've had success with minor problems such as split fins and injuries after fights where fungus has set in. Takes care of it overnight!

I agree with Carol in that you may want to remove the dad soon. I'd hate to lose any fry, but you have an established breeding pair and I wouldn't want to risk losing one of them. The fry may be old enough to survive on bbs. I also wouldn't let the pair spawn anytime soon until they heal up real good.

How big is the breeding tank? You may want to move the fry into a smaller 10 - 20 g tank so they can find the food easier. be careful though, that small of a tank won't last long with 50 fry.

Salt's a strange thing, huh? Works wonders! If you do use antibiotics, you may want to bump the temp up to around 86 - 88 AFTER the treatment for about a week or two. This will raise her metabolism, make her hungry and build her strength back up. Just make sure you add o2 as higher temps deplete o2.

Good luck!

Peety,
I had the exact same thing happen to both my parents. Is a heart wrenching experience when you don't know what is going on. I ended up pulling the babies after 2 weeks (or less) free swimming to allow mom and dad to build up their slimecoat. As of now babies are growing rapidly (feeding bbs and cut up CBW's 2x's daily along with pulverized flake 4x's daily) and doing great. Mom and Dad are fully recovered (after higher heat and salt) and ready to do the deed again.... Good luck.... You've got great advise to go by.

Julz :)

[peety]

OK I will pull dad :-\

I'm sure I've seen Melifix so I'll get some. I assume Mom and Dad in the same tank should be fine (she's looking much better now, but obviously missing him).

My tanks are 33 gallon and I'm doing 25% wc's x 2 daily.

I'll drop the water level in the fry tank to about 20 gallons.

How can I get them to stop spawning again soon?

Julz, hopefully, I too can can get the fry to survive. Yup freaked me out, she did some mad runs around the tank, and stunned herself a few times...

thanx folks
peety

Please keep us posted...... Your fry should be fine with out mom and dad. I have just kept the tank very clean and feed well.... As far as spawning, I put the cone back in my tank and will be ready to pull it after the spawn. I do not want another one yet either.

:) :) :)

[jeep]

Either that or you could increase the conductivity in the water by using straght tap. They will spawn but nothing will hatch. The added minerals may help a little as well.

Good luck with the babies. Sounds like the parents are a little worn out...