scoped

[Simplejustin]

I am having trouble with a tank and i'm wondering if anyone may know what to the problem may be, and how to treat it.

Setup:
29 gallon with a drip system nitrates don't climb above 40. Enough oxygen, enough filtration, and plenty of wood for them to munch on.
7- L169 (now 5)
13- bristle nose (now 9) all fry dead.

Problems:
First issue was one of the Bristlenose staying in the sponge filter outlet tube for days. I see them in and out of there occasionally but this time it was about 3 days. Finally pulled her to find fuzzy spots on the body, tried meth blue, fish died the next day.

2 days later, another bristlenose, in the sponge filter outlet, was in for 2 days, pulled her out, and she had a hole in her stomach. (pic attached in next email)

I've noticed red marks near the base of the pectoral fins on the bristlenose, once or twice over the past 2 months, thought it was from the males being hard on the female during breeding, figured its worth mentioning.

All fish appear to be losing weight.

I have been losing 3-5 fry per day for the past month.

3 days ago, I found 2 L169 and one bristlenose dead.

today, another 2 bristle nose dead,

the others are pale.

I finally got slides for my microscope, so I cut one dead bristle nose open to find a tiny worm not longer than a mm inside, looks almost like a detritus worm, but brown (pic attached)

thank you

Justin David

[Simplejustin]

@brewmaster15

[brewmaster15]

Its hard to say what you are dealing with but a few thoughts...since you found a worm like that after it died we dont know if it was in it before it died or after. I would suggest treating them with a dewormer,levamisole in case there is that issue. My bristlenose took it no problem. You may want to try it on a fish first.

The pleco with the hole in the stomach could be from cannabalism. Its common for plecos to do that to a dead one.

The patches sound like bacteria. You mention you have enough oxygen and enough filtration and wood. Hows the water quality and foods fed? Are you doing regular maintenance? Id try bumping up water changes....what works with discus also works for other fish species. If that fails something like furan 2 maybe needed.