Reccuring bacterial infections

[DJW]

I agree switching back to ro is a good idea until you can sort it out. We put a ro filter in the kitchen that has a UV stage, not because I think there is something toxic, the water just tastes bad.

With antibiotics I prefer to treat just the fish that need it in a hospital tank, but in your case half the fish are in qt and the main tank is bare bottom... so whichever works best for you. There can be a setback to the filter and a small spike in ammonia. If the gills look irritated 2 tbsp/10 g salt would help.

Freeze dried blackworms is a good main staple IMO, along with frozen foods. I feed small amounts of frozen beefheart, not very much, it makes a mess if there some left over.

[kevin murray]

Ok thanks, Should add a uv stage or will the ro be enough? I think I will re treat the main tank after I have the water switched over.

[DJW]

Bacteria can't get through an ro membrane that is working right, so you don't need to add UV. Some kitchen ro filters are sold with UV but I thinks that's more of a backup.

[kevin murray]

Ok, thanks again for all the help. I'll report back when I have an update.

[LizStreithorst]

If you live in an area with decent rain fall you could also collect rain water.

[kevin murray]

Update: I still have one fish that has been in qt for a few months now. The orange fish from my original post died shortly after. I couldn't get it to eat. The fish I have in qt now has no visual problems and it eats but not like it should. It refuses pellet food, and when I feed frozen blood worms or freeze dried black worms it eats very slow and leaves food behind. I wonder if it has been treated too many times with the furan 2. (3 to 4 seperate treatments, maybe 30+ days total with that med)
I'm now left with 2 healthy fish in the main tank, Ive still been afraid to get new fish.

[kevin murray]

Since the original post I've been using ro water to rule out water contamination or metals. I no longer have that excess slime build up on my aging tank since I started using it, and I haven't had any new infections. I'm just still dealing with the one fish that was sick before. I had my water tested for nitrate(0.21 mg/l) coliform(not present) and plate count bacteria (52 cfu/ml) all normal. I wonder what other tests I should have done? I need to get off of the ro water, It's producing too much waste water.

[kevin murray]

Also I'm starting to wonder if a lot of this is result of the fish bullying and fighting. And Maybe I need to separate fish sooner. In that case would I qt the bully fish or the fish getting picked on most?

[PillBox_]

I don't know if anyone has a better opinion but I would qt the one getting picked on, If its getting picked on then its likely under stress and removing the bully could entice one of the others to bully.

[LizStreithorst]

I say that you should leave the small one in. In a group of young Discus there is always a low man on the totem pole. If you remove it another fish will become the low man. The smallest ones that remain healthy have a strong will to live. They earn their keep by acting as sacrificial lambs.