sick fish

[mikeos]

Attached pics show juvi, about 2.5"sl.

Came home to find the guy swimming with its head up, & near the surface as shown, Swims OK, but bumps into filters etc. just picked the little guy up in my hand without any splashing or anything, no oblious physical damage or symptoms.

Looks a little swolen in the gut, or possibly a little hollow behind the stomach, not clear on the pics & cant get better easily. Colour as pics, not espescially dark, well barred.

Water is OK, & stable, 25-50% daily/ every other, cbr2, Ph 6.5 ( natural, not adjusted ) Gh4, KH2-3, NO2,NH4 =0 NO3 a bit high, at 10mg

At a bit of a loss, so will wait your replies with eager anticipation.

[mikeos]

pic 2

[Ardan]

I would try some epsom salt (magnesium sulphate)
2 tbsp/10 gal.

Sometimes if they are constipated they loose balance.

hth

[Carol_Roberts]

Try epom salt (magnesium sulfate) at 1 or 2 teaspoons per 10 gallons. Your fish should improve within 4 hours if this is constipation. Epsom salt will not hurt other fish or biofilter.

[mikeos]

thanks guys

unfortunately dead in less than 4 hours, about 11pm.

:( :( :(

[mikeos]

Lost another one the same way shortly after, & got a third just starting to show similar behaviour.....

Could do wigh some options here guys :'( :'( :'(

[Carol_Roberts]

Hi Mike:
Sorry for your loss :'( When dying that quickly there isn't much you can do :-\ If not bloat, then must be an internal bacterial infection . . . you can try kanacyn, but may be too late for anything to work since severalhave died already. . . .

[mikeos]

Your dead right Carol, when things go bad this fast you wonder what the heck to do for the best. Not even time for a proper diagnosis :(

Added salt & broad spectrum antibacterial yesterday pm & things seem to have stabilised somewhat, kanacyn & other anitbiotics are difficult to obtain here >:( so am going with what I can ATM.

At least I didnt have another floater this morning ;) But one is still not right, will get some epsom salt today ( I am ath the stage where I will try almost anything). Can i add epsom salt to the current mix, or should I do a large WC first ( salt & antibac)? If I need to WC, how do I get back to salt & anti bac? WC after 4-5h & then replenish meds?

[Carol_Roberts]

Epsom salt can be mixed with those meds - no problem at all

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Hi Mike,
Have you called the person you got them from? Maybe other siblings are having the same problem. The breeder might have a remedy. Sounds really odd.

Dan

[Barb Newell]

Hi Mike, what are you feeding? What is their poop like?

Barb

[mikeos]

Hi guys

Dan, been in touch, he's as confused ( and as piszed) as I am, think its something my end, the rest are fine. (I know the guy & he's straight) Really odd is about right. like something from the far side, but not as funny :(

Spoke to the water company lab today, no work, flushing or additives in my area.

Barb, everything, BW, BH, krill, artimia, pellet, mussel....they eat the lot ( or at least they did). poop fine.

Added epsom salt, 1tsp/10gal, 6-7h ago, no visible change.

NO noticable deterioration either, so I am a little more hopeful than yesterday. ATM I will continue with salt and anti bacterial unless advised otherwise.

[Barb Newell]

You can dose as high as 2 tbsp/ 10 gals of epsom salt if necessary.

Have you added anything new to their diets? The pic of the first little guy that you lost --- he looks quite bloated. Might they be bloating from the pellets?

Barb

[mikeos]

Went to 2/10 later.

1 died overnite, others (larger) currently look fine.

They dont get much in the way of dried/pellet at the moment, only about 1/2 a feed at a time cos they are little pigs. and nothing in the past week, only frozen.

[mikeos]

As an update & reply to Dan & Al, from another post.

juvies have stabilised & seem ok now, only 50% loss so maybe I was lucky.

came home to find one adult ( seperate tank) as pic 1, looks like he's been dipped in acid, tail & fins badly damaged & rotting, slime from body & gills hanging at the surface. Suspect F. columnaris infection, may be what killed the juvies as 2 showed some mucous from gills shortly before death.

Water normal, so 50% wc, salt @ 1tbls/10gal, antibacterial @12h intervals.
No real improvement after 24h so dipped @2% salt untill fish rolled over ( about 2 mins), continued treatment & maintenance of tank as normal. fish as pic 2. Pic 3 for interest is lost fins that came adrift in the salt bath.

next day, yesterday, most fish showing some slime & discolouration so dipped all @3% x3 for up to 10 mins, as long as the fish could take basically. continued salt antibac & wc.

today 3 fish have fins extended & came looking for food, with no other signs except being a bit off colour. others still looking a bit of & listless but no worse. The one in the pic is no worse, maybe a little better but has a slight head down position and is almost unmoving but still reacts to external stimuli.

Will not dip again unless I see a need, will continue 50%wc, salt & antibac for now.

[mikeos]

pic 1

[mikeos]

pic 2

[mikeos]

pic 3

[GulfCoastDiscus]

Hi Mike,
Wow 50% loss. Sorry to hear that. What medication are you using besides salt? I find Furan 2 works great for bacterial. Make sure to treat for 10 days along with salt. 50% w/c daily and redose full amount. Don't forget to rinse sponge daily.

Dan

[mikeos]

Using a product called Myzaxin by Waterlife, seems to do the trick. Furan is difficult to obtain, you need a vet here & there aint any that do fish in my area.

lost fish were only 2-2.5" so I guess they just had less stamina than bigger fish :(