Good God what now ! ?

[Freakdaddy]

DISEASE QUESTIONNAIRE


Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish/when and how they started
I have 2 red spotted leopards the smaller I have just cured of gill flukes but is still thin and hardly eating its bigger buddy was as fit as a fiddle and the tank boss(these fish are in my avatar slot) while i was at work today he seems to have invented a new way of swimming(see below) but is still trying to show everybody who's boss. After losing 2 cobalts in recent months(Hunger strike and a Heart attack I think) and about of food poisoning(posted elsewhere)this is beggining to get me down.ps Ithink the cobalts may have been the start of all this.20 plus years of keeping cichlids and I have had to deal with more sickness in the last 6 months than in all that time

2. Symptoms (i.e. turning dark, excess slime, not eating, clamped fins, flashing, darting, clamped gills, white/yellow/green poop, hiding, headstanding or tailstanding, white on tips of fins, rotting or fungus, blisters/ white zits on fish, bloated, cloudy eyes, wounds)
turning dark
headstanding
Swimming in a strange wiggly fashion
my wife says it passed a round grey poo


3. What medications/ treatments that you have already tried and results. Include dosages and duration of treatment.
All the fish in this tank have had a formalin bath for flukes(last week) were wormed 3 days ago ,yesterday changed 30% water and added tonic salt 1tbsp per 5 gals .




Tank/Water

4. Tank size and age, number and size of fish

190l Trigon corner tank.4 minnows 4 corys 1yoyo loach 2 clown pleco 1 golden nugget 5 Discus

5. Water change regime/ how long has tank been running/ bare bottom or gravel/ do you age your water
30% a week
8 months Biotope gravel bogwood java fern etc;no water is not aged just warmed up
6 Parameters and water source

- temp _84____

- ph _7.2____
- ammonia reading __0__

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __0__

- well water __no__

- municipal water __yes filtered mixed 4 to 1 with ro__

7. Any new fish/plants added recently no

[Ardan]

IMO wc's need to be more frequent. I recommend daily. 30 to 50%

Check the stability of the ph in the wc water, let it sit in a bucket overnight with an airstone. check the ph at the beginning and at the end of the night. if it changes much it is unstable.

Check wc water for chloramines, ie use dechlor, then test for ammonia.

It is hard to clear up any disease with gravel in the tank. Any parasite can hide in the gravel.


Using meds, the fish need a rest in between different meds to recuperate. 2 wks is good


This does sound like a type of bacteria. an antibiotic may be in order, but which one is a guess.

Are the fish newly acquired? if so I would contact the seller

Increase wc's and increase salt to start. 1 tblsp/one gallon non iodized salt.

hth
Ardan

[Carol_Roberts]

It's really hard to bring discus back to health in planted graveled tanks. As you have found out all the meds in the world won't make them healthy if they don't have a really clean enviornment. I suggest a bare hospital tank with a cycled filter and daily water changes.

It sounds to me like your fish are being attacked by bacteria externally and internally. You've wormed them and added formalin in the last week, so parasites should be at a minimum. Parasites are nearly impossible to eradicate in a planted tank too . . .

[Freakdaddy]

Thanks for the replys but this fish is havin a laugh at my expense he is now swimming about as if nothing happened ! All water paramiters are fine but ill increase water changes anyway.

[Ardan]

this fish is havin a laugh at my expense he is now swimming about as if nothing happened ! :D
Those darn fish can drive us nuts :D Glad to hear its ok and hope it continues to be

Ardan