Lost a juvie

[Roxanne]

...This link contains images of dead fish that may upset some people...

http://www.fishlesscycle.com/FISH/freshwater_fish_disease_juvenile_discus.html

Hi all

Had a feeling this juvie was a problem from the start...he was always the runt and darkened more over time...he would brighten up for a feed, but was breathing at twice the rate of the other 5, and when I saw a chunk out of his tail fin, I pulled him and a hero (next slow growing bonsai) out to the QT...he was 7 cm long...from mouth to end of tail

A few days of Jungle internal parasite guard, he pooped some white curly poop, never stopped eating, tail fin showed regeneration.....

Last nite, was considering one more dose, but found him upright, dead and spinning around with the current...no gill movement...hero seems fine...but lonely...he could be in for a load of whatever now cos they would have bailed out of the dead juvie.....

Scraped him but found nothing motile...got my husband to slice him open but old big hands here must have squished him a bit so don't know if internals are where they should be lol..wasn't prepared...no worms popped out...smelled yuck, gills were too small to get a good pic of, but showed degradation and rot in the rear rows (?)...they were not red, more pale pink, but cannot say how long fish was dead, still had colour in the tank...gill snipped and scoped...

Guessing it was bacterial and not internal parasites that killed it....

Roxanne

[Eddie]

Sorry to hear Rox.

All the best with the rest,

Eddie

[Roxanne]

Thanks Eddie:)

any ideas about what to do with the lonely hero? ....

Rox

[TankWatcher]

Rox, sorry to hear about this. I feel sorry for your lonely hero, but being a cautious gal, I wouldn't put him back in with my healthy stock until a standard QT period had finished.

[Eddie]

Thanks Eddie:)

any ideas about what to do with the lonely hero? ....

Rox

Hey there Rox, I concur with Robyn, best to play it safe.

Eddie

[Roxanne]

Hey you guys :)...

ya I figured you's would say that;)....though he looks good, I will let him wait by himself....

question..what would you guys do?..if you have another fish that isn't well, would you plop him into the hero's QT and make the hero suck up more meds or QT seperately??

Rox

[Eddie]

Hey you guys :)...

ya I figured you's would say that;)....though he looks good, I will let him wait by himself....

question..what would you guys do?..if you have another fish that isn't well, would you plop him into the hero's QT and make the hero suck up more meds or QT seperately??

Rox

If the hero is doing well and no more symptoms exist, I'd move him back eventually over time. I wouldn't subject him to any more meds than need be.

Eddie

[TankWatcher]

IMO, it depends upon how you are going for tank space. If another one is known to be sick & needs medication, and you have the tank space, take care of it separately. That would be best. But, if space is a problem, you have to take that into account & if necessary, the poor hero may need to share his qt once more.

My poor hero fish in with my sick pearl albinos - he has had to cop metro, levamisole and now a 2nd course of metro - yet he is perfectly well. Of course, I will never know if he remained well because, just as the disease from the albinos tried to grab him, the meds were there to protect him. It might just have been that his immune system was good & would have protected him anyway. Yet the disease jumped ship & attacked other fish in other tanks, who weren't protected by meds.

Whichever, he is an example of one of the many downers of being considered a hero fish. I don't have room to put him elsewhere & I wouldn't dare put him with healthy fish, in case he is a carrier without showing symptoms.

What about a cheap PVC container from Target or Big W to use for the sick guy. If you can't get hold of some, I can probably help out.

Is the disease spreading one by one through the tank, do you think? If yes, it might become a case of medicating all occupants anyway.