Caryl Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Fish have been dying over past week (not my tank by the way). Both old and new fish over all species (community tank). Tank well established and not overstocked. Dead fish appear red on the undersides and look a little swollen. Ideas please - both on what it could be and appropriate treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Could it be bloat ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Doubt it. Fish fed same food as they have been for over 2 years. Mostly flake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 is it a new batch of the flake food? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 What has been the gravel cleaning regime on this tank and, if seldom, has the substrate been disturbed recently? Maybe toxins have been accumulating in the gravel and have been released somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 In a previous life, when I imported goldfish, I did so because most of the goldfish in NZ where infected with a disease with similar signs. It mainly affects gold fish but can affect other fish. It is bacterial hemorrhagic septacemia and is caused by the bacteria aeromonas. I had a friend who was a Govt analyst in a micro lab at the time and kindly did some work on them for me. At the time the cheapest effective antibiotic was bactrim which can be used at a much higher dose than most other antibiotics if required. If my memory serves me correctly aeromonas is a common bacteria in soil. There is a viral type as well which would be more of a challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Having had a couple of cups of coffee I now remember the antibiotic was amoxyl and I still can't remember if that is the same as bactrim. most antibiotics are used at 1/100,000 or 10ppm but amoxyl could be used up to 5/100,000 or 50ppm. The bacteria usually enters through a wound but if the fish are stressed they may have had a hard time from other parasites which could leave lesions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 Not a new batch of food. The tank is my son's and his partner's. It cracked a couple of weeks ago so was totally replaced. All gravel etc was transferred over. They are very good at the regular water changes and gravel vac so I don't think it is buildup in gravel. Dena did a 40% water change last night and there have been no deaths since and all the fish look well but she said the others looked well up until they dropped dead too. :-? Alan I don't think Bactrim and amoxyl are the same thing. I can't find bactrim on my meds database (I am at work ) so perhaps it is no longer available. Amoxyl is penicillin. If the fish are still dying I will get a script for some amoxyl (one of the advantages of working for a GP) and see if that works. Am wary of adding meds to tanks though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Bactrim - Co Trimoxazole (think thats how you spell it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Neither of those names appear on my meds database Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me love fishy Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 You don' think its anything to do with the silicon used or maybe the fact that the tanks cycle may have been upset Caryl? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 I wondered about both but Tim has been making tanks for years so I doubt the silicone is a problem. I would not have thought the cycle to be that much upset as when the tank cracked they immediately transferred all quickly to a spare tank and the filter was up and running again very fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 google co-trimoxazole (generic bactrim), used for ear infections etc - my children used to take it a lot in liquid form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Mrs Google is God's mother in law. It was bactrim and it was about 20 years ago and THE COFFEE PUT ME OFF. It was bactrim. It was also the same bug that caused rotting armpits at a pub from being in a badly maintained spa pool about the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 I looked it up on the work database for all meds available in NZ. It is not in it. Co trimoxazole is trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. This combination used to be called Apo-Sulfatrim and was deleted Nov 2004 but is also found in Trisul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 It was comonly prescribed to kids. The two together have a greater effect than the two individually. A doctor or vet would know what was effective against that bug (if that is what it is). I think it is found in imported fish because the bug is in soil and many are raised in ponds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kd123 Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 bactrim and the other were readily available in nz a couple of years back as i was on them for a while!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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