Jump to content

Does anyone know what causes a fish to elongate?


mcmillanm

Recommended Posts

Hi, this happens to the fish in my baby tank (a 60 something litre Jebo) in a few platies and mollies now and again and I was wondering if anyone knew why. I lost all of my last batch of dalmatian Molly babies to this and have just noticed a platy with the same problem. He lopjs a bit stretched, is breathing a bit fast a not swimming around like the others.

To me it sounds like either a deficiency in their water or maybe somehow the filter?

I am hoping someone on here may know...

Also, I did a 25% water change yesterday, its an established tank and other tank mates such as cories seem fine as they keep spawning.

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

Yeah he does look skinny, (maybe that makes him look a bit stretched), no rounded tummy, breathing a bit fast, lethargic, gills sticking out a bit. Most fish are fine but now two are like this. I do 2x25% water changes a week so water quality should be fine.

Any ideas?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Internal worms or parasites?

This would be my thoughts too.

Would these effect just live bearers? I lost all of my last lot of baby mollies to this.

If it is this, any ideas on treatments which are safe for corydoras too?

Thanks

Different breeds of fish are more succeptable to certain problems than others, mollies for example may be more prone to it if you have them in water that isn't brackish etc..

Without actually finding out what type of work is affecting your fish it is hard to decide the appropriate dosage, levamisole HCL (Aviverm) is a good place to start, if you search the forums for it using the search feature above you will find tons of advice just make sure you do it properly. If that doesn't work then you may have to try praziquental/metro or fenbedazole..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

Is there any place other than a vet to get aviverm?

Another thing with him - his gills seem a bit red and seem to be opening more than usual like his breathing is laboured.

One other thing I noticed a few weeks ago was that some of the live bearers had long stringy white poos trailing behind them. I haven't noticed this lately but could that be something to do with it too?

Hanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes long white stringy poos is a sign of worms - the worms are stripping everyone out of the food in the gut so the poo comes out clear with nothing left in it..

Aviverm can be purchased online from NZ stores (google it) and is available from the bird barn up here..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone. I've just ordered some from bird barn, hopefully will be here tomorrow. I guess it would be a good idea to dose both tanks as I swap fish around from time to time and share nets, syphons etc.

Will let U know how I get on and hopefully it isn't too late for this fish!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Flukes and worms are all parasites :) But yeah internal parasites are one of the causes of white stringy poos especially when combined with the fish getting skinny, but it could still be plenty of other things. I recommend starting with the levamisole because it is cheap and easy to source, works quite well for a variety of things and is quite gentle.. Have you found the dosage rates etc?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...