northland chic Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Bought a second hand Aqua One 620T for my daughter for Xmas. Set it up with everything that came with it, including the daltons mix stuff in the substrate. Went all good,left it set up for about 2 weeks before i added any fish. I bought 6 platys and told her they were from Santa(OMG $9ea!). All went well at first, got a couple of fish from a friend(platys & swordtails) and left them in that tank for about 4 days before they went on a road trip. Those fish went down the line on the 28th of Dec and are still all fine. Our platys on the other hand They started darting around, flashing off things,fins clamped and the skinnier one started getting like rot/fungus just before the tail, then another developed quite a big abcess/ulcer. So I lost those two and then another that had been hiding all the time was sitting on the bottom a bit wobbly on it and died. I couldn't really see anything on that one apart from the hiding and being really skittish. We now only have three. I was worried it was the daltons mix as that was the only different to all my other tanks and was told it was meant to be under a decent layer of sand and it was all mixed up so changed to stones like I'm used too. Quite happy I did as some Malayian trumpet snails hitched a ride in it and I didn't like the way everything sat on top of it. But sadly my problem still remains. I have tested my ph and ammonia and all fine. Out of the 3 fish I have one very happy one who doesn't hide and always greets me. One that hides but looks alright and one that is terrible. It always hides under the log and eats but not alot. Flashes off things, fins clamped,skittish and has some blood under the skin under her gills and around her bum and belly. I think the last two breath quite rapidly as well. So I'm thinking velvet or some kind of parasite but I have no experience with either of these and my local shop doesn't have a wide range of treatments. I have tried some Melafix which hasn't helped. Sorry for the long post but wanted everyone to know the full story. Any advice would be great because I am going insane and my daughter is pretty much put off platys. Seen the rest of the platys from that shipment in the shop and they are all fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Are you sure that your tank is still not cycling? You don't mention nitrite levels. And got a picture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Did you give the tank and equipment a good scrub and clean up before you set it up? Its possible there was something in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northland chic Posted January 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 Ok, so have just tested the nitrite and ammonia again to be safe and both are 0. I didn't clean it which was stupid, tank was clean but I stupidly didn't clean the substrate. I realised as soon as I filled the tank I should have but asked seller and they said it should settle. All plants came from my own tanks and log came with the tank which was also clean when picked up and dry but still sunk straight away. I thought it was impossible something had hitched a ride since there was over a week with no fish ie no host but if there was still live snails maybe not. My daughter has gone fishing for a few days to the 3 kings so I have until about sunday to hopefully get somewhere. Am very glad I didn't move her guppies from her AR380 into it. Will try to post a pic if I can find the pack of new batteries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 As these are new fish you need to keep them quarantined. Since some have got sick and others haven't, I would suspect a bacterial infection. Some sites suggest adding tonic salt in the correct amounts slowly over the next couple of days. And if no improvement, Sulphonamides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 As these are new fish you need to keep them quarantined. Since some have got sick and others haven't, I would suspect a bacterial infection. Some sites suggest adding tonic salt in the correct amounts slowly over the next couple of days. And if no improvement, Sulphonamides. I am not certain you are aware just how restricted NZ fish keepers are with what sort of medications are available for fish. There is an extremely limited selection of legally imported remedies here in New Zealand and it is very hard to find a Veterinarian who has sufficient knowledge of aquatic creatures, let alone get them to prescribe something for a fish. I see you have tested your ammonia levels. Have you checked your pH, nitrates and nitrites. While I don't necessarily think these are the issue it is possible that your fish were carrying something when you purchased them and the stress of being moved may have triggered it. Google this - columnaris disease - and see what you think. Furan 2 is the best non scripted medication available for bacterial infections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 I am not certain you are aware just how restricted NZ fish keepers are with what sort of medications are available for fish. There is an extremely limited selection of legally imported remedies here in New Zealand and it is very hard to find a Veterinarian who has sufficient knowledge of aquatic creatures, let alone get them to prescribe something for a fish. I googled for furan first but didn't find it so assumed that sulphonamides would be available since they're a much older treatment. Looks like they're not available in NZ for fish use, and presumably there is no importer willing to sponsor the registration of these drugs. An expensive exercise. Sulphonamides are used in live stock treatment, so the vet has access. Looks like the old books talk about using co-trimoxazole and dissolving that into water. But the paediatric suspension Trisul is not marketed at present though the Starship protocols for treating paediatric urinary tract infections still mention using this. Chloramphenicol is readily available as ear drops but a 5 ml bottle only contains 25 mg, and you'd need 40 mg per litre of water ... Citations on request. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 There is no way you will get chloramphenicol from a vet to treat fish. It is the drug of choice for treating cholera and they don't want a resistant strain. I tried to get it years ago when I imported goldfish and the vet told me it would mean her licence. I got a couple of other antibiotics but it took a bit of work. Back in the day we used to use it a lot. It is very hard to get antibiotics from a vet. They are supposed to see the patient before they prescribe and not many people want to take a half dead fish to the vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 Furan2 is available from most specialist fish shops ie Hollywood Fish Farm and I believe Animates also stocks it. Some smaller pet stores may have it as well. I am a very firm believer that drugs created for human use should not be dispensed to animals for the very reason Alanmin has stated. Normally in NZ, if you require a vet to prescribe antibiotics you need to take the fish in to them along with all the paperwork you can find to support your request for medications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 GrahamC, have you tried this stuff on your own fish? Personally I am hesitant to try medications or take suggestions of things that people haven't tried. If I was desperate I might but I'd rather hear advice about things people have used successfully first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 Toxic strains of V. cholerae are not endemic to NZ so I don't think that is a practical concern. The main reason it fell out of favour was the risk of aplastic anaemia in the era prior to the availabilty of G-CSF, and so its use is mainly restricted to prescription ear and eye drops. And I see recent work has been done in NZ using chloramphenicol in treating Chytrid fungus which is an emerging fungal amphibian infection. Doing a little more reading, this drug was approved for use in pets in the USA in the 1950s, but banned for use in animals raised for food. The oral solution was then banned for use in pets in 1986 as vets and others were diverting the drug illegally for use in food animals. Anyway, first step tonic salt and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 Hi northland chic, it sounds like you have been very careful. It situations like these, we try to come back to the golden principle which is to 'keep the water' rather than keeping the fish. If your water is top notch, fish are much more likely to stay healthy and, if they should get a disease, they are more likely to heal quickly if they aren't stressed. If you don't know what the problem is, dosing with random medications isn't really going to help, and can actually hurt, or at the very least, cause unnecessary stress to the fish, which could further impede healing. Most experienced fishkeepers don't add much of anything to their water unless they absolutely have to. As such, I wouldn't personally suggest using Melafix. It is a topical antiseptic so it will kill some surface bacteria and possibly some fungi, but it is also very irritating (think about how it would feel to get a peppermint in your eye). The redness you describe sounds more like systemic problems (possibly something like bacterial septicaemia). Surface antiseptics will not help when a disease goes throughout the body. One medication you could try for this would be Furan, this is a fish antibiotic that you can get from your local fish shop. Firstly though, I would address the flashing and discomfort the fish are currently in. I would do some frequent water changes of about 30% every day for 3 days and each time replace the water with de-chlorinated tap water. If you have some Seachem Prime, that is useful for dechlorinating, as well as detoxifying any ammonia or nitrites and adding some beneficial bacteria if your tank is having a mini cycle. While you are at it, cut right back on feeding the fish. They can go quite a long time without food and it is much safer than making the water more toxic from additional waste from rotting food or excess fish poo. Try to angle the filter outlet so that there is a good amount of surface agitation - this will oxygenate the water and make it easier for them to breathe (an air bubbler works well for this also). Let us know how it turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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