Unknown disease in tank - any help appreciated

[DoubleDutch]

Agree with Ira. But if we come to the conclusion this must be a bacterial (what i suspect after seeing lots of likewise threads on UK and dutch forums) or fungal, why not start treating with a med you can get without prescription. These fish are ill and shouldn't have to wait any longer I think for us to discuss about vets aso. Sorry for maybe sounding a little rude, but please start treating them. A wrong decission is better than no decission i think. Greetz Aad.

[sandaz]

I have started treating with Furan-2 this morning and have given my guppy with clamped fins a meth blue bath. He seemed to perk up straight after and even swam a bit (he was lying on his side before I gave him the bath). He still looks very poorly though.

Have fished out a couple more dead loaches.

I will see what I can do in terms of getting other meds, but for now the Furan-2 is all I have and must count for something.

Also just wanted to say thank you to everyone offering their help and advise! Really much appreciated!

[sandaz]

Forgot to add, the open wound on the gourami head has healed up completely, and the white spot on the harlequin tetra tail is gone too. And this could just be wishful thinking but I reckon the swordtail tail fin looks better too. :bounce:

Noticed this before I started the Furan-2 so can't be attributed to that yet.

Either some of the meds are working or their immunity is strong enough to fight some of the stuff off. Anyone's guess!

[DoubleDutch]

Ok!!!! Maybe it's good to put an airstone in. Mind the ammonia / nitrite levels, because good bacteria probably will be killed as well !!! Keeping my fingers crossed. Sorry to hear about the loaches !!!

[sandaz]

Ok!!!! Maybe it's good to put an airstone in. Mind the ammonia / nitrite levels, because good bacteria probably will be killed as well !!! Keeping my fingers crossed. Sorry to hear about the loaches !!!

Haven't got an air stone but do have airpump running full tilt. Would that be same as air stone?

[sandaz]

Mind the ammonia / nitrite levels, because good bacteria probably will be killed as well !!! Keeping my fingers crossed. Sorry to hear about the loaches !!!

Did water tests again tonight and all seems good for now. Will keep an eye on readings though and add some Seachem Stability once finish with course of furan

[DoubleDutch]

Top!!! Feed a little less for the time being = less Pollution = less ammonia aso. Greetz Aad

[sandaz]

Just an update, as of today my tank is loach-less. Three died overnight as the last 3 is nowhere to be seen. Shame, was my favourite fish.

Guppy with clamped fins also didn't make it through the night.

Swordtail fins show very little signs of fin rot that showed in the picture the other day, but the edges of my glass cat is now looking like that.

Have dosed the tank with the second ode of Furan tonight.

Have read an article on using a 3% solution of Magnesium sulphate to soak the food in to help with intestinal parasites. Am going to start trying that too after the Furan as we've got lots of long stringy fecies coming from some of the fish. My large bristelnose had a string about 30cm long last night, and I see a few more lying around the tank which I will syphon out tonight.

On the other hand, my female swordtail looks like she'll have her fry in the next few days.

Interestingly enough, apart from one harlequin tetra and the tiger pleco, all the fish left in the tank were there originally when I bought it. Some of the originals have died off too, but by far the fish from the original setup have survived better than the others.

[DoubleDutch]

Grrrrrrr, Sounds if the new ones brought several problems with them. What did you feed your fish (esp.

Loaches)? White stringy poo looks like worms or flagellates.

[sandaz]

Quick update again. I removed a neon from the tank which had white sore on its tail and put it in a breeding box. On closer inspection it seemed the white patch seemed to have something looking like cotton wool on it. I wrapped it and put it in the freezer straight away.

Now if I'm right this fits with the columnaris mentioned on this post. And I read it could be spread by nets etc.

So the net I used to fish it out and then to pick up other stuff, is that now infected too? And how do I disinfect everything?

[disgustipated]

boiling hot water will disinfect stuff from diseases/parasites etc

[DoubleDutch]

Think your net will melt as well!!! Are there no desinfectants in NZ? Have to containe chlorine I think. We have stuff called halamid-d. It's worldwide used when there is an outbreak of viruses / bacteria (birdflue fi). Please don't put living fish in a freezer. It's believed to being a cruel way of putting it down overhere. The furan-2 doesn't seem to work or does it? Greetz Aad

[Godly3vil]

Bleach dip will disinfect the gear, 1/20 part mix.

[DoubleDutch]

Update ???

[sandaz]

Have put last remaining harlequin tetra in quarantine tank since it's the only one that still not eating. Had nnoticedan extra white sore on it left so have treated quarantine tank with Wunder Tonic. He looks happy enough, will see if he eats at all tonight.

Other fish looks happy and healthy with no more signs of disease or sickness at present. I've learned not to count my chickens (or fish) yet though as this could just be a short coincidence. I do live in hope though.

Both sword tail and molly about to have another set of fry in the next few days by the looks of it.

Long white stringy poo seems to have stopped to. Think the Epsom salt treatment of food has made a difference.

[DoubleDutch]

Super !!!!

[sandaz]

Oh dear, guppy side fin not looking good with the "white" spreading into her body, so have put in quarentine with the harlequin. Harlequin is still alive and swimming. Golden algae eater also has brown spots on it now.

Have got some antibiotics off the friendly local vet, won't start treatment yet but it will be the next step. I reckon if that doesn't work my whole tank will be wiped out anyway.

[sandaz]

Another quick update,

the guppy and harlequin tetra seems to have recovered in quarentine tank and after a week in there have put them back in big tank. Larger white patches have gone and they are swimming and feeding.

I lost a guppy a few days ago that showed no signs of illness, but all the other fish seems to be doing fine. Even the golden algae eater with brown patches have no signs of patches now and is all golden again.

The swordtail have had her fry in the mean time and molly will soon too.

Bad news is I have somehow transferred this to my breeding tank. I sterilised a breeding box used to isolate one of the sick fish and to keep the babies in while I clean the one they were in. I either didn't sterilise it properly or didn't sterilise it well enough. All of my 60+ babies have died, dropping off in mass over 3 days. Removed the breeding box and now two adult guppies in my breeding tank have died too. So something wrong in there as this pattern seems very familiar. Have treated tank with Furan-2, here's hoping it will stop what ever is going on in its tracks.

[BikBok]

you really are having a tough time. I know how frustrating it can be..

I once had a columarais outbreak after aquiring new fish and it was a time intensive dedication to rid my tanks of the disease.

Don't know what's in your tanks but it does sound a bit like the aggressive columaris that I had to deal with.

[sandaz]

you really are having a tough time. I know how frustrating it can be..

I once had a columarais outbreak after aquiring new fish and it was a time intensive dedication to rid my tanks of the disease.

Don't know what's in your tanks but it does sound a bit like the aggressive columaris that I had to deal with.

How did you get rid of it?

Molly had some fry when I got home - all dead. And next moment she's dead too.

[BikBok]

In my community tank I used salt, (even with a hypancistrus, kuhlis etc) and lowered the temperature to 23/24oC as columnaris thrives over 27oC and plenty of waterchanges, I did this until I saw no more affected fish and then left it another week before reducing salt and bringing the temp back up again.

I took out any affected affected fish I saw which interestingly were all guppies and put them into QT. i used a higher dose of salt (which is fine for guppies) and added meth blue AND acriflavine. Some still succumbed and very quickly but I continued with water changes and medication until no more fish were dieing . I left the survivors in the QT for a MONTH before putting them back into the main tank as I wanted to make sure.

I did use a little furan 2 also but only as a daily 30 minute dip in a floating container on my favourite fish as I didn't want it to play havoc with the biofilter..

I've heard that pimafix can be used for mild cases but IMO columnaris is seldom mild!

The treatment worked for me and I'm 99% sure my issue was columnaris. But acriflavine and meth blue can target a lot of things anyway.

I can't recall if you mentioned your tank temp but it might be worth lowering it if your fish species can handle that for a while. That way any treatment for columnaris (if it is Columnaris will have a better chance at working... and maybe put in an airstone for for extra oxygenation (which the lower temp will help with too) .. and as with most medications keep the tank lights off for as much as possible.

[sandaz]

Thought I'd give another quick update.

All seems to have settled mostly. Harlequin and guppy that I quarentined and then put back is still alive and well. Guppy just had some fry over the weekend.

I found my male sword tail (that recovered so nicely after the Furan-2 treatment) dead and half eaten last week. Was gutted as I either missed signs of illness or he just dropped dead. Anyhow, hoping some of the fry he produced (and I'm still nurturing in my breeding tank) will grow to look like him as I've never seen anything like him in the shops.

There is no signs of bullying, the RTB shark is a mellow fella and the t-bar cichlids tunred out to both be females, so are both spawning inside one of the caves thinking the other will be the male. The golden algae eaters seems to stay out of each other's way too.

I think my main learnings from this has been:

1. Always keep on top of your water quality

2. Have a quarentine tank - nothing passes that for at least 2 weeks. It's amazing how much piece of mind this has given me lately as I see fish come and and some die, and know that it had nothing to do with my display tank and that it was never transferred in there. Also makes medication much cheaper as only treating 1/10 of what have had to in big tank.

3. Remove any sick fish before they die and get eaten, therefore potentially spreading the disease further

4. Soaking the food briefly in Epsom salts worked a treat for the long stringy fieces. Have done this in my quarentine tank as well and within 2-3 days it stopped

5. Never use the same equipment (nets, syphon etc) between tanks. It's just asking for trouble

6. Furan-2 and Wunder Tonic was the main two that worked for me. Prazi I think helped with the hole in the head too. Don't think I ever had just one problem.

7. Join your local fish club. Loads of people with lots of experience for many many years. It could be the key.

Hoping my experience can help others too. I have learned so much! But hope never to repeat this learning excercise. Thank you to everyone who gave advice or sympathised!

Will post a picture of my tank soon.

Onwards and upwards! :lol:

[DoubleDutch]

Good advice!!