Sick Tetra

[bozco]

This guy is in the 33 gal. He's about twice the width of the other glowlites, practically white and moving very slow. I will get some pictures up in little while. He's just bloated, swimming very slowly. The tank is on its last day of melafix treatment, the angel if doing great. I will change the water later.

I am paying off vet bills for my parrot, so I can only work with what I have one hand to get this fish better. I have some aquarium pharmaceuticals stuff: Nala-gram, general cure, and E.M. Tabs. and some nox ich

If I can help him with anything I've got that is great. But i simply can't afford to buy anything for him. So if any of what I have will help, I'd like to know, or if I can't then I will have to put the poor guy out of his misery. Will get some pictures on asap

[bozco]

ok here's the picutres. I spent half an hour trying to get some decient ones, he's so pale and he wouldn't come to a good spot. This is the best I could manage. One shows his fin damage really well, and the the other is about how pail he really is and he's very bloated. I looked at my other fish and one of the bronze cory cats is a little pale and showing some fin damage. So it looks like I might lose the whole tank if I don't medicate. So forget what I said about only using the medication I have on hand, I will have to dip into vet funds and see about something else if I need it, I don't want to lose half the tank to this.

http://img24.photobucket.com/albums/v71/monikajay/belly.jpg

http://img24.photobucket.com/albums/v71/mo...y/findamage.jpg

[Smokey]

bozco:

a number of possibilites come to mind ... however ... before we jump to any conclusion....

Internal;

Have you noticed the color of the fish's stool [???]. is it whitish.... or ?

Did I notice white spots on the pic's of the fish ... or is that from fin-nipping [?].

For extenal problems - a gram negative medication is a good choice. fungal / bacterial.

Aqua-Sol or Malachite Green. - are ones I have best results / cures with.

However, both are very powerful and follow the instructions carefully.

Aqua-Sol is inexpensive and can be found at most good lfshops.

I have had excellant results using Aqua-sol.

Read the instructions carefully and be careful with it's use on some species of fish !!!!!

Malachite green is a " DYE " ... AN IT DOES COLOR EVERYTHING!!! and it is becoming harder to locate. Banned in some U.S. states.

Melafix .... I must admit the more I hear about this product the less I trust it.

ONE NOTE - melafix " IS " poisonous if taken internally !!!!!!

I have used this product, Melafix, over a period of 9 months [ shop tanks/fish] ... and I have not found it to be an effective medication. Especially when compared to other proven medications. aka, in preventing the death of a sick fish.

I realize this statement may not gain the approval of some persons, however, in my expierence and the use of melafix / primafix in the lfs tanks; I am not overly impressed with the product. [ mpo/mpe only].

[bozco]

Well he didn't make it. About an hour after I posted the photos he was dead. I am keeping a close eye on the sliggish cory now too. It is possible that melafix had a factor in it. I like it for fin damage, that is the only time I use it. And the angel fish's tail is nearly all grown back already and she looks much better. But it is possible the tetra got some internally, because I didn't know about that, I fed them and put the medication in before they'd finished eating. That was stupid I guess. Except for the cory everyone else seems to be doing alright. I think though, that I really need to get a quarentine tank set aside. That way when someone needs treatment I can seperate them from the healthy fish.

Anyway, I got a good look at the body, though I didn't think to take a picture before I disposed of it <_< He was nearly white, and you could see red lines on his swollen belly. An internal parasite maybe? His eyes were buggy too, sticky out too far. The white spots, as far as I could tell, where just from the nipping. BUT, my male angel had a white spot on one of his fins that I was concerned about. However that has cleared up I did a search on google for fish diseases, but couldn't find a good site to identify it. Does anyone know a good one? The cory isn't bloated, just has a nipped dorsal fin which the angels might have caused (they are currently seperated until the females fins are all healed) But he his hanging out under the driftwood alot so I will be keeping a close eye on him. I'm doing a good 50-75% water change today, which should clear up the melafix. I'll have a small quarentine tank once the guppies are moved out and from now on I'll only treat the fish that needs it.

I've been having pretty lousy luck haven't I?

Oh, just had a thought (what are the chances of that eh?) I used to havethe glowlites in the ten gal with some guppies. The guppies all started to get bloated bellies with the red streaks and I lost all the guppies in that tank and three of the five glow lites. That was before Christmas though, and the surviving glowlites were kept in there for a month before I moved them in to the 33, just to make sure they were alright. This was a very similar case. Hopefully, since he was hit andn died basically in the span of one day, that I got him out in time. I certaintly don't want to have this tank wiped out. Anyway, that is where I first saw these symptoms, in guppies, who were easily killed by it. The Glowlites were the only survivors of that.

[bozco]

The other glowlite got sick. He wasn't bloated, but he was upside down and couldn't rigth himself so I pulled him out and put him out of his misery. That was on the 20th. Since then eveyone else seems to be doing alright. The Cory has improved so hopefully its only those two tetras.

[Smokey]

bozco - what are you refering to - "glowlite ". ??. Is that a ''glass-fish''?

From what you have posted - >>moved the glowlites to the 33 and then the symptoms / deaths started !!!.>glowlites in the ten gal with some guppies.....guppies all started to get bloated bellies......lost all the guppies in that tank......<<<

[bozco]

Aren't glassfish those ones that get dyed? No I don't have those, this is a glowlight tetra. They aren't altered in any way.

Here's some stats

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile62.html

Just to clear things up.

The 10 gal got sick before Christmas after introducing some guppies. All the guppies and three glowlights died within a few weeks. They were fine one day, sick the next, and dead before the light was out. I started pulling them at the first sign of illness in the hopes of saving the rest of the tank. When it was all done only two of the tetras survived. I got the 33 for Christmas. The glowlights remained in the 10 gal for two months until I was sure they were alright, then I moved them into the 33. I tore down the 10 gal and bleached everything. Its been running fine with some kuhli loaches and raspboras since then.

The 33 has had fighting, but no illness until these two tetras that showed similar symptoms to what wiped out the 10 gal before. As of right now, the remaining fish seem just fine.

[Smokey]

Thanks for the link. Now i know what you are refering too. Nice fish!!

>Stock the aquarium with equally peaceful species< hmmm - angels are not a peaceful fish when it comes to smaller species..

>The 10 gal got sick before Christmas after introducing some guppies.< perhaps this is where the problem started. Guppies may have been the cause[??].

I would almost say the fin nipping is a result of the tetra's going after the angels fins. To them the long flowing finnage can look like food - worms, etc. a common practice.[ mpe ].

HTH

Smokey

[bozco]

There are 10 cardinal tetras in that tank too, and the angels have never bothered them.

I know for a fact that fin nipping on the angel was caused by her mate.

When I first introduced her she ripped up the male's fins. Then they got along, but I had a major plant die back and the male started to get aggressive to the female. He is temporarily in the 10 gal, her fins are almost completely grown back, and I just bought a load more plants to recreate the thick cover. I plan an re introducing the male in a few weeks.

The tank,has the angels, the cardinal tetra some silver hatchets and some cory cats. The only trouble makers in there are the two angels.

Since my first experiances with tiger barbs, I have become very careful with fighting. I watch quite closely. The angels only fight when there are eggs or when the plants die back. Once I got some thick growth in there again I expect things to calm down. When I had healthy plant growth in there, the angels swam around side by side all the time with no troubles. The angels lived in the front and the tetras in the back.

Anyway. I'm happy to report there have been no further deaths and yes I am willing to bet the guppies caused the illness in the 10 gal.

We'll just have to see how it goes when I get the angel back in. The male is my favourite fish, so if it comes to it, the female will have to be traded elsewhere.