# Fish diseases



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

Ok heres whats going on. Ive had 3 zebra danios die on me. THey showed symptoms one day and the next they are dead. Today 2 more have symptoms of an internal paracite or fish tuburculosis. My otos died of suspected dropsy. 

What medication should i use, i have 1 oto left (its scaleless) so what do i do? I dont want my rams to catch it and i dont want any more danios to die

I will be treating the whole tank since im pretty sure the disease is somewhere in there

I have standard ich medication, it has malachalite green in it, dont know if that helps anyone

Water params

ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
Ph: 7.4-7.6 (the test results show somewhere in between those)


----------



## Picklee (Feb 22, 2007)

If those fish (Danios) do have the symptoms that you have explained, and you think they might have an internal parasite then treat with isoniazid, kanamycin and vitamin B6. If you think they might have tuberculosis, then treat with gentamycin Sulfate or oxolinic acid.

You should treat your Oto with oxytetracycline hydrochloride powder for about ten days. 25 grams, which is about what you need, would cost probably somewhere around $15.

Because you may have two or three different diseases in one tank, it would be my recommendation to transfer the diagnosed fish to seperate tanks when treating since some antibiotics don't mix well. Always perform a 25% water change before each treatment.

Malachite green treats mostly just protozoans (thus effective on Ich).


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

well none of my fish have dropsy now, one already died of suspected dropsy, no other fish are showing signs. 

The symptoms are 
in activity
hides a lot
after a few weeks of the symptoms the inability to eat

There eating now (i just fed them) and they've regained a bit of there nippy activity. I hope i detected the disease early so the treatment can help.

My question is is it tuburculosis or internal paracite

there are no other symptoms and aside from what i told you they have very normal color and there fins are outstretched.


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

anyone going to help?


----------



## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

really sorry to hear about your fish. im pretty new to fishkeeping so whatever information i have is just from searching online - feel pretty bad that nobody has replied thoguh since i got a load of replies for my posts so the best i can do after having a search for you is that internal parasites are rare amongst aquarium fish and are more likely to be present if you have snails in the tank along with the fish, and if your tank is crowded, if you do then perhaps thats the problem. inactivity is also a symptom of internal parasites which you mentioned. it also said that often when the fish have internal parasites then you can actually see them hanging out out the fishes bum so if you havent looked for that it might be helpful. i also found that a very general way of treating sick fish was by using a "salt bath" which wont damage the "good bacteria" if youre worried about that but i think thats a bit besides the point. tbh id be more worried that it would stress the fish since theyre freshwater fish. 

As far as TB is concerned, here is a short paragraph I found that hopefully will be useful for you:

For those of you without a histology lab at your disposal, the symptoms of Fish TB are usually wasting, lesions on the body, skeletal deformities (a few of mine developed curved spines), and loss of scales and coloration. This is a relentless disease. I have read that it is not considered treatable; however, I figured my 15-year-old Raphael catfish deserved a chance. Against the advice of my veterinarian, I have not euthanized my afflicted fish (over half died shortly after the disease bloomed anyway). The typical drugs for treating fish are the same as for humans, most often a combination of two drugs administered for at least three months. Currently I am trying Kanacyn (Kanamycin). Once the fish became emaciated I had no luck saving them. Traditional tricks for curing diseased fish, such as adding salt and raising the temperature, are ineffective and in the case of the raising temperature may even be detrimental. The bacteria grow better in warmer water; their optimum temperature is 30Ã‚Â°C. They have no problem with salt either; they can infect saltwater fish as well as freshwater. 

Like i said though, im pretty new to fishkeeping so this is all probably old news to you but its the best i can do im afraid. i hope your fish are alright


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

ok my fish do have a tiny bit of a curved spine but they dont have any loss of color or loss of scales, im guessing internal paracite now. They ate again today so they wont have the chance of starving to death. My tank is pretty under-stocked, 4, 3/4 inch fish, 1, .5 inch fish and 2, 1.5 inch fish, so i dont think overcrowding is an issue. I will check there butts to see if anything is hanging off them. What medicine should i buy and how much salt should i use. I have scaleless fish in that tank so i dont want to be causing damage to the scaleless. Also copper treatment is out of the question since i have shrimp and this tank will become a saltwater reef tank one day.

Yes by the looks of it there is something hanging from her butt. I think blue recommended a medicine for this, thanks for your help


----------



## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

definitely seems like internal parasites then so probably best to try the medicine blue recommonded then. 

a link for the salt bath i was talking about is: http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/treatments/salt.htm

though it does say that this is best for external parasites of bacterial infections but if nothing esle works then youre as well to give it a go. the link gives you the amounts of salt and the amount of time you should use it for. 

hope your fish are alright. post a wee reply afterwards to let us know how they get on

x


----------



## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

sorry i meant to say as well that since youre taking the fish out the tank into a different container for the salt bath then you wouldnt need to worry about damaging your scaleless fish. but like i said go with blues suggestion first since it does definitely seem like internal parasites


----------



## Picklee (Feb 22, 2007)

Blue didn't even post to this thread?


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

it was from a previous thread that i made, i remember this stuff. It was when my first danio had a problem a bit different from this but was diagnosed the same way, the other danio didnt eat, had a really arched back, and layed on the gravel with the gills still moving. This one is a bit different so i posted another one to see if they are different disease, apparantly there both the same.

Although i hoped my other fish wont catch it, it seems like one of my bolivian ram is getting the same symptoms as the otehr fish


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

ok, im not 100% sure on internal paracite anymore. One of my ram has these really really really small red things sticking out of his anus. They slowly come out when its not moving and go in when he is moving. I was thinking Nematoda for my ram. About my danio im not so sure now, it still eats but it doesnt move unless its running away

I NEED HELP FAST!!!!

were planning to get medication today but i dont know what to medicate with now!!!


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

Ok i dont think Nematoda is the sickness my ram is having, they both seem fine now. My danio is acting more more normal now as well. I still want some answers in case this happens again. It is possible for them to act normal for one day and die the next....


----------



## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

im really glad that they seem alright now. sorry i cant be of anymore help, like i said the information i gave you was just from searching online rather than actually experiencing it. seems really odd that the symptoms have just disappeared but just hope theyre gone for good. i suppose it would be possible for a fish to be fine then die, but i think that if anything then a fish would deteriorate before its death rather than the other way round so keep your fingers crossed, and ill keep mine crossed for you.


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

im going to get Metronidazole today to treat for internal parasites. There has been a deterioration in eating and i will need to probably treat the whole tank. My rams are slowly losing there appetite. The symptoms are back on my danio....

I will also buy special fish food to help flush internal parasites out. I will also buy some enthanize product in case the worse comes....


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

i bought some anti-parasite medication. It contains praziquantel to get help with the possible worm problem and it has metronidazol for them parasite problem.


----------



## GalaxyGirl (Feb 1, 2007)

I hope your fish are ok Mush, I know absolutely nothing about fish diseases or parasites or I would chime in


----------



## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

thats really sad that the sympotoms are back i really hope your medicine works

x


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

ok good and bad news, danios seem healed

bad news, my ram has stopped moving and wont eat the medicated food. I will quarantine it immediatly and buy some metronidazole today.


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

ok i bought 100% metronidazole today, as well as focus which helps the medicine work, i need to mix it in with the fishes food. Both are seachem products.

I need to get them to eat and i heard garlic helps. The garlic guard there would expire in 2 months and they only had the big ones so i didnt get it. i was wondering if you could just slice up some garlic very finely and mix it in with frozen food?


----------



## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

i hope it works for you. is this for the rams in the quarantined tank? i dont know how those medications work. if the rams arent eating and the food is medicated, will it work? sorry i cant be of any mroe help. ive only ever had 2 fish that have had any sort of disease and thats the 2 i have a post about just now

let us if it works


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

it ate teh medicated worms, for a second it was swimming fine but now its back to laying on the gravel and the anal area is much more swollen with more little red worms poking out. I hope it will be alright 

I am very frustrated because i have followed everything by the book and information found on the internet and information given to me by you guys but my fish are still dying and i almost always have a sick fish in my tank!!


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

ok some good news. The rams are eating there medicated worms and shrimp and they seem a tiny bit more healthy, there anuses are still swollen but there almost arent any little worms poking out. I will keep up the medicated food for 3 more days (as the instructions say) and hope for the best.


----------



## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

keep up the medication like it says. mine are looking a bit better today as well


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

well today, it is as good as dead. It doesnt eat and doesnt move, its been sitting at the same place for almost 8 hours moving only its gills and fins. I am going to buy some enthuanize product today. One that contains clove oil and vodka or something....

The other ram is still going good though

thanks juliewiegand

_There is no need to mention the last bit which I have edited out. People here are simply volunteers and are not paid to answer every question expected.
Blue_


----------



## magic_marty (Feb 3, 2007)

geeze i was really hoping you would have good luck..But from your last post it seems you are not.Im sorry to hear things turned worse for your fish, i know how fustrating it is i lost another ram today...  

If i loose the other 3 i am going to call it quits on trying to keep rams even tho i truly love these little guys, but i feel horrible to have them keep dying on me..

I hope your other one keeps doing good..


----------



## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

no need to thank me - you're more than welcome and as much as im not that experienced i like to try and help when i can. im really sorry he/she doesnt look likes theyre going to make it. sometimes you can do all you can and they still dont - just one of these things really but you tried really hard with it so look at it this way - it wouldnt have lasted as long if you hadnt and if youve decided to euthanise then at least it will have a peaceful death and not suffer so youve given it the best possible chance. you cant do anymore than that  RIP


----------



## musho3210 (Dec 28, 2006)

im not enthuanizing it anymore, what the strange thing is its lost all syptoms, no more red worms are sticking there heads out but the fish is just on the floor of the tank moving nothing but gills and fins, its changed spots 3 times in 2 days, it also hasnt lost any color, there is a chance it will be all better.....


----------



## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

hope so. maybe the medication just takes a wee while to work

good luck x


----------

