I’m sorry for your loss. But I have heard similar stories before where the offending agent is never discovered.
8 fish dead in less than one day
- Thread starter pednurkim
- Start date
Thank you!
White string poop is often indicative of internal parasites.
Another of your living fish shows a pale patch on the scales that's also a little suspicious
If you are dealing with internal worms, often these can go unnoticed for a very long time, but stress fish and can also affect their skeletal structure (the tilted fish for example) as the worms take nutrients from the fish and the fish loses minerals from its own bones... but these can stress a fish longterm, leaving room for sudden infections of disease, such as columnaris which often shows as pale patches on the body. And it can kill very suddenly and quickly, or go slow.
I suspect this might be what's going on here. A chronic parasitic infection which left opportunity for bacterial infection which killed off fish very quickly without outward signs.
Another of your living fish shows a pale patch on the scales that's also a little suspicious
If you are dealing with internal worms, often these can go unnoticed for a very long time, but stress fish and can also affect their skeletal structure (the tilted fish for example) as the worms take nutrients from the fish and the fish loses minerals from its own bones... but these can stress a fish longterm, leaving room for sudden infections of disease, such as columnaris which often shows as pale patches on the body. And it can kill very suddenly and quickly, or go slow.
I suspect this might be what's going on here. A chronic parasitic infection which left opportunity for bacterial infection which killed off fish very quickly without outward signs.
You mentioned missing 3 missing Congo tetras; did you find them? Maybe you cat grabbed them out?
What country are you from?
You need to get either fenbendozole, flubendozole, or levamisole for internal worms. Fenbendozole and levamisole need to be dosed to the fish's food as they are not water soluble and will not affect the parasites from the outside.
You need to get either fenbendozole, flubendozole, or levamisole for internal worms. Fenbendozole and levamisole need to be dosed to the fish's food as they are not water soluble and will not affect the parasites from the outside.
Found them
USA. Would internal parasites kill that many off so quickly with no symptoms except the one with the stringy white poop a couple hours ago?
Read my post before the meds one, it'll explain.
And if usa, you can get a lot of those meds.
Panacur is fenbendozole, can buy the granule form in the dog section usually.
Pale patch showed up shortly before that one died about n hour ago. Was normal color yesterday. How do I treat those things? I have kanaplex for bacterial infections, but nothing else other than Melafix and Primafix.
Kanaplex will treat the infection, but you also need to deworm them. I'd go with kanaplex first, and then once that's done deworm.
Columnaris can kill very quickly once it takes hold, sometimes before symptoms show, sometimes symptoms show and then fish is gone shortly after. Then there's a chronic form that kills very slow over weeks. But in immunocompromised fish, it can strike very very quickly, as you are seeing.
That said, it can be other bacteria, but columnaris is usually the culprit in this type of case. Kanaplex is the only antibiotic that is effective enough for columnaris.
Columnaris can kill very quickly once it takes hold, sometimes before symptoms show, sometimes symptoms show and then fish is gone shortly after. Then there's a chronic form that kills very slow over weeks. But in immunocompromised fish, it can strike very very quickly, as you are seeing.
That said, it can be other bacteria, but columnaris is usually the culprit in this type of case. Kanaplex is the only antibiotic that is effective enough for columnaris.
Have you only got the AquaClear filter on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?
What sort of filter materials/ media do you have in the filter?
What did you feed the fish yesterday and today?
Have they had anything different in their diet?
If you use frozen food, is it frozen when you get it home, and is your freezer working properly?
How old is the dry food you feed them?
Does it look ok and feel dry?
Dry food can absorb moisture form the air and go mouldy and this can kill fish. Try to use dry food within one month of opening it and if possible, within 2 weeks of opening it. If you have a lot of dry food, freeze most of it and only keep a small amount out for the fish.
Has anything new been added to the aquarium in the last few weeks?
---------------------
I doubt this is Columnaris. None of the fish have symptoms except the Melanotaenia lacustris rainbowfish and that looks more like a physical wound or an external protozoan infection like Costia, which won't respond to antibiotics.
The white on the tip of the dorsal fin of the lacustris rainbow is excess mucous and the damaged area also has excess mucous on it.
I would not be adding medications at this stage because diseases like Columnaris and Costia don't wipe out a bunch of healthy fish in one day and leave no external symptoms except on one fish. And both of these diseases occur in dirty tanks and this tank gets a 50% water change every 14 days (last water changes was 10 days ago), which should be sufficient to keep it clean.
---------------------
Regarding the stringy white poop. I wouldn't worry too much about that yet. The most important thing is to stop the fish dying and then you can deal with this after, assuming they live.
Stringy white poop can be caused by an internal bacterial or protozoan infection, or intestinal worms. There is more information about the causes and treatments in the link below.
www.fishforums.net
---------------------
If your aquarium doesn't have a cover on it, then the cat might have contaminated the water.
Has the cat been treated with anything (external flea or worm treatment, medicated shampoo, etc) in the last few weeks?
Has the house or property been sprayed for anything in the last 12 months?
A lot of pesticides are lethal to aquatic organisms and last for years. If the cat has come in contact with these chemicals, and put its paw or tail in the water, it might be enough to wipe out the fish.
At this stage I would be trying big daily water changes and try to clean the sand with a gravel cleaner. Maybe add some carbon to the filter and then hope for the best.
How often and how do you clean the filter?
What sort of filter materials/ media do you have in the filter?
What did you feed the fish yesterday and today?
Have they had anything different in their diet?
If you use frozen food, is it frozen when you get it home, and is your freezer working properly?
How old is the dry food you feed them?
Does it look ok and feel dry?
Dry food can absorb moisture form the air and go mouldy and this can kill fish. Try to use dry food within one month of opening it and if possible, within 2 weeks of opening it. If you have a lot of dry food, freeze most of it and only keep a small amount out for the fish.
Has anything new been added to the aquarium in the last few weeks?
---------------------
I doubt this is Columnaris. None of the fish have symptoms except the Melanotaenia lacustris rainbowfish and that looks more like a physical wound or an external protozoan infection like Costia, which won't respond to antibiotics.
The white on the tip of the dorsal fin of the lacustris rainbow is excess mucous and the damaged area also has excess mucous on it.
I would not be adding medications at this stage because diseases like Columnaris and Costia don't wipe out a bunch of healthy fish in one day and leave no external symptoms except on one fish. And both of these diseases occur in dirty tanks and this tank gets a 50% water change every 14 days (last water changes was 10 days ago), which should be sufficient to keep it clean.
---------------------
Regarding the stringy white poop. I wouldn't worry too much about that yet. The most important thing is to stop the fish dying and then you can deal with this after, assuming they live.
Stringy white poop can be caused by an internal bacterial or protozoan infection, or intestinal worms. There is more information about the causes and treatments in the link below.
What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.
Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...
www.fishforums.net
---------------------
If your aquarium doesn't have a cover on it, then the cat might have contaminated the water.
Has the cat been treated with anything (external flea or worm treatment, medicated shampoo, etc) in the last few weeks?
Has the house or property been sprayed for anything in the last 12 months?
A lot of pesticides are lethal to aquatic organisms and last for years. If the cat has come in contact with these chemicals, and put its paw or tail in the water, it might be enough to wipe out the fish.
At this stage I would be trying big daily water changes and try to clean the sand with a gravel cleaner. Maybe add some carbon to the filter and then hope for the best.
OP, here is a veterinary source on columaris.
This would be the most trustworthy source for information regarding it.
veterinaryresearch.biomedcentral.com
Some notes from that:
Regarding the pale patch:
And yes, acute cases of this disease can kill asymptomatically!
It's not restricted to dirty tanks, it is present in number in anyone's tanks and often strikes when a fish is compromised due to a stresser (moving tanks, a new environment, change of parameters, chronic disease, shipping, etc)
This would be the most trustworthy source for information regarding it.
Columnaris disease in fish: a review with emphasis on bacterium-host interactions - Veterinary Research
Flavobacterium columnare (F. columnare) is the causative agent of columnaris disease. This bacterium affects both cultured and wild freshwater fish including many susceptible commercially important fish species. F. columnare infections may result in skin lesions, fin erosion and gill necrosis...
veterinaryresearch.biomedcentral.com
Some notes from that:
Regarding the pale patch:
And yes, acute cases of this disease can kill asymptomatically!
It's not restricted to dirty tanks, it is present in number in anyone's tanks and often strikes when a fish is compromised due to a stresser (moving tanks, a new environment, change of parameters, chronic disease, shipping, etc)
To answer the questions:Have you only got the AquaClear filter on the tank?
How often and how do you clean the filter?
What sort of filter materials/ media do you have in the filter?
What did you feed the fish yesterday and today?
Have they had anything different in their diet?
If you use frozen food, is it frozen when you get it home, and is your freezer working properly?
How old is the dry food you feed them?
Does it look ok and feel dry?
Dry food can absorb moisture form the air and go mouldy and this can kill fish. Try to use dry food within one month of opening it and if possible, within 2 weeks of opening it. If you have a lot of dry food, freeze most of it and only keep a small amount out for the fish.
Has anything new been added to the aquarium in the last few weeks?
---------------------
I doubt this is Columnaris. None of the fish have symptoms except the Melanotaenia lacustris rainbowfish and that looks more like a physical wound or an external protozoan infection like Costia, which won't respond to antibiotics.
The white on the tip of the dorsal fin of the lacustris rainbow is excess mucous and the damaged area also has excess mucous on it.
I would not be adding medications at this stage because diseases like Columnaris and Costia don't wipe out a bunch of healthy fish in one day and leave no external symptoms except on one fish. And both of these diseases occur in dirty tanks and this tank gets a 50% water change every 14 days (last water changes was 10 days ago), which should be sufficient to keep it clean.
---------------------
Regarding the stringy white poop. I wouldn't worry too much about that yet. The most important thing is to stop the fish dying and then you can deal with this after, assuming they live.
Stringy white poop can be caused by an internal bacterial or protozoan infection, or intestinal worms. There is more information about the causes and treatments in the link below.
What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.
Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...
---------------------
If your aquarium doesn't have a cover on it, then the cat might have contaminated the water.
Has the cat been treated with anything (external flea or worm treatment, medicated shampoo, etc) in the last few weeks?
Has the house or property been sprayed for anything in the last 12 months?
A lot of pesticides are lethal to aquatic organisms and last for years. If the cat has come in contact with these chemicals, and put its paw or tail in the water, it might be enough to wipe out the fish.
At this stage I would be trying big daily water changes and try to clean the sand with a gravel cleaner. Maybe add some carbon to the filter and then hope for the best.
- I have 2 large sponge filters in addition to the aquaclear
- I rotate cleaning the filters so all aren't done at the same time. One was cleaned with the last water change. I usually clean them when flow is starting to slow. My water is always very clear.
-The Aquaclear has sponge it came with plus half of another one plus biorings.
-The fish are fed New Life Spectrum and once a week Bug Bites spirulina flakes. They are usually fasted once a week. The dry food is kept in the freezer, except for enough for about 2-4 weeks.
- I did add a small piece of cholla wood for the BN plecos about a month or so ago. Nothing else other than that.
- There is a cover on the aquarium, but the cat can touch the water where it waterfalls out of the Aquaclear.
- Nothing has been sprayed around the house. The cat is indoor only, so no flea treatments.
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