Bacterial Infection?

[Exiled]

Hi guys....
I lost a Pseudotropheus saulosi yesturday. Yesturday it appeared to be breathing rapidly, hung out in one spot, and would not feed, its belly was slightly swollen and it's coloration was darkened. Its scales were smooth and normal, its fins were fine--normal. Now I have another saulosi and a Pseudotropheus Demasoni behaving the exact same way, only no larger looking belly. I did a little research and I went out and baught Paragon II, a wide spectrum anti-parasitic/anti-biotic treatment and treated the entire tank, removed carbon, covered the tank, etc....

I've never had any fish diseases before. Am I doing the right thing?
I can't catch the affected fish--they still have good reflexes, and don't want to stress out the healthy fish and make them susceptible to whatever is causing the rapid breathing and hanging out in one spot. So please, What should I do, and What do you think the cause of the symptoms is?

--Lee

 

[CFC]

What are the water parameters and what have you been feeding recently? Although the symptoms certainly point toward a bacterial infection and you have done the right thing by starting a anti bacterial medication course you still need to discover the source of the problem to prevent it from reoccuring.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Exiled

How are your water parameters?




) Oops, It looks like CFC got here first. You're in good hands with him!

 

[Exiled]

All water parameters are normal and consistent with what they have been all along:

pH-- 8.2
Ammonia-- 0, Undetectable
Nitrite-- 0, Undetectable
Nitrate-- 2-3 ppm (I never let it get above 10 ppm)
Temp -- 78 degrees F.
forgot to add:
KH -- 13
GH -- 16

Feeding-- same as always has been, no new foods introduced:
-Omega One Super Veggie Kelp Flakes
-Nori for supplement

No new Fish introduced to tank
No known changes.

-What else should I be looking for?
-What can I do for them in addition to the medication, and reducing their stress?
-How long will it be until the meds take affect?
-Am I using the right stuff?
The med I am using--Paragon II-- contains:
Metronidazole, Furazolidone, Neomycin Sulfate, Naladixic Acid, and Sodium Chloride.
-Should I reduce the temperature in the water by a degree or two to inhibit bacteria growth?

Thanks in advance (I hear I am in good hands with you)

--Lee

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Ok, so far I am gathering:

-The water is stable and clean
-the fish are eating and excreting without a problem
-you hade not added any new fish before this started

How is the aggression in your tank? Are the fish affected constantly on the run from more dominent fish?

Do you feed live food?

 

[Exiled]

That's right, cichlidaddict, Water is very stable, clean, feeding as been stable and healthy, excreting has been stable, healthy looking.

Then the saulosi suddenly shows signs of illness (hanging out in one spot and breathing rapidly and a slightly swollen belly. It died a day later. No other fish showed any signs of illness then several hours later, a demasoni and another saulosi are showing same signs except no swollen belly.

The afftected fish will not feed, or move very much (They found convenient rocks to hover over) and are gilling rapidly and occasionally will appear to be trying to remove something out of their gills by "coughing"

The agression in the tank is minimal...nothing more than evil looks occasionally and a short chase away from a favorite rock. Aside from the two affected fish, They don't appear stressed at all, and I have not fed any live foods at all.

Are the meds that I am using the right ones?
When will they start to work?

 

[Lateral Line]

My first thought when reading through, with nothing new, no changes, water clean as a whistle, was a temperature spike, you've not noticed your temperature fluctuating have you?

 

[Exiled]

No LL, no temp spike.

 

[Exiled]

I have to leave to go to Town Hall, I will be back in 2 hours. Please don't give up on me guys! Your experience and advice is super-appreciated. I'll be back soon!
Pray for the fish!

 

[Reefbum]

Go to http/www.thatpetplace.com/ and contact the Marine Biologists and give him all your water info and problems. These guys are very good and can help a lot. This is also a great place to buy fish products. I have a 180 gal Reef Tank, 150 Gal. & 55 Gal freshwater tank and they have helped me a lot. It may take them 24 hours to get back to you but they know the fish very well. FREE also. I raise Discus and never had a problem until I ordered some from The Discus Place and now I have problems I have never seen before. Good luck.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

It sounds like everything in the tank is normal and healthy. The only other thing I can think of is chlorine, as this attacks the gills and you say they are showing sypmtoms with the gills. I'm sure you dechlorinate, is there any chance that your water co. has started using chloromines? It's a long shot but I'm running out of ideas!

 

[Exiled]

I called the water company-- they say they haven't done anything unusual to the water. If it was chlorimines (and I use a clorine/cloramine treatement) wouldn't all the fish be suffering? And at the same time? I'm pretty sure this is bacterial.

I just caught the saulosi, and it was so sick it didn't even resist getting caught. I euthenized it by the "sushi" method. I thought it would be more difficult to do it, but considering how much I used to hunt and fish, it wasn't too heartbreaking. It was very distressed not being able to breathe.

After it died, I lifted its operculums to look at the gills-- they were INFLAMED bigtime.... But so inflamed that they were quite pale--I guess blood was being squeezed out of the capillaries because of the infection.

I am attempting now to catch the affected demasoni. As of yet, since treatment of water with Paragon II, no other fish are showing signs of illness. Thank God.

Does anyone have a clear idea of what caused this?