Dealing With Parasites

[mysteryfish]

Hello. My girlfriend and I have had recent trouble in our 20 gallon tank with parasites. Briefly here's what happened.

(1) Had a bunch of swordtails and a cichlid.
(2) All the swordtails died out.
(3) Cichlid lived alone in the tank for a few months.
(4) Introduced a Common Pleco, two Gourami and a Clown Loach
(5) Was chastised on the fish forums for having too many big fish in 20 gallon tank.
(6) One gourami, the cichlid and loach died.
(7) LFS said they had parasites. I noticed clear feces in the loach before death, apparent worms in the cichlid.

So what's left is the pleco, one dwarf gourami and a few eighty cent tetras we bought to fill out the tank a little. We would like to build a nice tank and got some excellent advice here on what to put in. We just don't know how we should do it... we tried using parasite clear for the longest recommended duration but still the loach died of the parasites. We think the cichlid was a carrier for a long time. Is everything in our tank infected? To start over do we have to get rid of everything in our tank?

 

[SkiFletch]

first a few questions

What are the water stats (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH)?
How old is the tank?
Did the deceased fish look strange before death?
Any clamped fins?
Any blemishes on their bodies/gills?
Any loss of coloration or bent spines?
Why did the LFS claim parasites? It may not be a proper diagnosis...
What do you/have you been feeding your fish?

Edit: How long has it been since the last death?

 

[mysteryfish]

nitrate: 20
nitrite: 0 or maybe 10
Hardness 50
Alkalinity: 100
pH 6.7.
I guess our kit doesn't check ammonia. We've been trying to do a 25% water change every week and are carefull to add the right amount of AMQuel with it.

The tank itself is probably a few years old.

The fish that died got really skinny and swam erratically. The cichlid got skinny, we were told he looked stunted, and did loops in the water before he died. The gourami just got less and less active and stopped eating. The clown loach was similar, swimming very weakly and sometimes just little bursts sideways.

The fins all generally looked ok.

No blemishes really, just kind of deformed bodies and skinnyness.

Definitely a bent spine in the clown loach. The gourami maybe got kind of blotchy but it was hard to tell due to his coloring.

I think the LFS squeezed the cichlid a little and saw worms? infected feces? come out. The store is a small specialized tropical fish place, the staff seems pretty knowledgable.

We fed flakes and blood worms.

The clown loach just died this morning. Last weekend we started the parasite clear treatment.

 

[SkiFletch]

Bent spine is usually the realm of fish Tuberculosis (fish TB). Whether or not you had parasites on top of fish TB its tough to say, but that bent spine is a telltale sign. I'm not an expert about treating fish TB, so hopefully someone else here can help tell you what to do with your tank as is

 

[WILDER]

http/www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html

 

[mysteryfish]

I really hope it isn't fish TB. After checking out that link, I see some of the symptoms definitely fit (the loss of apetite and malaise) but we didn't have any fin decay or rot. Externally they looked pretty good. The bent spine in the clown loach came right at the end too. I tend to believe internal worms are a more likely culprit.

Anyway, fish TB or not, the only question I really have is, Should we continue to introduce fish or just clean it out completely and start fresh?

 

[Bryan1957]

I recommend that you wait for a week or so and monitor the remaining fish. If you continue to loose fish the only choice might be to sterileze the tank and all the contents and start over. The anti-parasite meds might have killed all the parasites in the tank but couldn't help the fish because it was too late for them. Waiting a week or so will give you a chance to see if the meds worked. You shouldn't add more fish until you know the condition of your tank and the remaining fish.
If you need to take down the tank and start over you will have an uncycled tank that should be cycled before adding fish. There is a pinned topic about fishless cycling here.
If you need to start over remember to take it slow, be dilligent and research while your tank is cycling. Most of all enjoy the hobby!!
HTH
Bryan

 

[SkiFletch]

I agree, monitor the remaining fish for a week. If they show no signs of ilness your parasite meds may have worked and you might be ok to add more fish. in the meantime, keep doing research on what you want and can/cant add to a tank of your size.

good luck

 

[mysteryfish]

It has now been a week. Two neon tetras died on Monday but the past six days everything else has been fine.

 

[SkiFletch]

been a week disease free huh? sounds good. what all do you have in the tank?