Help! My Eel Is Dying!

[qoftheq]

Tank size: 30 gal
pH: 6.4
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 20 ppm (none in hospital tank)
Alkalinity: 40 ppm
Hardness: 75 ppm
tank temp: 76

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): Baby peacock eel rolling around on its back, breathing heavily. Moved to smaller hospital tank, now not moving but still on its back and breathing heavily. Has been doing this for a while, no change. His gills look red, not sure if inflamed or from breathing hard.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 10-15% once per week.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:submersible eheim filter with a sponge, biomax and recently added activated charcoal

Tank inhabitants: Four baby raphael catfish

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): about a week ago added rocks to hide in and live plants, I feed tubifex worms.

Exposure to chemicals: None other than dechlorinator

 

[WILDER]

Don't no much about eels but red inflamed gills and heavy breathing when water stats are fine point to gill flukes.
Sad to say he sounds in bad shape and to be honest he's not going to make it.
Have you noticed any fish in the tank flicking and rubbing against objects.

Just noticed tubilex worns are they live frozen, or freeze dried.

 

[qoftheq]

Live, from a very very good LFS. I figured he wasn't going to make it and there wasn't much I could do, so I put him in as comfortable a tank as possible and waited for him to pass, but he didn't for a good 10 hours so I figured there might be some saving him. I don't have my hopes up though.

What do I do for gill flukes?

Haven't noticed any other tank members in distress, but they're raphaels so I rarely see them at all.

Edit: Just thought of this. How would he get gill flukes? The eel and the raphaels are the only inhabitants of that tank and they all came from the aforementioned very very good LFS, as did all the plants in that tank. Seriously, this fish store takes super care of their fish. I've never seen an ill fish in their entire store.

 

[mezrie]

What Lfs is this?

I really hope your eel improves, don't lose hope. It is awful to see a beloved pet in a state like that i know. There's lots of things that can help gill flukes, as i am not an expert maybe just browse online. I do that a lot. x

 

[WILDER]

The only way to tell if they have gill flukes if you remove them from the tank wraped up in a cloth soaked in tank water.
Then with sterlised tweezers you pull the gill flap up and take a look behind the gill with a magifying glass to see if you can see a parasite.
Tubilex live is not good I would get you some info.

Do the gills look like there bleeding in colour wise.
http/www.gsas.org/Articles/1997/tubifex.html

 

[qoftheq]

This is Seascapes in Mountain View. They're not a chain.

I've heard about the dangers of Tubifex, but they're the only live food I can get in my area, and I figured those from the awesome pet store would be less likely to carry disease.

 

[qoftheq]

My eel has passed. Thank you all for helping.

 

[cane76]

thats a shame

 

[WILDER]

Sorry bless him R.I.P.
I wouldn't feed live tubilex to be honest it's not worth the risk, I will only feed my fish freeze dried tubilex.

 

[qoftheq]

I would do that, but eels will only eat live food.