More Fish Dead ,velvet

[Nikki65]

Unfortunately I am having more problems.(one Danio sick,one dead,one dead Julii cory cat)



I have a
36 gal bow front kit that I started in the first week of September 2011 (with 5 Danios)

It has gravel ,plastic plants ,a piece of wood purchases from aquarium store,three statues (\aquarium store)
and one live plant (java fern purchased 2 weeks ago.)It has carbon filter cartridges unfortunately that stated to remove them every month with new ones(Which I did)

Fish : 4 platies ,5 zebra danios (now 1 dead ,one sick) 5 julii cory cats ( bought in first week of October ) ,one died yesterday
4 platy fry (in breeding tank)


water changes weekly about 34-40 litres.

Water temperature is about 25-26 Celsius.




I tested the water with the API KIt yesterday ,and it was normal

Ammania 0 , Nitrites and Nitrates: between 10-20

pH: last Saturday was 7.6




I am feeding Aqueon tropical Flakes and also bought a topfin small freeze dried medley two weeks ago (contains mysis shrimp,daphnia,bloodworm),
which I feed maybe 2x a week.
plus a bottom pellet for the cories.


All fish have been doing well until just last Friday .

After a water change (which may have been a few degress warmer than tank)
I noticed my Danio swimming "funny" and being lethargic.

I have now put him into a quarantine tank(On saturday ) and he is still unchanged.Not eating at all either ,which worries me.


On Saturday I purchased an air pump,which I did not have before.

On Sunday another Danio,which was acting fine before suddenly died. His "belly" looked a little red and when I put him into a tissue, that part appeared to have a rosy tint ?
I wonder if he was injured somehow.


2 Days ago I changed the air stones around in the aqauarium .I am all new to this and trying to hook up the airlines,air stones and suction cups to the wall, I am wondering if I disturbed/stressed the fish.

The same night one of the corys looked sick,just sitting in a corner at the bottom.
The next morning he was breathing very fast and still sitting in the same corner I saw him in the night before.

He did not have any visible sign of any disease.

He later swam kind of strange as well, tipped over to the side and ,once he swams up to the top for a gasp of air and within one hour he died.


When he became sick, I originally posted this in the corydoras forum on this site, and after everyone is trying to help, Snazy (Corydoras Forum part) just came back with the idea it might be Velvet.(http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/378442-julii-cory-cat-sick/page__p__3168278__fromsearch__1#entry3168278)


I am sorry, I do not mean to double post here but if it really is Velvet,I understand I need meds asap, as this is fairly fatal if left untreated and stores will be closing soon


I was looking for someone to please confirm this and suggest the appropriate medication for

velvet for my Danios,Platies & Corys .

Thank you.

 

[DrRob]

What Snazy says is quite possible from what you've said. I've only ever seen velvet in quarantine tanks and it was a long, long time ago.

Only other thing I can think of is that you introduced something toxic in the last water change.

I'd do another change just because it's something I could do and see if it helps (and if it does do another big one), then I'd treat according to what it looks like, if it's velvet and you use salt remember that cory's are quite sensitive to it and you'll need half doses.

I used copper sulphate years ago for it (sadly I can't tell you that it worked), remember with that stuff that if you're ever keeping shrimp or going marine it'll never come out again.

edit, and sorry to hear about your fish. Tis a horrible thing to have happen.

 

[Nikki65]

What Snazy says is quite possible from what you've said. I've only ever seen velvet in quarantine tanks and it was a long, long time ago.

Only other thing I can think of is that you introduced something toxic in the last water change.

I'd do another change just because it's something I could do and see if it helps (and if it does do another big one), then I'd treat according to what it looks like, if it's velvet and you use salt remember that cory's are quite sensitive to it and you'll need half doses.

I used copper sulphate years ago for it (sadly I can't tell you that it worked), remember with that stuff that if you're ever keeping shrimp or going marine it'll never come out again.

edit, and sorry to hear about your fish. Tis a horrible thing to have happen.

Thanks Dr.Rob,

I did another water change (25%)
Ammonia 0,Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10-15 , and Ph about 7.8 .


They are looking ok. all eating and no visible sign of this velvet rash,

Should I still treat ?


The sick Danio in the quarantine is still lethargic ,when swimming he has his head facing downwards ?

That is something related to his swim bladder ? Can it be treated ?

 

[DrRob]

Lack of any sign of the rash is reassuring. I believe it's usually missed because it's subtle, but if you're looking for it.......

Personally, I'd keep the danio separate for the moment and see what happens. Keep an eye on the water and do more regular water changes. If nothing else, meticulous water quality will stop fish from catching stuff.

Treating, that's up to you. Some would, some wouldn't. For me, I would depend on how worried I was that it was an infection. Difficult for me to say really.

 

[snazy]

Lack of any sign of the rash is reassuring.

Hi Nikki,

Just after seeing your new thread.
How are the fish doing?

 

[Nikki65]

Lack of any sign of the rash is reassuring.

Hi Nikki,

Just after seeing your new thread.
How are the fish doing?

Hi Snazy ,

Thanks very much for asking.

My Danio is still unchanged,Quarantine tank and no signs of rash.
Still lethargic,trouble swimming and not eating unfortunately.


I went to the local fish store yesterday and the owner receommnended
Tetra Parasite Guard (contains Praziquantel,Diflubenzuron,Metronidazole and Acriflavine

I put this med into his tank yesterday and have to repeat again tommorrow.
He has been sick for 8 days now.



On a positive note,no other fish have died and they appear well.


No signs of any rash either .

Although my Platies like to hide behind the heater and mostly only come out to feed.?
(water temp is 25 celsius )



At this points I am guessing/hoping that it is was a toxin that was added to the tank with the newly purchased hose one week ago.

That would be better than a disease.

 

[Nikki65]

Lack of any sign of the rash is reassuring. I believe it's usually missed because it's subtle, but if you're looking for it.......

Personally, I'd keep the danio separate for the moment and see what happens. Keep an eye on the water and do more regular water changes. If nothing else, meticulous water quality will stop fish from catching stuff.

Treating, that's up to you. Some would, some wouldn't. For me, I would depend on how worried I was that it was an infection. Difficult for me to say really.

Thanks very much for the advice as well Dr.Rob,

I am taking the absence of a rash as a hopeful sign.
Funny thing, when I mentioned the weekly water changes to the pet store owner yesterday,she thought I was kinda crazy, asking how I thought my water could be "stable" if I kept changing it so often ?

She has Chichlids and only changes every month !


I told her all the great experts here on this forum recommend weekly water changes and I am going to stick with it

So I am hoping it was a toxin and maybe is "flushed out" now !

 

[DrRob]

There's nothing wrong with not changing water until every month or so. It's not too dissimilar to not cleaning your kitchen until every month or so, except you'd be living in the kitchen, and only the kitchen.

If you have a stable tank, with lots of filtration, and are understocked, and the fish aren't messy (like a lot of cichlids are) then that's fine. Otherwise you're onto regular changes. As you read around the forum you'll notice that a lot of people talk about having smaller tanks (which are inherently less stable) and doing a lot more water changes than weekly to keep them right.

As for your water being stable, your fish slowly alter the chemistry of the tank by living in it. It's the age old adage, the solution to pollution is dilution. Taken to the extreme, if you changed your water ever 5 minutes it'd be beautifully stable, with the source water parameters (not unlike a river). The simple basis to the water change is to add water that's near to what you want and the tank will slowly follow. Sadly it's the fish that make things unstable.