Most of my fish are now dead!!!HELP!!!!

[andyw823]

A couple of days ago i noticed there was someting wrong with most of my fish, firstly with the black shark, it was swiming with all its lower and upper fins droped down, the platies were then doing the same! Later in the night i used a torch light to check on them, the fether tail cat fish were at the top of the tank with a white slimy film on them.... they didn`t look well. Whiped to the fish shop next morning for treatment, was told its slime and velvet parasite. But was too late, the guppy has gone, fether tail has gone, 2 tetras, clown loach, and 2 others! oh and the other fether tail has just gone!! The treatment has been in no for 24HRS but it doesn`t seem to be having an effect. is there out else i can do to save the rest of the fish?

Also im new on here so any help would be great, Thanks.

 

[evofish]

how about giving them a salf bath dont use table salt or marine salt though!im sorry to hear about your losses,all them fish dying over night there must be somethink seriously wrong have you tested your water?

 

[andyw823]

Water conditions are fine ph 7.0 , ammonia 0ppm , nitrite 0ppm and nitrate 10. We did introduce 2 new fish and not long after is when the problems started! the 2 new ones were in the first 3 to die which makes me think something was wrong with them! i have done a 50% water change to be on the sate side. The first catfish that died i removed from the tank and the film that was on it was very thick and could be peeled away from it. going to remove all the plants and trat them and cover the tank from light as this can cause the parasite to breed.

 

[evofish]

how big is your tank if you dont mind me askin? 50% water change is a lot all in 1 go

 

[andyw823]

Approx 140 littres! It was just out of panic seeing 3 dead fish all having a white slimy film on them.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Here is an article that I think will help you out some. (not the author of this)

Costia

Symptoms:

Infected fish have soft, film-like skin turbidity. A grayish white film of excess mucous covers the entire body of the fish including the eyes. Severe infestations can lead to skin inflammation and deterioration. Reddening of the skin and bleeding, most often occurs on the underside of the mouth and the pectoral area of the body. Sick fish often rub or scratch against objects in the aquarium in an attempt to relieve irritation. Severely infected fish may become reclusive, listless, lie on the bottom of the aquarium and stop feeding.


Cause:

The parasitic flagellates Costia necatrix and Ichthyobodo necatrix. Costia is a small bean-shaped flagellate which attaches tightly to all areas of the skin, destroying the flesh. This parasite can only survive for approximately one hour without a host and does not tolerate temperatures above 86 - 90 F.


Treatment:

Raising the water temperature to 86 - 90 degrees may be helpful if your fish can tolerate the high temperatures. Quick Cure, Formalin, Malachite Green and Copper Sulfate are the drugs of choice for Costia. Costia infestations are highly contagious. All fish, including the aquarium, should be treated.

 

[PeterM]

Id go with that diagnosis too. Any good anti-parasitic treatment will do the job for you there, but try to get something specific for this condition, and quickly too by the sounds of it. The water change will have helped reduce the number of parasites in the water, but I wouldnt recommend doing it again. 50% in one go should then be left for at least a week for the maturity of the water to recover before doing more, and I dont see the water changes helping much anyways.

 

[andyw823]

so its Costia they have and not Slime/Vevet? the fish eyes dont seem to be affected! i have treated them fot the slime/velvet parasite yesterday morning as that is what symptoms they had. Since the last death of my catfish this morning there has been no more although the other clown loach don`t seem to good... he`s a big strong fella so i hope he`ll pull through!! Funny thing is, ive got 2 rams but they arn`t affected what so ever.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Costia is the what the disease is actually called, but it is often refered to as slime disease. I can't tell from the pictures if they do have velvet or not (another parasite seperate from Costia). Do the fish look like they have been sprinkled with a gold dusting?

The good news is that they are both parasites, and should be taken care of by the same meds.

 

[andyw823]

Costia is the what the disease is actually called, but it is often refered to as slime disease. I can't tell from the pictures if they do have velvet or not (another parasite seperate from Costia). Do the fish look like they have been sprinkled with a gold dusting?

The good news is that they are both parasites, and should be taken care of by the same meds.

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Yes the gold dusting is more visable on the BN catfish and on the wcm minows, as for the platies and the clown loach its more of a slime... so raising the temp can help? Its at 24 c, how much shall i raise it? i now the minows prefer 22 c but there hard little buggers and i think they can withstand for a short time!!

 

[tttnjfttt]

Ok, so you've got two parasites in your tank right now. Check out this link, its got info on velvet. http/www.worldcichlids.com/diseases/Oodinium.html

I'm not sure how high of a temperature minows can withstand, honestly.

 

[andyw823]

just had another look at the fish, tried to get some pics but its imposable to get the detal of them, non of the fish are anywhere hear as bad as the 2 Feather fin cat fish were... i could actually peel the film away from them, we tried to save one by removing the film fronm near its gills but i think we were too late. Looking closly at the platies it does seem more of a white film than gold which might mean i only have the slime parasite....

 

[andyw823]

Just took a couple pictures of the infected fish that are left... i have treated them but there droping like flies....
sorry about the poor pic quality! you may have to save the pics then zoom on them! the first 2 are of my only surving loach and he doesnt look to good. 2nd 2 are the platies, again youll have to zoom on them.

 

[tttnjfttt]

what medicine are you using? I can't seem to remember.

 

[andyw823]

what medicine are you using? I can't seem to remember.

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Interpet aquaruim treatment no7, Anti slime & Velvet. Apparently it cures fish of slime disease (flukes and protozoan) and velvet parasites.