sick bristlenose

[Cavafish]

Hi

i have a 4" female bristlenose that got ill a couple of weeks back where her top fin was rotting and she was looking very grey in the body rather than her usual spotty brown. I moved her to a 60litre tank on her own (has been set up and running with platies for 6 months) and treated her with eSHa 2000 fungus, finrotand bacteria treatment. Her fin has now made a remarkable recovery and so has the grey colourationon her back.

my problem now is that she doesnt seem to want to eat and when she was stuck t the glass earlier today her stomach looks VERY hollow and sunken. What can I do to turn her around and get her eating again or is it another problem like internal parasites?

Anyone who can shed light on this please reply asap.

many thanks

Cava

 

[reg2k2]

When my plec wasn't eating...Pimafix did the trick.
I was quite worried, belly was starting to 'gather'. Was ready to add some antibiotics, when I spotted the Pimafix on the shelf...bought both, started w/ Pimafix....and it worked....thankfully.

I strongly recommend it....although Interpet's Anti Internal Bacteria may be another option for you.

Keep the tank clean, avoid overfeeding (excess waste), and lower temp to 76-77F, if it applies.

Reminder: run carbon betw. med's.

hth

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like internal parasites if the belly is sunken in, my pitbull plecs had a sunken in belly they had internal parasites, no cure for it in this country, glad you have issolated them so they don't pass it on to the other fish,

 

[Cavafish]

thanks.

Will lower temp a bit as at 79-80 at the mo.

have some of the interpet internal bacteria stuff so will try some tonight.



erk! have just read Wilders reply - not good news. will try to medicate anyway just incase it does something.

many thanks guys.

 

[WILDER]

Can you see any worms prutruding from the anus, is the anus red and inflamed.

 

[Cavafish]

there was something from her anus - I thought it was poop. was quite pleased as i thought it was a sign that she had eaten something.

will go back and check again

Interpet internal bacteria treatment has just been added by the way.

 

[Cavafish]

hopefully this will show the extent of the emaciation of the plecs stomach. Her 'face' now looks sunken in, a bit like kermit the frogs looks (sorry, cant think of a better description ) )

 

[WILDER]

As the bum hole always been that big, sorry for the description only way i could describe it.

 

[Cavafish]

Er....that is a bit of an unfortunate thing ) )

She hasa black spot (body marking) right there and I couldn't get a photo that showed it any better. he actual erm, hole, is quite normal. The area around is sunken in so a bit of a shadow is probably there as well.


Anyway, you shouldn't be looking.

She is due her second dose of medicine tomorrow (first one was Sunday) but it doesn't look like it is doing much good.

 

[WILDER]

What med are you using, it looks and sounds like internal parasites, i would issolate her if you can as internal parasites will infect the whole tank.

 

[Cavafish]

Interpet internal bacteria treatment is what I am using now. She has been in a tank on her own for about 2 weeks now as I originally moved her cos she looked like she was getting a fungus type thing wrong with her and her top fin was very eroded suddenly. I lost one plec to the same symptons quite recently as I didn't treat it fast enough. the fin has recovered a great deal (remarkable really) but she still has a sort of lack of colour on her back - it doesn't look like fungus at all now though.
just as I thought that she was going to be ok she went all emaciated and looking like she does now.

One thing I really am not sure about is water changes when medicating - surely this will just dilute the medicine so it isnt at the correct dose??

 

[Bloo]

oh I feel sorry for her - she really does look awful ! Have you tried feeding live bloodworm with the lights in the tank dimmed / off ? I would say your best bet (as you are doing right now) is to dose with internal parasite meds and keep your fingers crossed. Try different types of food to check that she is eating at least. I do not do any water changes during medication (unless it says so specifically) and just dose exactly as indicated.
Best of luck.

 

[WILDER]

When a fish has internal parasites they can get secondary bacteria infections on top of it, sadly there is no cure for internal parasites in the uk, water changes if you have to do them replace the right amount of med back to the water removed, good luck.

 

[Cavafish]

thanks guys. if I lose this fish it will be a real shame but at least I will know i have tried.

best of luck little fishie....

 

[Bloo]

Wilder, I'm a bit confused. Why then can we buy "Interpet's Anti Internal Bacteria No.9" if it's useless ? I've not dealt with internal parasites in my fish myself, so can't vouch for the effectiveness of the meds - but I can't believe that they would sell something that is entirely useless