Swelling? - I Think She Might Be Dying..

[RandomWiktor]

I'm so sorry. It sounds like its definately columnaris then; ulcers form under the "fuzz" and can cause some pretty massive damage. It may be too late; if she doesn't respond to treatment and show improvement pretty quickly, you might even want to euthanize with the clove oil solution. Columnaris can spring up in as little as 12 hours, and often kills between 24-72 hours.
If any of your other girls start developing gray or white patches on the face, I wouldn't even wait for it to go fuzzy; I'd start the aggressive treatment protocol listed above. I don't think my fish would have survived if it wasn't for early detection, so look in on your girls a few times a day to check that they aren't becomming symptomatic. Columnaris is a nasty, fast-spreading, deadly thing.

So sorry to hear your girl is fairing poorly. I hope she recovers, but that failing, I wish for a quick and painless death.

 

[Bre_B]

something strange... before we even started treating her, the white was going away! she seemed more active... I was thinking, though, that often before an animal dies sometimes they seem a bit better, so im not getting my hopes up about it, but i just thought it was very intersting.

today she's eating, and im hoping shell get better.

another question: she does have popeye too, should i treat that as well, or do you think itll go away once the colum whatever (in a rush, thanksgiving and all lol dont have time to look it up) goes away?


okay... thats all!


happy thanksgiving to those of you celebrating.

 

[jollysue]

I'm confused. Are you now referring to the second female or did the first begin to recover when treated?

 

[Bre_B]

the first began to recover without even being treated.

the second doesnt seem to have it - she just naturally has a little bit of a lumpy face i guess haha. (im gunna keep her isolated a bit more anyway, just cuz im paranoid)

so yeah... same questions as in last post.

 

[jollysue]

Sounds like good strong fishies with lots of fight. Yes keep them isolated for a few weeks. Some deseases clear up then reinfect. Make sure you complete treatment cycles recommended by the manufacturer. Don't stop just because the symptoms disapear. I would say continue what you are doing that worked.

I am guessing that the popeye is a secondary infection. It can have different causes. But it is frequently bacterial.

Keep clean water,
good food,
xtra air stone,
low 70's F temperature,
some salt,
get some anti-bacterial food if it's available, and she'll eat it. Do not let it go bad and dirty the tank. Net it if its not eaten.
Keep your tank utensiles, et al, separate or at least steralize everything after each use.

Did I say clean water and good food?

What medication did you get?

I'm glad your gals are responding for you and strong against a nasty and underhanded attack by a vicious enemy!

 

[Bre_B]

i got maracyn two

 

[jollysue]

Virbac (Maracyn) recommends using a one two punch. They say the success ratio is better using Maracyn as well as Maracyn 2 at once. (Don't confuse with any other Maracyn like Maracyn Plus.) One is a negative gram and the other is a positive gram antibiotic cocktail--whatever that means. I suspect it will help with the secondary infections--perhaps the popeye.

One thing about Maracyn that I like is that you can continue carbon filtration while treating. Don't use new carbon but if you have some a week old. Maracyn is also easier on the fish than some meds. The bad news is that it is expensive.

How do the babies look today?

 

[ezrock]

hey. being in medschool, I'm able to discuss the difference between Gram positive and Gram negative (Gram is the name of the person who figured out the difference). Essentially, it all boils down to a method of staining bacteria to look at them under a microscope. They do a series of 'chemicals' that they add to the slide. At the end, you get pink ones or purple ones.

It's just a way of differentiating between the cell walls of bacteria. One of the groups have thick walls, other have thinner walls (causing the different colours after the dyes when you look at a slide that has bacteria on it in the microscope.

Anyways, some meds will help fight the Gram positives, others will help fight the Gram negatives. So, if you don't know what type of bacteria is infecting the fish, it'd be beneficial to use both types of meds just to make sure

Hope that helps,

-Ian

 

[jollysue]

Thanks, Ian, that's interesting. I have a better understanding and structure to hang information on.

 

[ezrock]

glad I could help!

-Ian