Unexpected Death

[jen87]

Hey guys.

As the title states I had a unexpected death in the tank. One of my panda corys died and I just can't figure out why.
My tank is 20 gallons
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
The temperature is 76 F

I have a betta, weather loach, 2 pepper corys, now 1 panda cory , a rubber lip pleco, a group of harlequin rasboras, 2 female platys, a mystery plant hitchhiker which I believe is a female guppy, and 3 nerite snails.

None of the fish have been acting strange in any way. Is there something I should be looking out for? I've seen no signs of external parasites, no ich or white spot as far as I can tell, and his body didn't look hurt or anything. The other fish seem to be okay. Could I have an internal parasite lurking in my tank?

 

[WILDER]

Any symtoms to go on.
Did he look pale or darker in colour.
What did his barbels look like.
Did he have any red streaking or sores on his body.
Was he acting listless and lethagic.
Was he still eating.

 

[jen87]

Any symtoms to go on.
Did he look pale or darker in colour.
What did his barbels look like.
Did he have any red streaking or sores on his body.
Was he acting listless and lethagic.
Was he still eating.

He was eating good. And to me he looked fine. He was always a little pale as opposed to the other panda - i thought perhaps one was just a boy and one was a girl the other one is larger than he was. I've only had them for about 3 weeks. They would just lay around at times and the other one still does. I'm worried because now my platys are laying around and the one has clamped fins. I have some jungle anti parasite fish food. Should I treat them? I don't want to harm them. The panda's aren't listless all the time, they have episodes of hyper behavior. Other than the panda's and the platys everyone else acts normal.

 

[jen87]

I think whatever is going on is affecting another cory. One of the pepper corys is acting really weird. It's almost like swim bladder but he's not turning at all. He will just sit at the bottom really really still like he's dead, in fact I stuck the net in a couple times because I thought he was. But then he moves. Then he'll act normal for a little bit, but then he'll crash at the bottom. a couple of times he's swam at the top and crashed. When he stops moving he'll lay on his side but not upside down. I'm sad for him. I want to help him. He doesn't usually do this. He looks normal on the outside. Except some of his barbels look short like they've been hurt. my other corys look fine and the loach looks okay. My gravel is circular I don't think it would hurt them.

 

[WILDER]

I would add a bacterial med to the tank.

The third type of infection produced by Aeromonas is by no means the least. This form is often the most virulent (potent) and can be rapidly fatal. This insidious form does not produce any noticeable external ulcers. The most notable feature is a behavioral change in which the infected fish generally become listless and lethargic. Some fish may lose color or appear darker. The fish do not feed, frequently seem off balance and may sink to the bottom laying on their sides. The course of the disease is rapid, and by the time the behavioral changes are noticed, the entire population of a tank may succumb, sometimes in a day or so. This is an internal infection, with the bacteria being found in the kidneys and blood of these fish. The bacteria produce potent toxins that account for the severity of the disease.

 

[jen87]

I treated the tank with Jungle's Parasite medication which treats internal and external parasites. Will this be enough? The directions are strange for it. Treatment may be repeated up to 2 times With 48 hours between treatments. So I take it, I treat the tank again in 48 hours which will be about this time tomorrow. But for how long should I treat the tank? After tomorrow am I done or should I continue treatment after another 48 hours. Some medications want it treated for at least 10 days.

The pepper cory died. No one else seems to be acting like he was. The platys are laying around still. The other fish are normal right now.


Thanks for your help.

 

[WILDER]

Are any fish flicking and rubbing, or darting around the tank.
It sounds more like a bacterial infection than parasite.

 

[jen87]

Not that I have noticed so far. Have I hurt them more by using this medication? What type of bacterial medication should I use, and once I get it when will it be safe to start using it. I will have to insert the carbon and do some water changes to remove this medication. Good thing I've only dosed them once... or is that bad?

 

[WILDER]

You will have to remove the med with a water change and run some black carbon.
I would use maracyn one and two, or maracyn plus.

 

[jen87]

Well now that I think about it you will need to know the history of my platys. I should have thought about them sooner. When I brought the male platy home I noticed a white spot on him, but it never spread (this was a while ago). I was told by someone that it could be a parasite. He does have stringy poop from time to time but I've also read that, that could be caused my eating live plants and the other platy has had white poop before which I also read could be from plants. It wouldn't make sense that the seemingly healthy corys would die first but the platys are better suited for the hardness of my water. I've never actually seen the corys poop so I'm unsure if they ever showed any signs. Do you think this has something to do with it and if so is it possible to treat both just in case.



Thanks,
Jen

 

[WILDER]

How big was the white spot. Was it the size of a grain of salt or bigger.
Any redness to the spot on the outside or inside.
Long stringy white poo can be constipation, bacterial infection, internal parasites.
What do you feed the fish.

Signs of internal parasites are.
Long stringy white poo, or clear mucas poo.
Fish will look skinny or bloated.
Enlarged anus, or red inflamed anus.
Worms prutruding from and anus.
Fish will sometimes swim on its side.
Bent spine sometimes.
Sunken in belly.

 

[jen87]

OH! This could be important too. While I was keeping an eye on the pepper cory I did notice he had tiny, very fine hairs sticking up off of his fins. They were about 2 or 3 millimeters tall and I really wasn't sure if it was just a part of his fin or if it was something else.

 

[WILDER]

Did they look like strands cotton.
Does the white hairs have a y shaped tail.

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hdcolumn.htm

 

[jen87]

It's close to the size of a grain of salt but I would say it's a little bit bigger perhaps. There's no redness to the inside of the spot and from what I can/could tell no redness outside (he's very, very orange on that area) Its located at the base of his tail. His poop was clear and very, very thin. I feed them TetraMin tropical crisps, Top Fin shrimp Pellets, Hikari Algae Wafers, and on special occasion some Blood worms which are mostly for the loach. When I look closely at the platy I can sort of see some faint white patches but Its hard to tell because he is yellow and orange. I still can see the white spot. They don't really show any other signs. Sometimes when he poops he'll have a long line of normal poop then some clear in the middle and then finish with normal. Last night the cory kept bending his spine. like, if you were looking don't on top of him he was making a C.

 

[jen87]

Did they look like strands cotton.
Does the white hairs have a y shaped tail.

[URL="http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hdcolumn.htm"]http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hdcolumn.htm[/URL]

They didn't look like cotton. They seem to have had a Y shape. They had multiple little strands on them. Like little hairs on one hair.