Unusually Pale Fish

[korunks]

Hi this is my first post here, I have been greatly helped by the many many posts and knowledgable people on this forum. You all have helped me with ICH, bad water conditions all without even knowing it . However I couldn't find any help for my current problem.

One of my fancy finned zebra danio's has a section of his body just beyond his dorsal fin that is very pale. It starts at his dorsal goes back aways and before his tale his body resumes normal color. his side fins (sorry don't know what they are called) are stuck out like airplane wings and he is moving about, just not as active as a danio normally is. I have no clue what the prob could be but fish are hard to get pics of so I don't have one. Any thoughts?

my Tank conditions are:
10 gal tank
0 ppm ammonia
0 ppm Nitrites
0 ppm Nitrates
7.2 ph

tank mates are:
5 serpae Tetras(longfinned)
2 Golden MM platies
4 other (danios 1 regular 3 fancy)




***UPDATE***

Fish has starting struggling to swim and he was quarantined in the hospital tank. I know he probably will not make it but I am hopeful. Any advice would be helpful as I am at the moment considering this to be an internal parasite, but do not want to begin treatment until I am more sure, lest the medicine be deadlier than the cure.

 

[doresy]

Hi, not too 'up' on diseases.

Does the 'patch' look like a coating, if so could be Slim or Velvet maybe?

Looking at your stats, zero nitrAte is unusual. Has your set-up cycled?

 

[korunks]

I believe my set up has cycled, I have had it for a month+ with fish. I just last week came off of a massive Nitrate/Nitrite spike(note the spike occured before this sick fish was placed in tank). I upgraded my filter to a much more powerful unit, and my water levels came down to zero after a partial water change. The pale section of his body has no coating it is just unusually pale. His colors underneath his scales is faded. I hope this may clarify my fishes condition.



***UPDATE***

The paleness has now(only a few hours from the first post) moved towards the tail and beyond the Dorsal fin toward his gills. Also he swims like a madman when I turn the lights on, but he sits on the bottom when the lights are off and he rests. I also just remembered that the LFS dude* mentioned that they some times swim through the vents between tanks(they have a shared filtration system) and both the Danios that I bought had done so. I do not know if this is the cause of his abnormal behavior but I felt it was worthy of mention. Any help would be greatly appreciated, even if I lose him I need to know if this may be parastic in nature or a disease so I can protect my other fish.



* the term "dude" is used colloquially

 

[WILDER]

Right do the pale patches go along the back and down the sides to form a saddle appearance.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
Sitting on the bottom not good bacterial to parasite.
Any excess slime build up on the fish.
Check the gills over as well to see if they look pale with excess mucas on them or red and inflamed.

 

[korunks]

Well the patches do run along aside in what I guess could be called a saddle pattern.
No flicking or rubbing
Still sitting on bottom
no excess slime build up
gills appear normal

hope this helps, does it definatly sound like a bacteria or parasite? If it is should I treat the tank he came from, or just treat him in my hospital tank?

 

[WILDER]

Get you some info sounds like saddleback columnaris then.http/article.discusnews.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml

 

[korunks]

From the description that the link provided I do not believe that saddleback columnaris is the illness my fish has.

The above picture highlights the affected area and the vertical bars in the picture are are like the ones on him. The patch upon further examination is not elliptical or circular in nature. it is literally a line running down the side of the fish on one side it is pale, with no coating, on the other its is healthy looking. I can see his scales in place there does not appear to be a coating, it looks pale under his skin. That concerns me . I hope this pic can help as I find hard to accurately describe the fish or to take a god pic of him(my camera sucks).

Thanks for the help thus far!
cheers.

 

[WILDER]

Columnaris comes in many disguises.
If the fish isn't fliciking I would say it is bacterial
Signs are bleached out patches , looking like less glossy areas on the fish.
http/www.nippyfish.net/flexibacter.html

Is it possible to load a pic up of the sick fish.


The physical presence of columnaris disease is expressed by a variety of external signs that are related to the varying virulence or ability to cause disease among different strains. In the case of saddle back disease, the infection begins on the dorsal (top) surface of the fish and rapidly progresses down and around the body, resulting in what looks like a saddle around the middle of the fish. The bacteria have a yellow color that can give the fish a patchy yellowish appearance. These bacteria are also noted for their ability to produce enzymes that can erode the skin completely, exposing the underlying musculature. Less virulent bacteria may produce localized shallow ulcers. gill tissue is a common site of infection and may be, in some cases, the only affected area. Damage to the gills is generally associated with brownish dead patches of tissue that are readily invaded by opportunistic fungi, such as Saprolegnia.

 

[korunks]

ok here is a pick mate, if I can get it to load. Never had much luck with forum pics but any ways. I also noticed that from time to time he jerks his head back and forth rather quickly. Maybe that will help.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry the pics are bad quality to make anything out.
Jerking the head can sometimes mean something irratating the gills, like gill flukes.
Any fish gone thin.

 

[korunks]

unfortunatly that is the best I can get with my crap camera. I don't know what else to do. I can't draw it. I have parasite treatments and I don't know if they contain potassium permangenate. What would you recommend I do under the current circumstances? I tried taking more pics but they all come out blurry as my camera has no good focus controls. Oh yeah no fish gone thin

 

[WILDER]

It sounds more bacterial to me.If a parasite was involved would expect, darting, gasping or heavy breathing, flicking and rubbing, the fish is showing none of them signs.http/www.fishdoc.co.uk/treatments/potass...ermanganate.htm

 

[korunks]

Wilder thanks for all your help . I'll try for better pics in the morning. Till then we'll just see if my littlr buddy can make it over night.

 

[WILDER]

With not showing any signs of flicking and rubbing I would go in with a bacterial med.
Good luck.

 

[korunks]

Unfortunately this morning when I got up before work he was already gone. I never even got the chance to treat him. I am not quite sure how to clean my hospital tank but I assume that I should. Thanks again to Wilder for helping me.


Unnamed