Zebra Disease Outbreak

[sfgiants13]

 

[sfgiants13]

I had 3 zebras die after about 5 days from a disease I couldn’t figure out but I thought everything was good now. Another week passes and I’m having an outbreak again. Today I come home to another dead zebra and one with a bulging eye. One of the zebras gills looks slightly red too. Any idea what disease is going through the tank? It doesn’t seem to be affecting the neons or corys. But the original 3 zebras that died were all new and now whatever it is spread to the old fish. Any idea what it is so I can start treating it before it kills my whole tank? 0 ammonia and nitrite, about 20 nitrate tank at 74*.

i originally suspected columnaris but im
Not sure the symptoms fit that bill.

 

[corylover5]

@Colin_T

 

[sfgiants13]

I’m about to pick up maracyn 1/2 and see if that helps. With the bulging eye I suspect bacterial especially because the original fish had frayed fins after they died. 5 days of treatment and if things don’t improve there I’ll know it’s something else.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

To my limited disease knowledge, “pop-eye” is caused by poor water quality.

How often do you perform water changes?

I can see what you mean by the redness on their bodies. It could be columnaris, but I am not 100% sure on that. You may want to wait for other members input. Here is a treatment sheet for columnaris, if that is what it is: https://fishlab.com/columnaris/

 

[itiwhetu]

How old are these fish and were they all bought together. The fish at the back looks like its back is starting to arch.

 

[sfgiants13]

The one that has the eye issues also has a red hue to the belly. I started treating with maracyn 2 but if it's columnaris it won't help as much. When I added the fish I got a small ammonia spike (under .25) that went away after a few days. I also treated with prime during that time. My nitrate was a bit higher than I expected at around 20-40ppm but I did a 50% water change when I saw it was high so that should be better. There are also a lot of plants that should keep the water quality good. I usually do 25% every week but I may up that to 35-50.

As far as the redness in the photos the light makes everything appear more red than it really is because I do have some red bulbs there. I've attached another photo of the dead fish. It's so weird this only seems to be affecting the zebras.

 

[sfgiants13]

They weren't bought together. The bigger zebras were the initial batch followed by the neons. Then I slowly added a few zebras/neons/corys at a time. Most (and all zebras) were from the same store. The 3 that died first were the recent purchase a week and a half ago, and the ones that are now dying have been in the tank for about 6 months.

 

[itiwhetu]

My guess the new ones are carrying something from the LFS

 

[sfgiants13]

I also just tested the water again to be sure. 0/0/~20-30 nitrate probably on the lower end of that. PH of ~7.2.

 

[sfgiants13]

My guess the new ones are carrying something from the LFS

Yeah it's likely. I had an ich outbreak a few months ago with fish from the same store so I won't be buying from them again. I was really hoping that whatever it was didn't spread to the fish I had.

 

[itiwhetu]

Make sure you get the dead fish out quickly, unlikely it will spread, it will run through the new fish. There are some weird things out there which are hard to identify. Sometimes they are just lying dormant waiting for a change of conditions. All the zebras came from the same store, Yes ?

 

[sfgiants13]

Correct. Still strange that a lot of the other fish came from the same store as well and seem fine. The dead fish is out but the one with the enlarged eye is in the tank still since I'm just treating the entire thing. It's hard to tell if the other zebras have some red on their bodies and gills because of the light I have in there.

 

[itiwhetu]

I would approach the store about it. But be nice you never know, but him may be breeding them himself. Just point out your concern, as it looks like a supply issue to me.

 

[sfgiants13]

Will do thanks. They were fine for so long and all it took was introducing a few more and I've lost 5 of them within a week.