T.Espei problem

[|squee|]

I've noticed this with my Espei, it's been too recurrent to ignore now.

Ever so often, one of my Espei will get a white streak on it's body. This white vertical streak will usually develop into one or two more, then the fish starts to be a loner, and eventually dies. So far, about 6 of my Espei has succumbed to this.

Another similar case will be here.

Anyone has a similar problem/knows what disease this is? It's unlike anything I can find in books.

[stormhawk]

I'm not exactly 100% sure but I suspect it might be NTD (Neon Tetra Disease). Actually caused by a sporozoan, Plistophora hyphessobryconis. No known cure exists. Infected fishes must be isolated ASAP and euthanised to prevent the spores from infecting others.

However it could be another disease altogether.

[benny]

Very likely to be columnaris. Isolate immediately when it happens. Not an easy disease to cure, but if dignosed early, Potassium Permaganate dip will work.

Cheers,

[stormhawk]

Image below of a Columnaris infection on a guppy from www.fishpalace.org



Is this what's hitting your espei?

[stormhawk]

Another image of a platy stricken with Columnaris, from www.sera.cz:

[michael lai]

Hi Squee,
Agree with Benny, likely 'Column', this bugger have a nigging habit of staying around. you would probably want to quarantine the whole batch, have some sucess with this medication called Befuran( yellow packet ) you might wanna try. Good luck.

[|squee|]

Okay, I did some searches on columnaris, but no pictures showed me that vertical line across the middle of the body
Also, another one has been hit, a Harleqiuen this time, with sort of sore that looks like a old injury.

Sigh. Ok, if it's columnaris, does it stay around in the tank (like ich) or only lives in livestock?

Thanks!

[benny]

Good pictures of diseased fishes are hard to come by. The name columnaris actually has some bearing with the vertical column discoloration of the fish when infected with this disease.

This disease has 4 strains and typically we see two manifestation, type A and Type B as described in TFH's Fish Disease book. One of the form is extremely acute and will kill the fish within 24 hours. The other one is slower and the fish will have about a week to two before it is dead. In the early stages, hobbyists always mistake the disease for mouth fungus as it also turns the mouth of the fish whitish. In extreme cases, the caudal (and sometimes dorsal) fins will recede very quickly and only the soft rays will remain before that is also "eaten" away by the disease, giving the impression of fin rot. Hobbyists, therefore, always treat this disease with the wrong medication. What they are seeing is the secondary infection and whilst trying to treat it, the primary infection rages on. The contagious nature of this disease will ensure that battling this disease will be a long drawn affair.

This is a good article on Columnaris. For the rest, who wants to find out more about columaris, these are the common web resourse.

And if you are not sure how to use Potassium Permaganate to treat the disease, read this.

Terrence, I have good books on fish diseases if you are interested to know more. Let me know.

Cheers,

[michael lai]

Dear squee,
My last outbreak was at August and I'm still fighting the disease even with periodical treatment with UV. My advise prepare for a long fight. BTW, mine is planted tank, bioload is heavy with about 60 fishes in a 4x1.5x1.5.

[|squee|]

Thanks alot for the link benny.

To quote the article,

In the early stages of the disease, the lesions may simply appear as an area that is 'less glossy' than the surrounding scales. Advance lesions may be round or oval in shape, and can if untreated, progress to an open ulcer. In some fish the lesion may appear as a pale band, encircling the body of the fish - hence the name saddleback disease 3.

This is indeed very similar for my case. Seems I've to isolate every fish in that tank. Strangely my Otocinclus has lived through all those deaths.