ID disease

[michael lai]

Hi ppl,
Recently my batch of Rasboras Vaterfloris aka Fire rasboras got hit by some weird disease. It appears like discolouration along the tail part in black patches. Then it worsens and after a while it burst into open sores, these takes about a month or so and the fish dies shortly after. It appears contagious as some of the others have got it too. But it is only confine to the fire rasboras and not other fishes.
Could anybody enlighten on this, thanking in advance.
Btw, they were also hit by ICH but I manage to cure them. Still the discolouration remains.

[stormhawk]

Mike, I have a feeling your vaterifloris might have gotten a bacterial or protozoal infestation. From the looks of it, the "sore" symptoms do seem familiar to me. Do the fish have red streaks on the sides of the body? If yes then they probably have Aeromonas or Pseudomonas bacteria infection. Did you happen to disturb the gravel layer recently?

A short PP bath for the sick fishes would be good for the fishes and further treatment with the yellow powder thing will help too.

Remove the sick fishes ASAP and transfer them to a separate treatment tank. It would be a waste to lose such a beautiful species.

[Added Info: The presence of the sores does not necessarily mean that Aeromonas or Heteropolaria are present]

More Info Here : Red "Sore" Disease - http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_VM059

The episode of ich may have weakened their defences against other disease so that may explain why they are infected with this new disease, and not the rest of the fish.

[michael lai]

Thanks bro, for the prompt reply. I have isolated the fishes and have started the medication regime. The substrate was 'disturbed' a few times during these 1 month. Let me first find out what works and we'll discuss furthur on this disease. Thanks, and yes they are very beautiful.

[stormhawk]

Bacteria like these tend to stay dormant in the substrate, so if the gravel bed was "disturbed" chances are, they will probably infect one or two fishes, or in severe cases, attack and kill several fishes. This works in two ways - dirty water encourages the protozoans to multiply, then the bacteria comes in and does a secondary infection, which usually kills the fish. If fungus sets in, then the fish is probably a goner.

I had a serious problem just like this with the Aeromonas/Pseudomonas bacteria about a month ago when I re-scaped my tank. After the re-scaping and planting was done, I lost 20 fish over a period of one week, starting with my precious corys and then smaller fishes like the Boraras.

Spoke with a good friend of mine who recommended that I do a 50% water change and dose the tank with the Japanese "yellow" powder. Boy oh boy that "yellow" powder was like a miracle cure. After that, no problems.

[michael lai]

Thanks stormhawk for sharing that information. I need to clarify this, if you could. By yellow powder I'm assuming that is Befuran and PP would be Potassium permanganate. Please correct if I'm wrong, thanking in advance.

[ranmasatome]

pp if it is potassium permanganate is purple i think.

[stormhawk]

Mike, the JYP (Japanese yellow powder) with the koi / goldfish on the packaging, should be the same as Befuran, its yellow in colour and comes in powder form. Contains a nitrofuran-based ingredient, which works very well against bacterium if I remember correctly. I've never used Befuran but I believe both are similar, if not the same.

PP is potassium permanganate. Very potent disinfectant. You only need one or two crystals to tint a small container of water purplish. Do not overdose on this or it may prove more lethal against your fish. You only need a slight purplish tint of the water for it to work. If the fish are to bathed in this, do aerate the container if possible. Some medications absorb oxygen from the water to work and I'm not sure if this applies to PP as well.

[michael lai]

Mike, the JYP (Japanese yellow powder) with the koi / goldfish on the packaging, should be the same as Befuran, its yellow in colour and comes in powder form. Contains a nitrofuran-based ingredient, which works very well against bacterium if I remember correctly. I've never used Befuran but I believe both are similar, if not the same.

PP is potassium permanganate. Very potent disinfectant. You only need one or two crystals to tint a small container of water purplish. Do not overdose on this or it may prove more lethal against your fish. You only need a slight purplish tint of the water for it to work. If the fish are to bathed in this, do aerate the container if possible. Some medications absorb oxygen from the water to work and I'm not sure if this applies to PP as well.

Thanks for the heads up, storm and justin. Found out the hard way, about the pp though. Lost a bag of fish the other time when I overdose only for a few minutes. I'm currently trying out the pp treatment will let you guys know later. Also found out 2 of them have dropsy also I'm thinking it might be due to the fact that they are wild caught that's why they are less immune to disease, anyway just a hunch.

[michael lai]

Latest update, lost 4 of the quarantine 6 fishes due to furthur complications. I think secondary infection came in, Dropsy. The spots are still there with the balance 2 fishes. They 'seem' to be improving darting around. The regime is 40% water change every day and new medication. Will update in another few days time.