Losing my Congo tetras....

[pulp2000]

Hi

I bought 30 congo tetras for my 5 feet tank 4 weeks back. I noticed a few of them (around 8 ) not eating whenever the feeding time comes, they are now extremely skiny, with the bone on the head protruding, eyes slightly popped (dont know if its becoz of the thin body), their scales are not puffed up. Also noticed some of their shit is floating on the surface; its not dark brown, but white/beige in color. The rest are growing & feeding well. I am feeding them dried blood worms. Please advise on possible illness & medication. Thanks alot!!!

[mickthefish]

pulp2000
from what you've said about your fish, it sounds like internal bacteria could be your problem, or internal worms, i think your lads are going to be better for telling you what treatments you can use, as some of the cures you get , we aren't allowed to use without a vet prescribing them to us, ie antibiotics.
hope this helps, mick

[avant]

anti-biotics aren't sold in the lfs here either.. gotta get them prescribed from vets..

sounds like an internal bacteria infection as mick said..
you may want to try Pimafix. Tried it successfully before for internal bacteria infection.. hope it's not too late..

[Justikanz]

Tetracycline can be obtained from some LFS somehow. But the use of them will wipe out your beneficial bacterial in your filter wor...

[Justikanz]

Anyway, the stringy and floating shit could be a sign of internal parasites, rather than internal baterial infection...

Try adding garlic to their diet, using oil or mixing minced garlic to their food...

[mickthefish]

for inyernal worms, we use levamisol, which we buy over the counter at the vets, its normal use is for pigs& sheep ,
this cure is very affective, once administered in the tank you will see the dead worms passing out of the anus, after only 20 minutes, redose after a month just to make sure.

[pulp2000]

Hi guys

Thanks for the reply! Those infected congos do not have swollen bellies, in fact they are very thin. So can I rule out internal bacteria infection and just concentrate on deworm the fish?? I did a search and found the following is quite effective for deworming:
- levamisole (as suggested by mickthefish)
- closantel / Albendazole
- fenbendazole

Anybody know where can we get these? From common pharmacy or through vet only? Should I throw in Primafix in case its really internal bacteria infection? Getting desperate coz a few of them looks extremely weak. I had thought that they are used to getting live food previously and so was trying to starve them to take frozen blood worms

[mickthefish]

ask at the vets pulp, over in the UK its 10£ to buy, convert that to S$,
you could buy it between a few of the lads, theres enough in the bottle to last a year for all your tanks, thats levamisole.
regards, mick

[Justikanz]

You can seriously try the more natural method of using garlic oil, fresh garlic juice or fresh garlic bits... It takes a little longer but it works on worms and parasites... Jack Watterly, the discus man, use it to deworm all his discus... And I think it was mentioned somewhere in the vivarium forum that thegarlic is used to get rid of worms in the vivarium... try it. It is better than using chemical (medication) where the dosage needs to be accurately measured, etc...

[sage08]

Tht was exactly wut happened to my rummy nose several days back. It was gasping at the surface and looking aneroxic, not eating anything at all. So, i decide to put it out of misery so as not to infect the other fish. Who knows what sort of external parasites it attracts when stressed or weakened.