Tetras dying 1 after another

[apollo]

Hi Guys

Need help. Tetras dying after another. Just last nite b4 i find her body in the mrg, i saw small bubbles on her body and her body was whitish(Fungus or white spots).

Can anybody give me some suggs? Heard abt salt treament,but can my beautiful lawn of riccia take it?

Next, how do i prevent it with the current lot if they survive? Is uv filter the best option?

My tank is 3"x18"x18". Lawn of riccia.

Tks.
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[Simon]

perharps u can remove the fishes into another tank and dose with salt.. i dun think riccia can withstand the dosing.. btw, I got no idea what diease yr tetra contracted

[David]

hi apollo

no UV is not the solution for you at the moment....the purpose of UV works as a preventive measure and not the cure. you did not give enuff information to help you so i am going to shoot in the dark for you.

1. Is your tank newly set up and the water has been circulating in your tank for about a week or so? Anything less than 5 days, you are running a risk of dying fish as your water is not conditioned to support aquatic lifes as yet.

2. Are your fish newly purchased? If yes did you condition them to your new tank by first floating the back in your tank for about 1/2 hour and mix tank to plastic bag water to 100%? If not your fish may suffer from temp or PH shock.

3. Are they showing any irregular signs like heavy gill breathing, hanging near the surface, white discolored patch just below dorsal fin, body with tiny white spots, mouth or nose area with puffy cotton like thingy? extemely bright coloration.

aquarium salt dosing at 1tbsp to 5 gallons of water is the best first line of treatment and as simon suggested move them into another tank. However if med is going to be used, you got to be more presice in what you are dealing with before dosing.

[DEA]

fungus... or white spots.....
i strongly suggest you go and look at the other fish for signs of infection
the root causes of the two are very very different
i don't advocate removing fish from the tank when they're sick
more often than not the stress of shifting does them in

that said and done, you CAN remove the delicate plants from your tank before any treatment
but check out what actually happened before dosing anything
we usually do more good than harm by dosing without knowing what exactly we're treating for

[apollo]

Hi Guys

Thanks for trying to help. My tank is a 3ft with a lawn of riccia. Its been abt 2 mth old. Very sorry but dont have my water perimeters.

Very sure that uv is prevention than cure? Cos already borrowed it from frds and has turn it on for 5 hrs last nite.

Tetras looks better except 1 which is grasping for air on the surface. Looks like its time up for that poor fella.
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[PeterGwee]

Looks like internal bacteria infection or gill flukes...Some of my rams in fishy heaven now always kena this type of infection...still dunno why though. Don't remove them from the main tank...it would kill them almost surely. Try treating them in the main tank like what DEA said....But sad to say gill flukes and internal bacteria are hard to cure. Unless your one is CO2 overdose (highly unlikely as only 1 tetra is having breathing difficulties)

[David]

hi apollo

yes i am pretty sure that it is used as a preventive measure more than a cure. The most it can help you contain the multiplication but that is if it is turned on 24/7.

breathing at the surface is more likely a gill infection of some sort unless you have a CO2 overdose as peter mentioned or your nitrite level has spiked.

At this point salting your tank is the best option at 1tbsp to 5gallons of water and keep your UV on 24/7.If you are going to dose your tank with med, UV MUST BE TURNED OFF. incidentally is the bulb more than 2yrs old? Cause if it is...either you change the UVPL tube and blow off 50 bucks or so or it will not have enuff intensity to zap any nasties off.

[DEA]

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On 12/8/2002 6:35:23 PM

Very sure that uv is prevention than cure? Cos already borrowed it from frds and has turn it on for 5 hrs last nite.

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when you don't know what it is that is afflicting them, it's impossible to say for sure
but the only reason why uv works in any way at all is by killing off infective pathogens in the water
if it doesn't spread by the water, ie by contact, it doesn't do zip
next thing is, even if it does spread through the water, it can only reduce the no. of pathogens, not wipe them out entirely
so, can you describe in more detail their symptoms?

[apollo]

Hi guys

Thanks for all the help.Guess my tetras are suffering for fungus like growth on its body. Just like david said, white discoloured patch below the dorsal fins.

The poor guy grasping for air has finally been led awy by "gu tou beh bin"!

So UV is more prevention than cure is true. If this is the case, uv light 24/7, wont it kill all the gd bact as well??

I have decided to move all my tetras as moving my riccia out will be night mare for me. Am sure it will be dislodged from the netting. The next Q is, can i rear tetras agn since the disease might be stuck in the tank??

Placed my tetras in those washing pail. Anybody knows how many gallon will that be? Have actually put a tablespoon of salt last night and this mrg they are ok still.

Have thought of keeping rummey nose if tetras failed since i read so much problem with tetras as compared to rummey nose. Any comments, guys?

Finally, i really appreciate all those reading this in tryin to help. Thank You Very Much!

[Allen_1971]

Apollo,

UV is only effective against free floating bacteria, spores etc... Most of the "good" bacteria in our tank are anchored on a surface like our gravel, or our bio media in the filter. As such, we do not expect that the UV filter will affect our "good" bacteria colonies.

As for treating your fish, salt treatment is one way, and I actually suspect your riccia may be able to take heavy salting though I'm not 100% sure.

For cases such as yours I prefer to treat the fishes "in tank". This is mainly because fish stress and their immune system are tied quite closely. Putting your fish in a pail introduces several new stresses

1. New environment
2. New water conditions (unless you used tank water)
3. No hiding spaces
4. More congested
5. The stress of being netted and chased about by a net

As such, where the whole community is at stake, I would treat them in the original tank. This has the added advantage of ensuring that other fishes who are not showing symptoms now are also treated. Plus, you reduce the risk of the fungal infection occuring again.

For fungal infections, I would actually recommend myxazin from waterlife. Its a combination bacteriostat and fungistat which I've used successfully in the past to treat fungal issues. Plus its safe on your filter colony and plants. Being anti-bacteria has the added advantage of helping your fish out against any secondary infections and sicknesses as well. Besides dosing meds, you could consider using an additional boost of vitamins like JBL activol. This would help as well... All in all, this would raise the success rate of treatment.

Anyway, thats just my 2 cents, and I wish you well in the treatment of your fish.

[budak]

rummy noses are also a kind of tetra, and they are known to be even more sensitive to poor water conditions than other tetras such as neon tetras. Solve your tank problem first, before getting more fish. Otherwise, it will be the same problem again.

[apollo]

Sorry. 1 last pt. I think my tetra sickness is stress induced. Basically my tank is a lawn of riccia with a man made X-moss tree.

If i want to keep this aquascape, what sort of fishes can i keep?

[apollo]

Sorry. 1 last pt. I think my tetra sickness is stress induced. Basically my tank is a lawn of riccia with a man made X-moss tree.

If i want to keep this aquascape, what sort of fishes can i keep?

[Allen_1971]

If you think your fish illness was stress induced, then ask yourself what are the stress factors? 70% of the time this boils down to poor water quality. Other factors include overcrowding, aggressive tank mates etc. Once you know whats stressing your fish, see how you can remedy the situation. IF you can do that, almost any fish is suitable.

[DEA]

fungus like growth below dorsal fins
difficulty in breathing?
scales raised beneath the patch?

[apollo]

Hi Guys

DEA: Yeah.. looks like they have all the abv.

Well, this evening when i got back, look hard into my empty tank and to my horror, saw tiny tick like bact sticking on the glass wall.

With their host gone, they are out looking for new host!!??

Sori Allen, my fishes are already out from my tank.

So what shud i do now, do 80-90% water change so as to let out chorinated water kill those #%%^$^&$ bact? Or shud i salt treatment the whole tank in preparation for new fishes?

Thanks.

[DEA]

if they have what i described
then they're gone the moment you see the symptoms
most likely diagnosis is chilodonella
you can't see them
waterborne, highly virulent
i suggest you use either the mardel lab med (i think it's maracyn iirc) or a LOT of salt (nearly 3tbsp per 20l)
you can't save those that're afflicted but u might save the rest

[Allen_1971]

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On 12/11/2002 1:03:48 AM
LOT of salt (nearly 3tbsp per 20l)
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Eeeks... thats nearly 3tbsp/5G? you sure about that level dea? The highest I've dosed is like 1tbsp/5G... and are you recommending such levels for a short term bath, or long term immersion?

[apollo]

So, if i salt bath my tank, can my riccia take it??

Finally, forgot to add. Can my cherry and bee shrimps take it as well?

Thanks.

[Allen_1971]

apollo,

it depends on what DEA is suggesting... for such high concentrations, typically we do a salt bath... i.e. you take the affected fish, and put them in the solution for say 10-20 mins... after which you return them to the main tank....

However, DEA was not clear on what he meant, and to my knowledge he's had the most experience with dosing salt for disease treatments... (hmmm wonder if that means he's had the most sick fishes ) Anyway, best to hear from him what he means. The highest concentrations I've used in my main tank is 1 tbsp/5G.

Forgot to add... no matter what concentration, do it gradually... don't shock your fish further by suddenly changing the salinity.