Gah! the outbreak of fish illness...

[emilai333]

So I haven't had any problems with fish illness in fish that I've had for any substantial amount of time. The fish have either arrived sick, or died from other causes, or are still alive. Well, until the past two days.

Three of my bettas have tail rot, despite my having recently increased my water change schedule (recently meaning about two months ago). I had a guppy die of dropsy and one of the remaining two females appears to be developing pop eye. And to top it all off, one of my last two tetras (the others died because they were dyed, ) has a funny white patch on his face that doesn't appear to be either fungus or ich, but certainly wasn't there last time I looked.

I've got all of these fish but the guppy in my divided tank (yes, even the tetra) and am treating with tetracyclin, as it says it treats pop eye and fin rot... I don't know about the tetra's problem but I don't know whats wrong with him anyway. I put my healthy female guppy into the fry bucket and am also treating the other female with tetracyclin. Before I added the tetracyclin tablets, I did 50% water changes so that the water is nice and clean. Temperature is about 80, I'm working on getting it up to 84. Wish me luck!

 

[BettaBuddy ~ Miley]

Good luck - and sorry to all of you having fishy ilnesses - my betta and my sisters betta just got update homes so they are so much healthier!! Good luck to all!!!!!! Miley

 

[chickadee]

Good luck to you and to your fish. It sounds like you have things planned out okay. I did read a notation on a site the other day saying that popeye is a sign of kidney disease in fish if it is on one side.

My best wishes and prayers coming your way.

Rose

 

[0morrokh]

All of the diseases you listed are commonly caused by bacteria, or an underlying bacterial disease. So, if tetracycline is an antibiotic you should be good to go...sorry I'm not familiar with that medication.

I hope they all get well soon, and keep us updated.

 

[Terry]

Yep - tetracycline is an antiobiotic. I used it not too long ago to treat a newly purchased red wag platy that had developed some light colored patch on one side and a pectoral fin that had rotted away. It took about 2 weeks in the Q tank till I was fairly confident that the disease was gone. Parasite & fungal meds did nothing for two weeks before trying the tetracycline. Good luck & let us know if it works.

 

[emilai333]

Well, over the weekend not much has changed - the bettas are still acting normal and their fins have not gotten any worse nor any better (not worse is good ). The tetra is still acting funny and still has the white spot on his face. The guppy's eye seems slightly worse, and the more I look at it I wonder if maybe its not popeye but rather a fish cataracts... the eye doesn't really appear to be bulging out, it has mostly turned blue. she actually looks really creepy. I think I'll finish off the round of tetracycline and see if she's any better by then, and if it hasn't worked, I'll try something else. I'll try to get a photo, but she likes to hang out under the heater, and its hard to get a good photo because she swims pretty fast.

 

[emilai333]

Update: I'm on my final day of medicating (this round) and the white is gone from the tetra. The bettas are all good. I can't tell if the guppy is any better, but she is active and eating. She does not have pop eye (she finally gave me a good look and the eye isn't popped out at all. I'll see how things are tomorrow with her.

On a related note, I may be getting a rescue goldfish today - was at the store and saw this pretty little red and white pearlscale sitting on the gravel. That wouldn't be a problem but it sat there for about 45 minutes. Its tail looks clamped a bit but I'm thinking it just has some minor swimbladder problems. I watched it swim up when the guy fed them, and it seemed to have trouble keeping its balance. Swimbladder problems aren't so horrible if the person caring for the goldie knows how to deal with it, and my best friend (who will be recieving this goldie after it finishes QT in my grow out tub) has a fish who has very bad swimbladder problems. The kid said that if I come in today they may give me a deal on it. So today I go find out!

 

[Terry]

Hey! That's good news on the fish healing! I"m not too sure about rescuing the goldfish thought. A nice thing to do, but it may end up being a heartbreaker if it dies. I think the lfs should give it to you, rather than just sell it reduced.

This is off topic, but I went to a mom & pop lfs not too far from me last Saturday. I hadn't been there in 20 years and didn't even know they were still in business. I figured if they were still going, despite the competition from Petsmart & Petco, that they must be doing something right. I really was expecting especially healthy fish - WRONG! They have a lot of tanks - on a level with Petsmart. I didn't look at the saltwater area, but just about every freshwater tank I looked in had a few dead fish, and others with things liked clamped fins. Needless to say I bought no fish & it was a real let down. I did get the Bio-Spira that I needed - they're one of only 2 shops in my area that sell it, but I doubt I'll go back to this lfs again.

 

[emilai333]

Well, they did end up giving me the goldfish free. Unfortunately, she died late last night despite my best efforts. My guess is that I probably switched her to new water too fast considering her poor condition, even though I took three hours about it. I was really excited to have a goldfish for the rest of the semester. I may go buy one tomorrow - they had some blue moors (I think they were moors, maybe Orandas?) and a couple of small lionheads (though, the friend who the fish would eventually go live with doesn't like lionheads) that I liked. And a black moor that I would rescue if I had meds for a fungal infection and a smaller tank that I could QT him in - he probably wouldn't make it tho, so I dont' think I want to spend the money for the meds just for him to die. anybody want to rescue a black moor with an awful fungal infection?

OK, on topic now - it appears my guppy's eye has cleared up, yay! so everyone is healthy, although Indra has started acting a bit lethargic I think its probably an effect of the medication.

And off topic again - I haven't been to a couple of the mom and pop lfs's in the area (kept meaning to go to one that aparently has cheap used tanks, but I think they've closed now), but the one that I do shop at takes decent care of their fish. I wish they wouldn't sell such tiny "artsy" "tanks" for bettas, but the fish are nearly always healthy. I have a friend who works there and he is as appalled by Wal Mart, Petco and Petsmart as the rest of us. He likes to remind all of us that "A Wal Mart fish = a dead tank." How true. It sucks that your lfs is so awful.

 

[Terry]

Sorry the goldfish rescue failed. Hey - you tried and that is admirable! The fish was probably beyond saving so don't balme anything you did. Good to hear the guppy is better. That local mom & pop LFS I mentioned made Walmart, Petsmart & Petco look good! In fact, the Petco close to me doesn't have as many tanks as Petsmart or that LFS, but the tanks are very well maintained, the water is as clear as crystal, and the fish always look healthy. I think the older gentleman in charge of the fish at Petco does an excellent job. Might not be the same at other Petco's though.