Now Lava...

He has Black Spot disease. His head and body are covered in small black spots. I've been so involved caring for Phlox these past few days I haven't been able to pay close attention to the others.  If anyone has any information or experience with this parasite please let me know. From what I've read it's not fatal but it could cause secondary infections. I am buying some Tank Buddies Parasite Clear right now. It claims to get rid of black spot. As soon as I can I am getting some new gravel, tearing apart his tank and throwing out his gravel where the parasites are. Apparently they can live for months in the gravel even without a host. Lava seems listless and depressed. I hope he hasn't already gotten a bacterial infection. He's acting a lot like Phlox did at first. Hopefully I can cure him since he's not as advanced. Maybe that's what ultimately killed Phlox but I couldn't see the black spots on him because he had a dark body. Lava is pink on his body and it's very obvious. I just can't deal with losing more fish. Maybe I should treat them ALL for parasites.

 

I am so sorry to hear that Lava is sick now. I hope he gets better soon.

 

Well from what I have read on black spot, it is not dangerous just persistant. I doubt it is what killed Phlox...although I suppose it is possible he had some sort of advanced bacterial infection which was caused by the black spot, if he had it for a long time and you didn't notice it due to his dark color.

Anyhow, hopefully the parasite clear does the trick. Good idea to chuck the gravel. Or, if you don't want to get rid of it, you could bake it in the oven and I bet that would kill the parasites...or just leave it sitting around out of the tank for a few months.

Well, let us know how he is doing.

 

My heart goes out to you. Hopefully Lava will make a swift recovery. I know you are taking really good care of him.

 

Was Lava the Betta that had the snail because the book that I had stated that it was spread by freshwater snails. It also stated that there was really no effective treatment but time and that it was not life threatening to fish that were raised inside in aquariums and they should be kept in optimum conditons to increase the chance of healing.

It is a strange disease first starting in birds and spreading to snails and then to fish. Very strange. I hope that Little Lava is okay and gets to feeling better very soon.

I will pray and send good wishes for him continually.

Rose

 

No, Phlox is the one who had the snail. I have to wonder if he caught something from the snail. His snail died just about 6 weeks ago. I may never know what killed Phlox but probably a parasite that caused a secondary infection or some kind of bacterial infection... maybe even cancer in his belly. All I know is, last weekend he was healthy and swimming around normally and within a few days he went downhill so fast I didn't even have time to figure out what he had or what he needed.  :'(
Lava seems healthy enough but I now know how fast they can go... I decided to tear apart ALL the tanks (except the newest 5.5 one that Karma was in) and scrub all of them clean and replaced all with new white smooth coated gravel. I kept the filters running in a bucket of tank water to keep them cycled. All the tanks are being treated with Parasite Clear (which says it treats black spot disease) and after that all are getting one dose of Tank Buddies Fungus Clear. I'm determined to kill whatever bacteria or parasite murdered my baby and keep it from hurting the others. Lava's poor head looks like he has a bad case of acne and even his gills and lips are turning black. His tail is looking ragged. I don't know if the black lips mean he has mouth rot but if he does, the Fungus Clear should help that. I bought Vitamin Pyramids for all the tanks to give everyone extra vitamins to boost their immune systems.
Angel, Aenara and Karma are lively and zipping around like crazy but Whisper, who was Phlox's tankmate is looking paled out and is hiding in her cave a lot. She seems a little lethargic and a bit fat. She's not constipated though. She's pooping a lot and has been eating lots of pea treats. I hope she doesn't have what he had. I'm treating her with Fungus Clear too and if that doesn't help I'll try something stronger like the Triple Sulfa. Lava has bursts of energy when he sees me but the rest of the time he just lays on the bottom wrapped around his sword plant or hiding under the cave.