These are the days that make you rethink the hobby.

Over the weekend I picked up 7 cherry barbs and 1 male DG.

yesterday I lost my first barb.. Had red streaking in its body, looked like bacterial infection.
Lets call him patient zero. Most advanced symptoms.

Dosed with melafix last night.

today on lunch I scooped out my second barb. Casualty #2. Same red streaking, less evident.

When I got home from work 3 hours later the DG was laying on the bottom of the tank not breathing.

Dosed with melafix again.

Called LFS in a panic, They have a microscope and can test for basically anything.
When I scooped out the water to take in, He came up to the surface begging me to help.
I started balling my eyes out.

They tested my water and found a parasite they have never seen before.
Looks like small circles they said.
Gave me store credit for the barbs and DG.

Sold me Kordon Rid Ich Plus and aquarium salt.

By the time I made it home the DG was gone.

I can't keep watching fish die. My mental state cannot take it.

 

That's why I can't stress enough quarantine new arrivals.

 

They are in QT...


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But just think if they hadn't been and wiped out your whole tank...

 

I've now washed my hands/arms five times and I'm still scared to feed my other tanks


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No I don't think so. I am going to take water from my big tank in and make sure I haven't contaminated it. I really will lose what's left of my sanity if I have


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I'm sorry this is happening to you
I wish you the best luck in fixing the issue. Are there still fish in that tank as of now?


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Oh man This doesn't sound like anything parasitic - red streaking is generally a sign of a bacterial infection. If it's this advanced, unfortunately, there is probably not much you can do.

So sorry to hear about your fish

 

They think the bacterial infection is caused by the parasites...so they are having me treat for both. There are still 5 cherry barbs alive in there... Or were last night. I haven't had the courage to look this morning


*edit: as of 930a they are still alive and looking better. Eating ok...but the barbs never had an issue eating.

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Made it all day without losing a fish. Too bad I couldn't have saved them all


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Now they don't appear to want to eat...

But they tend to clean up after the lights are out.

How long should I treat for?

I did suck up a lot of white poop today, so that means they are eating at least some..


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who is they?

Depending on what medication you're using, treatment times may differ. ALWAYS follow the directions on the packaging for meds.

 

That's good. Wash any equipment down to prevent cross contamination.

 

Isnt white poop bad and can mean parasites? Also your very lucky your LFS can test to find out what is the cause. Thats great. But yeah avoid any cross contamination. I recommend using throw away full sleeve gloves until this blows over. Also i have heard that DG have their own strain of disease that has red infections. I wish you luck.

 

I still have the 5 cherry barbs Im treating for parasites/bacterial infection

The instructions are pretty poor. "Continue treatment for 3-4 days after symptoms are gone"

They didn't have symptoms. They just died.

And I have separate sets of equipment for QT


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Aye, TK. I'm sorry. And I'm right there with you. After watching V struggle with fin rot for two months and then watch two of my new goldfish come down with septicemia (which, by the way, it sounds like your fish might have secondary to the parasite), one of whom just can't seem to shake it fully, I'm right there with you. Right. There. With. You.

And all I can say is, I'm sorry and hang in there.

 

So sorry to hear about all the stress. Many of us have gone through this with new fish in quarantine--nearly 100% of otos and neon Tetras for me. It is always really tough. I am glad that they were able to do a test, but as you understand the world is much more complicated, and there are many things that they could not cover in that test. There is more to this than meets the eye.

 

So I'm noticing my trilinateus corys in my main tank are turning pink inside. Like two of them are pinker than the other two, and one has like bloody streaks on the fins. Now I know corys can have a pinkish hue, but this looks like more than that, I can see the outline of the veins inside the fish. I tried to take a pic but it doesn't do it justice. Ive been tracking the one cory I first noticed this in, since before I started having issues in my QT tank. Whatever is is isn't getting worse, and they still eat like ravenous monsters.. I thought maybe he scratched himself on something at first, but now I have a second pink cory (but with normal fins).

And my QT tank is full.

 

This is the one I'm most worried about

Noticing red spots around the mouth too.

Oh no. Starting to freak out

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