GBR's at the surface...

[Lonewolfblue]

I guess this is a continuation of my problem, lol. A few of my GBR's that have been surfacing have died, but still have a couple left. And I was reading on some different diseases, parasites, etc, and came across gill flukes. Could it possibly be gill flukes? Here's what I found on another site...

Symptoms: Fish rapidly pumps its gills open and shut, hangs at the surface of the water, becomes lethargic, "flashes" gills become pink and mucousy and pink.

Treatment: Most sites will give you an elaborate procedure for treating with harsh chemicals that, in my experience, do more harm than good. I've found a much better way. Go to your local fish store and get something made from copper. I recommend Had A Snail, but medicines like Coppersafe work too. I have found that it will end the almost immediately. It also has no effect on your fish, unlike malachite green and many other antiparasitics, which are extremely hard on them. The only drawback is that you must remove all your invertabrates: The reason it's effective is that it kills ALL invertabrates, from the Ich parasite to shrimp. Invertabrates include snails, clams, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, and crabs. Note that you should treat for at least 5 days, as the hatching period of fluke eggs (unaffected by copper meds) varies from 2-4 days depending on the water temperature.

So my idea is to get a small tank, maybe like a 5G, and use it as a QT. And I was thinking of trying the Had A Snail like recommended, and see if that will stop the surfacing. What do you think?

As for the GBR's, they do seem to be pumping the gills open and closed, and the gills seem a little more red than the other GBR's. But they are too small to tell if there's any mucous.

 

[Jchillin]

These are your babies correct? If so, I doubt it gill flukes since you would have had to introduce an infected fish in order for it to be present. I have another opinion on the treatment that is a little better than Had a snail:

http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/flukes.htm

 

[Lonewolfblue]

No, the babies are fine. It's the GBR's that I got off Aquabid. Almost half of them would surface while the rest did their normal thing.

So which treatment is it? There are several treatments covered on that page....

 

[Jchillin]

I'm actually glad to hear it isn't the babies. Under the circumstances, I would have to agree with the diagnosis.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

So which treatment is it? There are several treatments covered on that page....

 

[Jchillin]

I'd go with the formalin since it's a tried and true med.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

But there's also this. In the diagnosos it says there will be rubbing or flashing. They don't do this at all. They just surface several times a day, pumping their gill plates open and closed. Can they have flukes and not rub or flash?

 

[Jchillin]

Then you can't go wrong with a salt treatment. Not the bath, just dose some aquarium salt and see if that helps. It's a tough call without seeing all the symptoms and attempting a treatment. Salt won't cause problems.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Or how about the salt bath? Is there any place where there's instructions on how to do it properly and effectively without hurting the fish? I might try that on just 1 of them to see if it helps any...

As for adding salt, I've done it with an albino pleco, which was huge, a common I believe, but how will the BN Plecos take it? And the Otos?

 

[Jchillin]

I have not come across the methodology of the salt bath, I guess a search can turn up results.

I'm hesitant about using salt with cats...though many folks state that it does no harm to them, including the sites article on using salt to treat ich.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

What would be a good amount to put in the tank without hurting the cats and plants? I'm thinking of doing 1 tsp per 10G. Is that enough or should it be a little more?