Many Illnesses

[Heath]

Amonia 0 ppm
pH 7.2
Temp 69
Nitrites / Nitrates (LFS Tested and said was normal)
60 Gal
Marineland Magnum 350 (350 gph)
Clean filter weekly change monthly
Change carbon monthly
Vac. weekly (yesterday)
about 10% water change weekly (now 3 times per week with illness)
3 Orandas 3-5" long
1 clown pleco
Food:
MediGold Plus for the past 2 1/2 weeks
Spinache
Peas
TetraFin Flakes.
Fish 6 years to 1 month
Tank 1 year
Started with a new Oranda. He was placed in a hospital tank and treated with Melafix before entering the main tank. I did not realize he was carrying anchor worms (he is a calico therefore hard to see the worms) and they then spread to the other two fish. The others became very sick and had to hand feed them with Medigold and treated with coppersafe. After a couple of weeks of eating Medigold the two sick fish became constipated (even after soaking the food before feeding). During this process I gave them veggies and the sick fish would not eat them. Now the black oranda stays near the top of the tank (about 2" from the surface) has lost about 1/4" off her fins and has an orange growth on the left side of her wen. The gold one rest at the bottom and only comes up to eat. After all of this the new calico acts fine and has never became sick. I am now currently treating the entire tank with MelaFix and PimaFix. Feeding only veggies morning (peas and spinache) and a small pinch of flakes at night.
Thanks for any advice
My gallery shows both fish last year with how they should look.

 

[greenmaji]

What % of water do you change when you do your gravel vac?
How often do you clean the Magnum 350?
It seems like you know what your doing.. hope someone with more experiance with goldies can help though..

 

[BrianNY]

This is JMO as I'm not really experienced with goldies. Some things do remain true with most fish. When they become stressed they are vulnerable to many secondary infections due to a weakened immune system.

I would try my best to improve their water conditions. That means daily wc of up to 50%. I would also wipe down the glass in the tank and clean all the equipment and decorations. Of course when you clean the filter be especially careful not to disturb the bio colony.

I don't know if goldies can tolerate salt. If they can I would begin with aquarium salt as it tends to lessen the stress of scaled fish. JMO, and good luck.

 

[Heath]

This morning things got a little worse...I found more anchor worms had attached themselves on my gold oranda. After nearly 2 months of different mystery illnesses I've decided to do something harsh. I've gone and bought a larger hospital tank, new pump and filter, new anchor worm medication and started the larger tank over. Other than my testing, I've had other lfs test the water and look at photos of the fish. The water always comes up normal. The illnesses seem to change all the time. Once one is conquered another symptom pops up. I and others have come to the conclusion that there must be some biological factor that is not showing up on doing simple water test. The only thing I know for sure is that the new fish had to be the vector (now his new name). Even though he was quarantined, he still must have been carrying something. It's been about 7 hours since they have been in the hospital tank and the improvements in both the females are very impressive. As since day one the male shows no sign or symptom of anything (who, me? I didn't bring in any disease.)
This has been just wierd.

 

[BrianNY]

More thoughts for you Heath..... Your conclusion that vector is a carrier might be correct. I've gone through bouts of the discus plague where a seemingly healthy fish contaminates every other unexposed fish in my fish room. Could be goldies go through something similar. If it is, it's a virus. The virus doesn't kill the fish but secondary infections do. Fish that do not die from other infections and recover, never come down with the illness again. Much like when we get mumps or measles.

More on water quality..... Your lfs cannot test for DOCs. Even if the other parameters are normal, the DOCs in the water promote excessive bacteria growth. It's imperative to do water changes to keep the risk of bacterial infections as low as possible. Removing vector to a hospital reduced the bioload in your main tank. This alone is a factor in stress reduction and may be the reason for the improvement of your females.

 

[greenmaji]

sorry about that.. I didnt read close enough..
Yes you need to increase the water change percentage 50% a day would be a good start, I would be compelled to move toward 75% a day.. you need to know your exact NO2 and NO3 numbers.. Its also good to have your own testkits.. there really isnt a within normal for NO2 you shouldnt have any NO2.. and for your NO3 you need to keep it as low as possible 10ppm or lower, the LFS saying its within normal isnt really enough information..
And I agree with BrianNY with wiping down the inside glass of the aquarium as well as the decor and surfaces of the filter.... HTH

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

One interesting option for the anchor worms...bitterlings. They eat them off of other fish.