Sick Bala

[Guest]

i have a 55 gallon community aquarium. Rosey Barbs, and i had 2 Gouramis which i lost, Corey cats, one pleco, clown loaches, one killifish, one redtailed loach, one Bala Shark
i have all live plants and a aqua power filter which does 300 gph
I test water parameters weekly and do weekly partial water changes and add a good brand dechlorinator (which also has stresscoat). Ammonia and Nitrites are at 0. Nitrates are usually around 10. pH is at 7.1 right now.

I recently had an Ich infestation when i introduced 2 new rosey barbs from the LFS. So i treated it with high temps A(86), salt (1 t per gallon), and quick cure (it has malachite green and something else in it). I did this treatement for 2 weeks even though it was clear after one week. It has been two weeks since i have quit the ich treatemts, i had put in new carbon and have done 2 water changes since then. I also slowy lowered the temps back to about 78.

Ok, here's the problem, my Bala shark acted kind of funny throughout the treatement, and my I lost my 2 Gouramis But the Bala has survived. But he has been swimming kinda funny and his gills are twitchy. He kinda has just been twitchy throughout the whole treatement. On close examination, it looks like some of his scales are missing, but his fins are intact. He is eating. Could he have permanent damage from the ich or ich treatement? Or does he have a secondary infection? Do i need to quarenteen him in my 5 gallon (which i just got so that i don't introduce ich again when i get new fish) and treat him with antibiotics or antiparasitics?

 

[Devilishturtles]

But the Bala has survived. But he has been swimming kinda funny and his gills are twitchy

Could be a number of things but, this could mean an ich infestation of the gills. This happens occasionally, and is obviously much harder to notice because it isn't visible. I have never treated ich in the gills before, but I'd move him on over to the QT tank, just incase this is what it is. Make sure you are acclimating correctly and not too fast, and start uping the temp degree by degree, over a few hours.
Continue adding salt in the water for ich treatment, as well.

Another thing it could be, is poisoning. Malachite Greens is generally not recommended to use in aquariums, even though it's widely used in many medications. The heat and salt treatment is the way to go, and this is likely what killed your ich problem, not the medication.

Keep up on your water changes in the QT tank, and watch for any changes. Also, you will need to monitor the water levels in your QT tank as well, since it will be uncycled. See if you can't get some gravel, plants, filter media, etc from the 55 gallon to stick in the QT, just to seed the water.

Good luck.

 

[Guest]

my QT tank is cycled, i actually got it from my little bro and it has one zebra danio. its got gravel and an internal filter and airstone.
Thanks for the advice, i know to increase and decrease temps and salt gradually,and to accimilate slowly,but I didn't know the malachite green could be so detrimental. I wont use malachite green again because i have a feeling that may be what killed my gouramis.
but if its not a gill infestation of ich, ( i quarenteened and am treating for that currently), what else could it be.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Cool. Here is a link to some info on Malachite Green:

http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/treatments/malachite.htm

Just for some interesting reading. As far as what else it could be... I don't know. Sorry.

Good luck 8)

 

[Guest]

Well, he's been in the QT for a couple of days now, i know it takes longer than that to cure ich, but he doesn't seem to be getting any better. He is in a warm salt bath, and he's eating, but still swimming all twitchy. Is there anything else i should treat him with, antifungals, antiparasitics, antibacterail? Now that he's quarenteened i don't have to worry about messing up the biological filter in my big aquarium, but i don't want to medicate him unecessarily and cause more damage.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Hmm...can you notice him rubbing up against things? See if you can net him, and hold him up against the glass to get a really good look at his scales. Anything noticeable?

 

[Guest]

he's not rubbing against anything, he seems to be getting better now that his in the QT tank with the salt bath. He's still twitchy but more active. I think his gills are permantly injured from either the malachite, or ich infestation. his scales just look like their missing a little around the top, nothing growing on him.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Keep up the QT treatment, and see what progresses. I'm really at a loss to do anything else besides wait and see. If he seems better, that is a good sign indeed.

Good luck.

 

[Guest]

well, i added him back to my aquarium today and added a small dose of melafix to help heal his fins and prevent any sort of secondairy infection. He's doing just fine now, thanks everyone for all your help

 

[Guest]

Melafix is awesome, didn't mess up the biological filter, his scales are all grown back, he's his normal, active self again

 

[Devilishturtles]

Cool beans.

Glad to hear he is doing better.