Please help. Everything was going so good. We made it through the cycling and we've been cruising for a couple months. This morning my little boy woke up to a sick apisto. It's his favorite fish. The color is almost gone. There are some patches on one side of the body. He is acting lethargic. Just barely moving and tucked up between the filter and the glass. It's hard to get decent pics, but I tried. Hopefully someone can save him. Does this ever end well?
Apisto 911
- Thread starter h2ogirl
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Brookster123
Aquarium Advice Addict
50% wc right away..
Brookster123
Aquarium Advice Addict
I couldn't type a proper response, sorry, that's always where to start
so tell me about the tank.. Age? Size? Parameters? Mates? New additions? He def looks sad, clamped fins, at the surface which is bad for apisto's... That white patch could be fungal...
so tell me about the tank.. Age? Size? Parameters? Mates? New additions? He def looks sad, clamped fins, at the surface which is bad for apisto's... That white patch could be fungal...25 gal Aqueon with two filters. The one that came with it plus another just like it. We started cycling in Jan. That lasted through Feb. 3 cory cats lived through that. A little over a month ago we added 3 more cory cats (now 6 total), one little angel and the apisto. No changes since. We test the water twice a week. It always looks right. We change water weekly regardless.
Brookster123
Aquarium Advice Addict
Can you get a better pic of the fish? Have you tested the water lately? They can be sensitive to nitrates.. Could you set up a hospital tank incase treatment is needed?
pics and h20 test
I use the API master and did that right before I changed the water today. Everything is zero. He is not posing for pics, but here are some more. I'd do a hosp tank if the prognosis is good, if it can be 5 gal, and I could just move one of my filters over temporarily then move it back. Would that work?
I use the API master and did that right before I changed the water today. Everything is zero. He is not posing for pics, but here are some more. I'd do a hosp tank if the prognosis is good, if it can be 5 gal, and I could just move one of my filters over temporarily then move it back. Would that work?
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Brookster123
Aquarium Advice Addict
Poor lil guy.. Yah I'd highly recommend filling the 5 with half tank water, half fresh treated water, get temp to 77, add filter, a few decorations, go get some API fungal cure ($10) and some very high quality frozen foods. 2 weeks of meds and great food I'll bet he 'll be right as rain! After all that we need to figure out how this cropped up
OK thanks so much! Really!! After I use my filter with fungus med is it safe to put it back in my original tank? Were you able to confirm fungus with my terrible pics, or is this a hypothesis? Are apistos prone to fungus? How do I go about determining the source of the problem?
Brookster123
Aquarium Advice Addict
if you have dual filters running?? Add some extra media to the one staying on the tank, then I'd say give the qt filter a good clean after.. I don't they're prone, it's just my guess that it fungus, at any rate get him in the qt and the meds can wait until a better assessment is made?? You'll be surprised what super clean water and awesome food will do for a fishies overall health!
Oh man, I really messed up. My nitrate tests have been bad. I had one a few weeks back that looked dark dark gold, but it was the only one that wasn't bright yellow, so I thought that was the bad test. I just shook the bottles up really good and tested again this morning. Sure enough, its dark dark gold, on the verge of orange. Maybe 2-3? And that was after the 50% water change yesterday. Who knows what it might have gotten up to in the past week. I could have had a spike and not known. Also, the patch is not raised up. It is flat and really visible in certain light, but if he turns and the light hits it differently you can't see it at all. All those factors plus him being relatively new to the tank, can I consider it columnaris instead of fungus?
Brookster123
Aquarium Advice Addict
is this an API liquid test? Have you set up the qt yet?
Brookster123
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ok, as long as nitrates are under 25-30 than you're doing alright, sounds like they're under 10?? Get that qt going and get him in there, I'm not familiar with columnaris, hopefully someone can weigh in on that, maybe consider Melafix for the time being..
Caliban07
Aquarium Advice Addict
Columnaris is a tricky one and can be very nasty. It can be an rapid onset resulting in acute symptoms and death within 24 hours or it can be a chronic infection which can take weeks.
Skin lesions are consistent with columnaris and those look like lesions to me rather than a fungus. Lesions that start on the back go down each side from the dorsal fin and resemble saddles hence the name saddle back disease. You can also expect mouth fungus too.
It is very contagious and can easily be transferred to and from other aquariums by nets, filters, siphons, containers so if you own another tank I would by fresh stuff for that one now or be vigilant with sterilising equipment.
Apparently this bacteria exists in all aquariums so don't get down about a fish getting it. It's really important to be as sure as can be when diagnosing fish disease because if you use the wrong medication it could kill the fishes natural bacteria and the columnaris competition making life a bit easier for the columnaris. Also meds can be bad for internal organs such as kidneys.
I have used API triple sulfa on the past to combat this. Be sure to finish the dose as not to increase the bacterias resistance to the meds.
Before the use of meds though I would try a couple of weeks of very high aquarium maintenance. 2 x 50% water changes a week filter cleans and gravel vacs. Feed a high quality dry food such as omega one. (I'm not suggesting your tank is dirty but I would do this first if it was me)
Good luck
Skin lesions are consistent with columnaris and those look like lesions to me rather than a fungus. Lesions that start on the back go down each side from the dorsal fin and resemble saddles hence the name saddle back disease. You can also expect mouth fungus too.
It is very contagious and can easily be transferred to and from other aquariums by nets, filters, siphons, containers so if you own another tank I would by fresh stuff for that one now or be vigilant with sterilising equipment.
Apparently this bacteria exists in all aquariums so don't get down about a fish getting it. It's really important to be as sure as can be when diagnosing fish disease because if you use the wrong medication it could kill the fishes natural bacteria and the columnaris competition making life a bit easier for the columnaris. Also meds can be bad for internal organs such as kidneys.
I have used API triple sulfa on the past to combat this. Be sure to finish the dose as not to increase the bacterias resistance to the meds.
Before the use of meds though I would try a couple of weeks of very high aquarium maintenance. 2 x 50% water changes a week filter cleans and gravel vacs. Feed a high quality dry food such as omega one. (I'm not suggesting your tank is dirty but I would do this first if it was me)
Good luck
Well since it spread a lot over night it looks exactly like a saddle today. Just to be sure I understand, I leave him in the main tank and do the diligent tank maintenance for two weeks. When you say clean the filters, what happens to my filter media? Then after two weeks of that, I treat the entire tank with API triple sulfa, including the fish that do not have symptoms? Here is the best pic I could get this morning that shows the saddle.
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Caliban07
Aquarium Advice Addict
Well I'll leave the decision up to you. You can see how quickly the symptoms are progressing. If you feel you need to intervene sooner rather than later then do so. You clean the filter media in tank water you have siphoned out during a gravel vac. That's what I meant by cleaning the filter.
If there are no symptoms with the other fish it may be best to medicate in a quarantine tank as it's more cost effective. I dosed the whole tank as more than one fish were showing symptoms.
Let us know how you get on.
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