My fish are showing symptoms of chilodonella...please help!!

[jadelily1390]

the only treatment options I have been able to find, salt and copper, are potentially fatal for my apple snail. is there a treatment that works and wont kill my snail?
my tank also contains black moors, tetras, barbs, white cloud moutain minnows, a corydora, a bala shark, and a algae eater

 

[Lowryder]

potassium permanganate, formalin, malachite will work.

 

[HN1]

Welcome to AA!

I would start by addressing the stocking issues / water parameters in your tank which IMO are most likely the underlying reason that the parasite is thriving while the fish are weakened. What size tank do you have? How long has it been set up? Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle? How often do you change water? Pardon me for the question barrage. Some additional information may help the folks here to better advise you.

 

[jadelily1390]

I have a 30 gallon tank, its been set up for about 6 months, yes i am familiar with the nitrogen cycle and do a water change once to twice a month. My ammonia level is between 0 and .25, and my ph level is at about 7.8

 

[dkpate]

Ammonia should be 0, as well as nitrite, and you should be doing at least a 25% pwc once a week. Dirty water and ammonia will weaken your fish, making the meds not work as well.
Also, welcome to the forum.

 

[DragonFish71]

Ammonia should be at 0. If you're having it flux like that you might want to check for any dead critters, over feeding or it needs a good cleaning. If you do go with a medication, remember that some of those meds can kill off the good bacteria so they really should be used at half strength.

 

[DragonFish71]

Dang it dk, ya beat me to it

 

[dkpate]

LOL, but you went more in depth. With the dead fish, feeding and cleaning.

 

[jsoong]

I agree that clean water is the first treatment. Presence of any ammonia in an established tank is not normal & should be corrected. Even in the absence of ammonia/nitrites, it is not a bad idea to do a large pwc & good gravel vac when faced with illness.

After you get clean water, another option is to take the apple snail out & treat the fish with salt. <Don't use copper as even trace amounts left in the tank after treatment might kill inverts.> You can put the snail in a clean 5-10 gal bucket. as long as you change out the water daily (check ammonia as well), the snail should be fine without a filter. <It will tell you when the water is bad by climbing out of the water ... but doing daily pwc prevents that ... and put some kind of screen on the bucket so it can't leave ....>

 

[dkpate]

Yes, mystery snails like to go on adventures outside of the tank....LOL. I have found mine trekking around the carpet twice.

EDIT: How big is your tank? Also, you should have more corys, not just one, since they like friends. But don't get anymore if your tank is already stocked or overstocked.