Persistant problem

[swozzie]

I have a problem in my tank that I can't seem to get rid of. See signature below for tank contents.

When I first got the tank going, I only had the barbs in there. Immediatley 1 of the barbs had a white bubble on his nose that kept bursting every few days and then coming back. I treated with Myxazin (bactericide/fungistat) and this cleared up.

At the same time, another barb had a cloudy eye. During the last 7 months I have treated with Myxazin (bactericide/fungistat), Sterazin (Parasiticide) and Protozin (Fungicide and protozoacide) and the cloudy eye still remains. I am assuming it is permanently damaged (maybe during netting) and is beyond treatment.

Sometime later I got some Clown Loaches and Otocinclus. This is where my persistant problem seems to have started. Basically the fish started flashing, rubbing themselves on the gravel/rocks etc. One or two of the barbs started this but it was very rare and I thought it may just be some kinda of territorial thing.

Then I noticed 2 of the barbs would occaisionally freak out swimming windly round the tank for 5 seconds rubbing against plants etc This is also very rare but the Otocinclus were doing it as well.

About 2 months ago one of the Otocinclus died. I couldn't find any reason for this then about a week later one of the barbs was very ill. He was sat in the pump current gasping for oxygen. He had a brown patch on his side and a thick white stripe above his eye! (I have noticed when the barbs look down they naturally have a thin white line above their eye but this was thick and extruding). He also seemed to have a scale hanging off some days later.

I immediatley started treatment with Sterazin (Parasiticide). Within a couple of days the white line vanished, he stopped gasping and seemed to be on the road to recovery. However, he still isn't 100% because I rarely see him eating (the barbs are usually very greedy). He was the biggest fish, now he is the smallest!

Now one of the loaches seems to flash also. He swims on his side banging his tail into the gravel. Maybe this is just him trying to knock up any debris to make it easier to find food.

There is obviously some problem in the tank but it doesn't seem to effect all the fish. Only 2 of the barbs, and 1 or 2 of the loaches but it seems to be getting worse. It seems to me to be a parasite problem but the Sterazin (Parasiticide) hasn't got rid of it. I don't know what else to try except doing a skin scrape and getting the microscope out but I can't imagine that working!

If anyone has any ideas they would be greatly received.


1. Water parameters. (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, temp', Hardness etc)

Never had a problem with these yet:-
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate <10ppm
pH 6.8-7.0
temp 26

3. How often you do water changes and how much.

Weekly, 20%

4. Any chemicals and treatments you add to the water.

Apart from medications (see above)




--------------------

180litre (planted tank, co2)
4 x Puntius Denisonii - Red Line Torpedo Barb
3 x Botia Macracanthas - Clown Loach
4 x Otocinclus affinis - Otocinclus

140litre (planted tank, no co2)
1 x Epalzeorhynchus (Labeo) Frenatus - Rainbow Shark
6 x Capoeta tetrazona - Tiger Barb

 

[tetrin]

ok first things first...both tiger barbs and clown loaches are very susceptible to ich...so flashing may point to ich...ich attacks when the immune system of the fish is lowered...but your water conditions are excellent and there's no apparent reason for the fish to be sick...
i would suggest separating the tiger barb and giving him the heat treatment/salt treatment for ich...as he has already endured a few meds and is likely to be vulnerable...
as for the loach, try using the heat treatment in the tank..he looks to be the lesser evil...

ps. advice may be faulty...plz check with one of the advisors before applying...

 

[Devilishturtles]

Good call on the parasites, swozzie...that's what it sounds like to me.

I agree that it could be ich. Loaches especially, as well as barbs, are susceptible to it. Try the heat and salt treatment as reccomended above. Ich doesn't always show up as defined white spots...

It is faintly possible that your fish *might* be starting to get immune to the medication, and that is why it might not be working so well. I'm not too sure about the biology behind that matter though.

If you don't know the heat and salt treatment, do a search for it here, or check out the FW articles section of the site.

Good luck!

 

[Menagerie]

The flashing is signs of ich. Ich can infect the gills and you will never see white spots on any of the fish. I strongly recommend treating the entire tank with heat and salt. An article detailing this tratment can be found in the Articels section (the link is at the top of the page). I would keep the treatment going for one month. Usually, it is recommended to treat for two weeks after the ick disappears. Since you can't see it, treat for a month--better safe than sorry.
I am currently treating a tank with rams, badis, a betta and a pleco. They are all doing well and the ich spots have disappeared. Only two of my fish had spots after the heater stopped working Some fish have better immune systems than others. With this method, it is safe to treat the whole tank.