Skinny fish

[TheBruce1314]

Hi all,
I'm hoping someone out there can help! About 3 months ago I bought 3 mollies (1 male 2 females) put them in my community tank and all was great for 3 or 4 weeks. 1 day a noticed 1 of the females was getting quite skinny, I thought she had maybe given birth as she was particularly fat when I got her but as the days past she was getting thinner and thinner and I never found any babies. She was always eating and there was absolutely no other visible signs of illness except the thinning. After a couple of weeks the inevitable happened and she died. A few days later another molly started with the same symptoms and after a couple of weeks, dead! Then it happened to 1 of my guppies, dead, now it has started with a swordtail. I have done lots of research on the Internet but can't seem to pinpoint the problem the only thing I can come up with is some sort of worm!!!
Please if anyone out there can come up with a more definitive answer and help me save my little fishes it would be very much appreciated.
ps. About 7 months ago I discovered my tank had camullanus!!! After weeks of research and losing nearly all of my fish I managed to find medication and rid my poor fish and tank of this so I am almost certain it is not this. Similar signs though but no red worms or any other symptoms except those described above!

100 litre tank running for over 2 years.
9 swordtails
6 adult guppies (about 10 babies)
5 neons
5 silver tip tetra
5 mountain minos
3 platy
1 molly
1 bristle-nose catfish

Ammonia 0
Nitrate 20
Nitrite 0
pH 7.2

Any help welcome, thank you in advance and sorry for writing a book! 

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

its a sad book thats for sure.
possibles:
- flagellates
- camallanus
- tapeworms
- flukes
if u have camallanus for sure, ithe treatment Levamisole is said to be useless. but i read through a blog about them, a person gave details on how they spent 10 months battling it with loads of different medications and doses through trial and error. heres a quote:
"I found a Vetrinarian who dabbles in Fish Medicine. A breeder of Discus himself, he had encountered a particular nasty batch of Camallanus worms himself.
Through trial and error, he found a wormer that works.
This wormer is Fenbendazole.
So, he contacted an aquatic biologist friend, and they worked out a dosage.
Dissolve 3CC of powdered Fenbendazole in 100ml of water.
Mix well, then add as many bloodworms as you need to feed your fish. Soak for 30 mins to 1 hour, then dump the entire container in the tank, water and all.
So, for 14.35 in cost, I picked up my Fenbendazole in powder/crushed form.
The brand name it goes under is Panacur.
I brought it home, and prepared the first dose.
It seemed to really soak into the bloodworms, changing them to a slightly lighter and grayish color tone.
I fed the fish 2x A Day for 2 days.
I watched the affected fish carefully.
Within 36 hours, all worms have withered and dropped away from the affected fish.
Within 48 hours, I could find no remaining fish with Camallanus Worms protuding.
I followed up with a good gravel vac and a large water change.
I repeat this treatment in 2 weeks time, and then again in 2 weeks following if need be.
I have enough medication to do at least 7 more doses.
However, I dont think I will need it."
the webpage is Camallanus Worms: An Aquariasts Worst Nightmare xx

 

[TheBruce1314]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply! I used sera nematol in my tank and it worked wonders! After a couple of days all signs of the worm were gone and my fish were a lot happier no scratching or rubbing or best of all, dying! It took a couple of weeks of constant cleaning and 2 more treatments until I was sure I had rid my tank of this horrid parasite but it had worked!! Now I am not sure what is wrong because the fish are not rubbing and there is no visual signs of worms, believe me I have been staring into my tank everyday since. I have no clue to what is wrong this time except my fish just seem to be losing weight over time and dying which can only suggest worms! But I do believe it is not camullanus this time!

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

ok - is it only the smaller weaker fish? they can get bullied to death by starvation and fin-nipping from an incompatible fish, the swordtails can be bums ime.

 

[TheBruce1314]

No it's not just the weaker fish. The sword who is showing these signs now managed to survive the camullanus attack and and is one of the bigger and usually happier fish in the tank. It's usually her that gets to the food first. The same could have been said for the mollies who died too they where all very happy fish and not scared to eat!

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

have a look at the other 3 i put, they kinda sounded like it because there were no obvious worms hanging out but defo skinny fish and other small symptoms in some cases.

 

[TheBruce1314]

Ok, thanks very much for your help! Any suggestions on meds??

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

Aquarium tropical fish disease diagnostics. Fish treatment. Sick fish, ill fish, cure fish. this was a good site!

 

[TheBruce1314]

Ok. Thanks again, much appreciated!