Unknown ailment and the use of Levacide injectible

[Kaidonni]

I've been having great difficulty sourcing Chanaverm for my fish, which I have previously used for treating a potential camallanus infestation. I have been discussing my situation at length with a vet, and he may be able to source Levacide in an injectible form, but it contains the following:

Levamisole Hydrochloride 7.5 % w/v
Methyl Para Hydroxybenzoate as antimicrobial preservative 0.15% w/v
Sodium Metabisulphite 0.15% w/v
and Disodium Edetate Dihydrate 0.05% w/v as antioxidants
0.1% w/v Quinoline Yellow (E104)

Anyone with any experience of this particular product? Anyone able to vouch for its safety for use with Clown Loaches in particular (or it's lack of safety)?

I have also be discussing my situation on fishforums.net, Unknown Ailment - Tropical Fish Emergencies - Tropical Fish Forums. Suffice it to say, water changes have improved the situation to a small extent, with the ill Clown Loach perking up. Here are some quotes from that page...

A year ago I had terrible problems with my fish tank. I lost a number of fish to an unknown illness. Three fish perished, of which one White Cloud Mountain Minnow and one Clown Loach died from wasting, and another White Cloud Mountain Minnow was somewhat bloated and reddened. I had previously changed half of the bio-filter media, with potential for a mini-cycle (stupid!), but the fact that only one fish showed such reddening (septicaemia?) and no other fish showed any signs of ammonia poisoning et al was baffling. I treated for camallanus in particular using Chanaverm, and after discussing my situation at length with a tropical fish veterinarian, one possibility was fish tuberculosis.

Things were going okay after all of that, but due to the potential of fish TB I held back on re-homing or re-stocking. Currently five White Cloud Mountain Minnows and two Clown Loaches reside in the tank, and it's the latter two where my problem now resides - bullying. For about eight months they seemed to have this thing where the larger would keep out of the way of the smaller, and would shy away from conflict. He wasn't able to eat as much as a consequence, but seemed to get on well enough.

Before I go any further, I got these Clown Loaches back when I was more naive and ignorant, with a tank smaller than was appropriate. I had no trouble for years and years, not even Ich (*touch wood*), then my problems started with the wasting issue. Due to the potential for fish TB being present, I'm in a real bind - I can't just go rehoming them and forget about it. I've spent the whole last year stressing about what will happen next.

A few months ago, the larger Clown Loach lost some of the upper tip of his caudal fin to nipping, but it started growing back. Rinse and repeat, but then he lost his lower tip. There isn't any fraying, so that can't be fin rot. However, in recent weeks he's taken to extensive shimmying and has completely lost his appetite. There may be some thinning which I originally chalked down to not being able to eat as much; noticed it so many months ago last year, and even now it's nowhere near as pronounced as with the Clown Loach who died of wasting. There does appear to be some loss of his right pectoral (looks a little frayed) and pelvic fin (looks nipped/split), possibly some on his left pelvic fin, but no loss/fraying of any other fins in the fin rot style. Some whitish lining to these affected fins as best I can tell. Additional slime coat production (a pale patch here and there, along with general paleness) and rapid gilling. A whitish mark on the dorsal fin (possibly a scratch).

What is this? For fin rot, I'd expect it to attack his caudal fin most of all, not be so selective, and I wouldn't expect it to cause this level of shimmying and loss of appetite (we're talking two weeks or so of no interest in food any longer - at one point, it took a second, smaller-scale feeding to get his attention). It could be fish TB, it could be camallanus worms, it could be absolutely anything.

My water parameters are as follows, and I do a 10 litre water change every week (sometimes a week and one day/two days, advancing it forward):

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Nitrates 10-20ppm
PH 7-7.5

Much to my shame, it's a 50l tank. I had the Clown Loaches when I was far more ignorant, actually in a 90l tank, but had to do an emergency transfer several years ago (as in, they had to be moved to an entirely new tank as the larger one sprung a leak) - how they survived that without any serious issues is beyond me. I'd never experienced any problems until last year, and I'd rehome, but whatever killed the first Clown Loach and the two Minnows last January/February and whatever is in the tank now have left me very concerned about what I'd be passing on to other fish owners. I know, I know, I've been extremely stupid, but the current situation needs solving - if I am to rehome, I do not want to be causing trouble for anyone else. It just doesn't seem to follow the symptoms of any common ailment. I am getting some Chanaverm to treat as I did last year, and there is the potential for fin rot also (eSHa 2000 seems like a good treatment).

It doesn't appear to be fin rot, it isn't white spot, it isn't velvet. I don't have access to a quarantine tank, and given the similarities to my problems from last year, I believe it's wise to treat the whole tank.

 

[Kaidonni]

*Bump*

Anyone?

 

[Kaidonni]

I've dosed with the levacide, but there are now definite signs of fin rot on the Clown Loach. It won't be the primary infection as it's been far too long, but I have eSHa 2000 and need to know what to do. I can't mix the two medicines, can I? Yet I can't keep stressing the fish out putting medicine in and then removing it via large water changes, then putting in another medicine.