What is this? (Getting aggravated)

[librarygirl]

Ok so after a ridiculously long fishless cycle I was finally able to add fish two weeks ago. I first added 12 Celestial Pearl Danio. Right away I noticed one had a white mark on its side. I watched it for a few days and the mark seemed to get worse and the fish was swimming in jerky movements. I QT the fish and started to treat with Pimafix but after a few hours the fish died.

I then noticed another one that was rather bloated/fat (when I received her she was bigger than the others but just assumed she was naturally fatter) and started to poo white strings. I QT her and treated her for 4 days with Jungle Parasite Clear and fasted her for a couple of days. Her bloating seemed to have gone down although when she swims her tail is pointed upwards almost as if she didn't try to swim she would float upwards tail first. She ate yesterday a bit and seemed better otherwise so I introduced her back into the main tank.

I just fed them and was watching them and now another fish has a whitish-grey mark on its side. I think it may be the same fish I just treated with the Jungle Parasite med, but I can't be 100% sure.

Some pics are below (sorry, it's the best I can get).

Do I QT her again and treat her for.....what? This is assuming it's the same fish; if it isn't there might be something in the tank.

20 gal high
11 Celestial Pearl Danio, 5 Panda Cory, 2 Horned Nerite snails
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate <5
I do two 5 gal pwc per week
Temp: 75-76

Help please? Getting frustrated and discouraged.

 

[dkpate]

Sounds like you might need to treat you whole tank, not just one fish at a time. And depending on which treatment you use, it might kill your whole nitrogen cycle.

 

[jlk]

Oh you poor thing!!!! You are always helping everyone else!! I am clueless on this one right now, but QT the sick fish to be safe until someone figures out whats going on. Im not a big fan of the pimafix/melafix treatments (i know alot of people are!). You could try (im guessing here) treating the sick fish with a broad-spectrum anitibiotic such as ampicillin or oxitetracycline or metronidazole (which is antibitotic, antiparasitic, & antiprotozoal) and see if theres any change. And, yes, if you wind up having to treat the whole tank, antibiotics will kill off your good bacteria (some are less harmful than others). Hopefully, someone knows whats going on!! Good Luck!!!!

 

[DragonFish71]

Sounds like you might need to treat you whole tank, not just one fish at a time. And depending on which treatment you use, it might kill your whole nitrogen cycle.

I agree.

If you keep seeing this in your main tank, then your main tank is what needs the treatment. At this point, QTing another sick fish will do no good since the main tank is sick.

Like Darby said, some treatments can kill your BB and also kill your fish. Lots of fish are very sensitive to meds. Do your treatments at half the daily dosage for twice as long.

Example:
directions on product: 10 drops per gallon for 10g tank every day for 3 days (30 drops)

half dosage: 5 drops per gallon for 10g for 6 days (still 30 drops but not so concentrated as to harm BB/fish)

 

[eco23]

What we need to figure out though is what we're treating for. Obviously we don't want to just throw a cocktail in of antibiotics, anti-parasitics, anti-fungal, aquarium salt, and some Pima and Melafix to boot...and just hope for the best.

Is it taking on a fuzzy appearance like when the fish first arrived? Would you assume this is the same (bloated looking) CPD that you previously treated in QT?