Major fish deaths..please help
#1 Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 06 October 2012 - 03:37 PM
Redline
My only Roanoke Darter
Please help me with this. I would like to treat my entire tank. If I lose fish in the process...so be it. I can always restock, but I don't want to keep this cycle going.
#2 Guest_Skipjack_*
#3 Guest_EricaWieser_*
Posted 06 October 2012 - 08:23 PM
Have you tried the dichotomous keys at fishy farmacy?
http://www.fishyfarm...s_in_color.html for example, more links at top of the page. They might bring up symptoms you can look in the tank and say yes or no to. http://www.fishyfarm..._disorders.html
The only thing I can see based on the symptoms you've listed is stress. The change in color is because of stress. What did the dead fish look like? Fuzzy? Scales protruding off? Fins all ripped up? Stomach looking like it had burst outward like in an alien movie?
Until you figure out what it is, lots of water changes may help. Dechlorinate the incoming water and make it the same temperature as what was there.
Edited by EricaWieser, 06 October 2012 - 08:27 PM.
#4 Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 06 October 2012 - 08:47 PM
#5 Guest_ashtonmj_*
Posted 06 October 2012 - 08:54 PM
#6 Guest_Auban_*
Posted 06 October 2012 - 09:26 PM
after experiencing whatever that disease was, and on another occasion waking up one day to see nearly every fish dead or dying with open bloody sores(nasty dinoflagellate), i keep several antibiotic medications on hand. i used to think that quarantine tank could solve all the disease issues, but sometimes it seems that the new fish can carry potential diseases for a long time without showing simptoms.
Edited by Auban, 06 October 2012 - 09:28 PM.
#7 Guest_Subrosa_*
Posted 06 October 2012 - 09:32 PM
#8 Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 07 October 2012 - 10:22 AM
Josh pretty sure you brought some fish in with a heavy parasite load, most likely a nematode. Somewhere in the bowels of the forum I wrote of a similar experience. You're likely going to lose everything. Sometimes I think we all forget we're taking fish directly from the wild in the summer when water is normally low, fish are packed into habitat, stressed, resources are scare, microbes are high, etc., etc., etc. They LOOK okay, but any sort of environmental change that they have to experience can be just what is needed to essentially cause an outbreak. It stopped me from even thinking about keeping fish basically between June-September. You're best be is to stop it at the source, get rid of your fish that are showing signs of tissue discoloration immediately. Not really sure you have many treatment options. Some salt wouldn't hurt.
Matt, I think you're right. I'm not familiar with the waterways we were in, but some didn't appear super clean. I'm currently dosing the entire tank with Furan-2 and salt. I'm also doing a direct Methylene Blue/Salt dip to some fish. I've already lost 2 fish this morning, and I can see some damage to a red-belly dace. I'll likely kill him today.
@Auban, I'm not really seeing open sores on these fish. They get that white patch, and usually die overnight so I don't see them die. If this Furan-2 and salt doesn't help I'll try something else.
#9 Guest_EricaWieser_*
Posted 07 October 2012 - 01:26 PM
#10 Guest_Skipjack_*
Posted 07 October 2012 - 03:08 PM
#11 Guest_schambers_*
Posted 07 October 2012 - 07:00 PM
#12 Guest_Auban_*
Posted 07 October 2012 - 08:52 PM
#13 Guest_ashtonmj_*
Posted 09 October 2012 - 07:17 AM
#14 Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 09 October 2012 - 10:08 AM
#15 Guest_Skipjack_*
Posted 09 October 2012 - 01:01 PM
#16 Guest_ashtonmj_*
Posted 09 October 2012 - 03:12 PM
If I would bring fish in this time of year, I left things in a bucket or cooler with a spare, aged sponge and or HOB filter for a good week, while mixing water from tank gradually. A few times to avoid major losses, time, money, etc., (laboratory purposes), we tried very weak (5-10 ppt) baths using 10% buffered formalin, but then again not everyone has access to formalin. Eliminate stress is the key, and that can best be done by not transporting fish when they are already stressed.
#17 Guest_gerald_*
Posted 10 October 2012 - 12:49 PM
But as you've noticed, Flexi spreads and kills FAST so only the fish in early stages of symptoms have a good chance of recovery. I find that having salt in the bucket during collecting (not after you get back to the car) lessens the risk of Flexibacter, presumably because it lessens the fright-induced salt loss from the body. And yes I agree other disease bugs (nematodes, flukes, protozoa ...) introduced with the new fish might be a contributing factor. Flexi usually needs some other stressor to let it in the door, although one heavily infected fish might do it in an aquarium.
Matt/Josh - do we have someone lined up for a collecting, transport & acclimation talk in KY yet? If not, shall I ?
Or shall we do it discussion panel style as Mark (i think) suggested?
#18 Guest_schambers_*
Posted 10 October 2012 - 04:15 PM
Matt/Josh - do we have someone lined up for a collecting, transport & acclimation talk in KY yet? If not, shall I ?
Or shall we do it discussion panel style as Mark (i think) suggested?
I think a panel would be great. There are many different ways to transport and acclimate fish, and hearing from several experts would be helpful.
#19 Guest_exasperatus2002_*
Posted 11 October 2012 - 09:03 AM
Edited by exasperatus2002, 11 October 2012 - 09:18 AM.
#20 Guest_jblaylock_*
Posted 13 October 2012 - 09:42 AM
And Gerald, yes we'd like something at the Convention about transport/acclimation. I'm not sure if we'd rather do a panel or one presentation. Either way, we'd like you involved if you want to be.
1 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users