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Leopardess

Leopardess

Superstar Fish
#1
May 3, 2003
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Seacoast Area, New Hampshire
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#1
Well!:mad: Where do I start?! Two nights ago, I was sitting in front of my 55g, when I spotted an albino cory that seemed to have a white bump on his side. Not an ich spot...it looked more like a piece of our sand had gotten stuck to his side. It worried me a little but the next day it was gone and there was no sign of it on any of the fish.

THEN

last night, I'm sitting in front of the 55g admiring my plants that are actually pearling (thanks to the CO2 I added two days ago) when I see a particle floating in the water that caught my eye. I took a closer look and to my dismay, it appeared as if it were SWIMMING towards the surface. I'd say it was 2-3 mm long and white. I started yelling for Chris to come look, when my zebra danio ate it! YUCK.

WELL... then when we were both sitting in front of it, thinking, "just wonderful" an oto swims up to the front glass and sits there. What does HE have? A white bump right where his sternum would be! AH!


So....what are the odds that this happens right after our conversation in which we decided we are going to redo the whole tank, using profile as a substrate, and rearrange the plants and driftwood (at least we have that ;( ).

So, I'm going to move the betta out of his ten and back to his 2g, then put the otos in the 10, along with the zebra danios, then put the cories in an emtpy five gallon I have. The frog will go in one of those...

My question is...first, how the heck did that get in the tank, when everyone has gone through 3 wk. quarantine! :(grrrrr.
~second, I imagine this is an external parasite for which I will have to medicate. Can someone help me out with what otos and cories are sensitive too again? And I'm pretty sure nothing bothers the frog too much, so I think he will be fine.
~Also, since my plants will still be in the 55g, will whatever is in there die off since there won't be a host for it to feed off? I don't want to add medication that will kill them. I may just bleach them all lightly.


Any suggestions? BTW, if you took the time to read all of that, you are a SAINT! and I owe you one! :)
 

Leopardess

Leopardess

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#4
May 3, 2003
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ha, i appreciate the humor, but that's really not the help I needed :(


I managed to catch one zebra danio, four of five cories and four of eight otos, and the frog and moved them to a hospital tank. Upon closer examination in the tank, it seems that the emerald cory I caught, and the danio I caught both have the brown/gold/rust dusting over their backs and dorsal fin (velvet?) I don't know about the other danios, because they won't sit still, and all the cories and otos seem fine in that respect.


So, I'd really appreciate some info on what cories/otos are sensitive to, because I really need to medicate this tank. I bought some "General Cure" for external parasites and velvet, and have added it in. I imagine its not good for the otos/cories as it has:

125 mg metronidazole, 13 mg of copper sulfate, and 8 mg of trichlorfon, but you know what? I don't what the other fish getting it :( whatever "it" is.



Anybody have any thoughts here???:confused:
 

Last edited:
fishboy

fishboy

Superstar Fish
#6
Oct 22, 2002
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#6
Originally posted by Leopardess
ha, i appreciate the humor, but that's really not the help I needed :(


I managed to catch one zebra danio, four of five cories and four of eight otos, and the frog and moved them to a hospital tank. Upon closer examination in the tank, it seems that the emerald cory I caught, and the danio I caught both have the brown/gold/rust dusting over their backs and dorsal fin (velvet?) I don't know about the other danios, because they won't sit still, and all the cories and otos seem fine in that respect.


So, I'd really appreciate some info on what cories/otos are sensitive to, because I really need to medicate this tank. I bought some "General Cure" for external parasites and velvet, and have added it in. I imagine its not good for the otos/cories as it has:

125 mg metronidazole, 13 mg of copper sulfate, and 8 mg of trichlorfon, but you know what? I don't what the other fish getting it :( whatever "it" is.



Anybody have any thoughts here???:confused:
Click to expand...

Ok do use the the medication you have unless you have loaches in there as they are scaleless fishes. Do not use the salt method ,though the salt method can cure many diseases and most likely velvet aswell do not use this method for cories as they are scaleless fish. That medication sounds good. Keep up with water changes and isolate the sick fish. With this they should be fine in a few days.

Good luck and yes bang:D just keep your spirits high,


Daniel
 

spikekillifish

spikekillifish

Large Fish
#7
Feb 23, 2003
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Naples Fl.
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#7
How are the fish behaving? Are they still feeding and active? You did the right thing by QTing them.

Since you are already medicating them I would hold off on trying any other meds and keep a close eye on things.

You could try some natural methods to build your fishes immune systems. I regularily use freshly crushed garlic and soak my foods in it along with some tank water. Allicin the active ingredient in garlic is known to repel parasites. You could also add a vitamin supplement as well.

Keep us informed on your proggress and be careful dosing with copper. It is a good idea to monitor your copper levels with a test kit.
 

Leopardess

Leopardess

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#8
May 3, 2003
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#8
Thanks so much for your responses so far guys. It means a lot to me :)

The fish appear to be acting fine - swimming about, picking through the gravel. I hope they stay that way...

The medication I put in is in predosed capsules where you just empty them into the tank, so I'm hoping they measured carefully!;)

I think I'll pick up some more garlic tonight (what are the odds, I used the last of it in bruschetta last night:rolleyes: ) and try that. They are eating but I also heard that garlic repels parasites...but I guess it slipped my mind. But that's why you guys are here, right?

as for q-tining them, they were the "q-tined" anyway since they are the only fish in the tank. I still have to get the others out of the 55 and into that hospital tank. I would have medicated that tank, but I have a lot of plants in it, plus 55g is wayyyy more of a hassle to medicate.
 

tetra girl

tetra girl

Large Fish
#12
Apr 30, 2003
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#12
depends on how long the parasite can live. you dont want to add the fish to the tank again when the parasite is still going through it's life cycle! try catching one before your fish eat it and take it to your LFS and see if they know what it is. also if you want to be extra sure i found a forum with some people who are really clued up when it comes to fish diseases - they helped me when no one here knew what was wrong with my fish: www.badmanstropicalfish.com

hope it all works out!
 

Leopardess

Leopardess

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#13
May 3, 2003
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Seacoast Area, New Hampshire
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#13
thanks, I might try going to that site. The problem with that is that I haven't seen another one since that one that was eaten.


btw, I'm a moron, I don't know what I meant by "treating the empty tank." What I meant to say was in what way should I deal with the situation. There is no medication in there, and I don't plan on having any...since I am disassembling the whole lot anyway.

Spike, that's what I'm tackling...since I don't know what I have, I'm not sure how long it's life cycle is and therefore how long the tank needs to be empty.

grrrr
 

spikekillifish

spikekillifish

Large Fish
#14
Feb 23, 2003
251
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60
Naples Fl.
www.millevolte.com
#14
Spike, that's what I'm tackling...since I don't know what I have, I'm not sure how long it's life cycle is and therefore how long the tank needs to be empty.
Click to expand...
Only you know what you saw. I would look up the keywords, "parasite freshwater aquarium" in Google and pour over as many descriptions and photos you can.

Keep in mind when treating with copper in your display tank, there will always be a small amount left.
 

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