fish troubles

[Mattzilla]

two of my discus started to get a skin fungus so i treated with a fungus treatment (wardleys i think) but they are still not doing too well. it kind of looked like their slim coat was peeling off... if that makes sence. i added salt at 1.5 tbl spoons per 40ltrs and repeated fungus treatment. the skin peeling decreased but their gills are now swollen and they are not eating.

what should i do? i have them in their own tank now so i can treat them with whatever is needed.

[DiscusMan]

Mate if the problem is only swollen gills then i would say that it is wise to just do wc's on them adn keep up a moderate salt treatment and see what happens.

Salt is probably the best thing especially if you can get them to eat it so make sure you dont disolve it before adding it as if they actually eat some there gills will be covered with it and this is a very good thing for to help wash out any problems that may be still in the gills. If you feel that this has already been done then i would say try to avoid them having any more direct salt contact on the gills unless it isnt getting better as you dont want to be rubbing salt in the wounds i guess and this is only a guess.

I assume by inflamed you mean there pink or red in colour. My Brother in laws fish had really pinkish gills and wc's and salt fixed it up no problems in one day.

Wayne

[Mattzilla]

i havew been doing daily w/c...about 35%

i will keep adding salt each time.
their gills are not really red or pink... just white and swollen. they are also breathing much heavier and faster thsan normal

[Mattzilla]

one fish died last night and the other is not doing too well

the fish still standing is my favourite (my avatar)...

i added melafix today and wil see if there are any results tomorrow

fingers crossed

[weird]

Sorry to hear mate. Hope the other one does better.

[DiscusMan]

Would the addition of stress coat be any benefit as things liek stress coat and malafix help the discus to recover from stuff.

Just a thought.

Wayne

[Mattzilla]

the melafix seemed to help a bit...but not much

i'll get some stress coat tomorrow (or next time the shop is open) and give that a go

[kevkoi]

Matt, have a read and look on the net about Velvet disease.... That's my haunch.

check this:
http://www.aquaculture.bz/fish-disease/Velvet-Disease.html

If the description matches what u are observing, treat as recommended.

Don't bother treating velvet with "melafix" or "stresscoat".... they are not designed to combat this disease, in fact they are not designed to combat ANY disease at all!! They are general "tonics". When a fish is ill... use REAL meds.

My prefered method of treatment is Copper Sulphate, but I cannot recommend that here as there are too many variables to consider. Consider getting Malachite green based meds that specifically treat for velvet, these are easier to use, but may take longer for fish to recover.

Protozin is good too if you can still get it.

kev

[DiscusMan]

See you read those symptons and 2/3 rds of the symptons are common to every fish disease that may kill you fish.

Gasping for air
Rubbing on Stuff in tank
Fins clamped


Most times your fish gets sick it will shed parts of its slime coat as well and turn a bit darker. So how do you read a page and decide what you got? this is so hard sometimes, and i feel that it all an educated guess.

It is probably best to spend some moeny and attend a fish vet and find out what the real cause is, as most of the meds are very expensive to administer and you may be actually doing more harm anyway by giving hte wrong med.

www.birdvet.com.au sydney based fish vet $56 a consultation. So go there get a answer and buy the right med.

Wayne

[kevkoi]

Get a low powered microscope and a skin scrape should confirm it. Generally the basic meds for common discus problems are not expensive. To treat velvet or white spot the general meds are about $12.95 a bottle to treat a good many times. :wink: ... and at the recommended doses will not kill fish or bacteria (unless otherwise stated on the bottle)

If all fish start showing symptoms like above, then we can be quick to say there is a contagion.

kev

[Mattzilla]

too late for any of that unfortunately.....

i arrived home this morning to find that my favourite fish was dead. talk about being depressed!!!!

i have had that fish for around 2 and a half years so you can understand that it is a big loss for me.

i'm going to drown my sorrows when i get home from work today.....

[weird]

Matt really sorry to hear that mate. Thats rough.

[jim from sydney]

Matt....tough luck Pal. it is like loosing your best friend..
Jim.

Sorry to hear mate.

Fine for 2.5 years then this.... Any clues to how it happened?