very sick fish

[samir]

all this has happened in a span of 14 hours. the white stuff on the floor is all slime.

Last evening they started to show signs and by the morning they were like this. any ideas ??? this is so bad, its scary, never had something become so severe, this quickly. The heckels and albinos, two rooms away caught it as well, lost one albino, but all the rest had recovered this morning as if nothing happened. Its these two that are hardest hit. My ph has been around 4.5 and the chances of catching a bug at that ph are highly improbable :?

Its around the time of the year that I get hit with discus plague so I haven't had a new fish in for quite a while.

I gave them a PP bath and transferred them to a clean tank with metro. they seem to be breathing a bit better now.

[nicholas76]

:shock:


Samir did anything survive? some variations of that nasty disease!

speak to merris she can advise further!

[samir]

i lost one red melon albino, the other one was worse but this morning its back to fighting and cone cleaning ,

the heckels had quite a bit of slime last night, this morning they look completely normal. I caught it as soon as it started. All fish that have had it before are ok. Lost one fish atm. These two look really bad.

[fishgeek]

sorry to be so useless
do we know for certain what cause's plague? is it viral? is that why sudden occurence and poor response to meds?
or bacterial and thats why metronidazol? is suggessted

again excuse my ignorance and uniformed contribution

andrew

[samir]

i think the general consensus seems to be viral. the antibiotics are more for secondary infections.

[madasa]

Some salt wouldnt hurt

[taksan]

Whats a PP bath?

[samir]

Potassium Permanganate 10mg/l for 30 minutes

[Merrilyn]

So sorry mate. Haven't seen a case that bad for a long time.

Obviously plague, but sheesh, what a nasty strain.

I hope you've seen the last of it

[samir]

its the mother of all plagues, not quite sure what else to do. :?

[nicholas76]

napalm mate.....

[Ben]

Did you get new fish in just recently? were they quaratined?

[ILLUSN]

Mate, thats the worst case of plague that I've ever seen.

are you running your aging water through a UV?

[Xtreme]

Hi Samir,

Sorry to hear this mate,

Hope they pull through fingers crossed
Looks like they were a nice pr of reds you had there mate :oops:

:Have you thought about using some bleach to pull the slime off then start building it back up with salt

Just a thought

[Merrilyn]

its the mother of all plagues, not quite sure what else to do. :?

You've done everything you could samir. I wouldn't have done any different.

How are they looking today?

[madasa]

its so sad to see your loved pets likethat

[samir]

thank you everyone for your concern.

I have been treating with 800mg/30litres metro every 6 hours. the male has started to swim upright for a little while. The female has already started eating. All the slime is gone.


A question regarding discus plague. It seems to react very well to a very high dose of metro. Is it possible that its just a nasty drug resistant protozoa ? and not really a "plague" at all ?

[samir]

Did you get new fish in just recently? were they quaratined?

these are the new fish, they've been here for nearly 3 months.



:Have you thought about using some bleach to pull the slime off then start building it back up with salt


i will never ever use bleach, even if I was on a deserted island with a dark discus and a bottle of black & gold. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: LOL

[samir]

48 hours later female has recovered almost fully.

male is still lying on its side, I prop it up and it swims upright for a few seconds, need some advice on that. :? Merrilyn, help !!!!!!!

[taksan]

This is sooooo farked up...... awful .... I hope they pull through mate....

[Merrilyn]

Samir, try and keep him propped up even if you have to use a box filter or sponge filter to do it.

He'll feel better if he's upright. Dying fish lay on their side, and we don't want him to give up the fight. It's just a matter of waiting till his natural defenses kick in. The antibiotics have done their job. It's all up to the fish now.

[samir]

thanks, i've got it propped up with a tank divider.only thing that works, lets see how it goes.


for anyone else that gets discus "plague" keep some PP and metro handy. Its a very effective combination.

[madasa]

I have everything crossed for you Samir to the extent that I was unable to take advantage of my wife being tiddly for the first time in five years!!!

Where does one get PP?

[Xtreme]

PP is available from most chemists or compound chemists

HTH

[samir]

:lol: the 5 years may have something to do with keeping fish

removed the divider and its started to swim upright, it keeps falling flat and struggling back up again. It wasn't even making an effort before so I guess thats a good sign.

[madasa]

LOL - didnt mean a lack of ... meant .... sorry off thread.

Encouraging news - testicles remain crossed

[samir]

I will try and erase that picture from my mind :shock:

male has improved quite a bit, I've halved the metro to 400mg/40l, will treat for two more days and then its up to the fish. He is still classified as a dead fish, though its starting looking a bit more positive. :D

[madasa]

Good luck with him.

Dont have nightmares about me. :)

[ivo]

oh samir, i only just saw your post and i am so sorry to see what happened to your discus. it is frightening how quickly this whatever "disease/plague" destroying the discus. sorry about your lost of albino melon. at least you are so knowledgeable and know what to do to attempt to save your other discus. most of us would only be able to stare at them and say fxxxxxk what do i do now. i really hope all the others will fully recover soon. keep us update.

[taksan]

I've seen it bad ...... I never want to see it again
This is THE WORST fish illness possible.
I really hope you cure these poor MF's

[samir]

thanks mate, all cured except one.

[samir]

96 hours after the first picture, the propping up worked reall well, Merrilyn (gracias). Had to put a divider as the female wants to spawn and has started annoying him. :roll:

Absolutely awful episode this, lucky to only lose one.

[Merrilyn]

I'm so glad you managed to save him Samir.

He's an amazing looking fish.

[nicholas76]

Yeah!!!


now what causes this onset of a disease!!! million dollar question!

[samir]

I think it starts with an ammonia spike, like the last time, it happened after a water change.

I'm relieved that I've managed to avoid the skinny phase that usually occurs with this illness. The last two times I had it , my fish took more than a month to fatten up again. This time they just stopped eating for two days. I guess all that practice on unsuspecting fry does have its advantages.

[ILLUSN]

Well done mate, expect a phone call from me the next time this disease hits my tanks.

[madasa]

Can I please uncross my testicles now?

Excellent Samir - big smile upon my face