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Some sort of Fungal Infection | 20 comments (18 topical, 2 editorial, 0 hidden)

One more thing, (none / 0) (#7)
by GuppyAdict on Sun Jan 11, 2004 at 02:50:06 AM PST

since my guppies apparently had it before delivering, should I also treat all the fry in that tank as well? Is melafix safe for fry? Can I also put salt in along with the melafix?

[ Parent ]

melafix (none / 0) (#10)
by parttimer on Mon Jan 12, 2004 at 02:24:21 PM PST

is safe for fry and okay with salt. melafix is mainly tea tree oil.

[ Parent ]

Thanks everyone, (none / 0) (#12)
by GuppyAdict on Mon Jan 12, 2004 at 03:43:29 PM PST

but I lost 2 this weekend. One of my thanksgiving males I bought died lastnight. He didn't have any signs of the disease and he was not the one I thought would die.

The female that had the very first signs of columaris is actually doing pretty well and the other female that barely had it died. =-(

I'm really sad for my male that I've had for quite awhile and he was so active and doing great until I put those females in there. Geeze, I could really kick myself right now.

I swear never to buy any more petco or petsmart fish.

I am currently just treating with melafix and salt. I will look for the maracyn. Since I've started with Melafix, can I mix with maracyn??

[ Parent ]

When it warms up... (none / 0) (#15)
by Angelee on Wed Jan 14, 2004 at 10:48:44 PM PST

I'll mail you some replacements, mine should be big enough and I'd be more than happy to supply you with a goodsize breeding pair, as well. (At no cost, of course.) It seems that no matter how careful we are, sometimes event the best of us have to start over. Bummer.
"The Rocky Mountain Gupster" ANGELEE
[ Parent ]

Thanks Angelee (none / 0) (#16)
by GuppyAdict on Thu Jan 15, 2004 at 03:30:07 PM PST

That is very nice of you to think of me. I would be more then happy to give your guppies a great home.

I certainly have enough room for them. =-)

[ Parent ]

Let me cure the outbreak mine just.. (none / 0) (#17)
by Angelee on Wed Jan 21, 2004 at 10:03:22 AM PST

suffered. Believe it or not the vet says they can get it from food, plants, even if you haven't added any new additions. Uncle Scott informed me you may never know, four months down the road, there it rears its ugly head. Even if cured, it can sterilize females. Greeeaaat. I hope I've caught them in time, it was only in one tank, but I'm treating all of them just in case. On an interesting note, my fishies vet's name is David Specht, he says that his father used to bring home tropicals from the South Pacific. As a routine regimen, he would not only isolate, but deworm with.. you guessed it levemisole hydrochloride. A 24 hour treatment with a recipe is recommended. He doesn't carry it all the time, incidentally, because it doesn't hold well and you have to buy large quantities. (It's a treatment for sheep and cattle that they no longer use. I asked around and they use something else now.) Seeing as how I'm in so called livestock country I figured, no problem. Wrong again. Ooops, I went off on a tangent didn't I? Sorry. I'm looking for Xennex and flubendazole today since I'm unimpressed with the way the maracyn and coppersafe is working. At any rate, I will get you the fry, but I want to make sure I don't send you a curse as well.
"The Rocky Mountain Gupster" ANGELEE
[ Parent ]

sorry GA about your loses... (none / 0) (#14)
by red illuzion on Mon Jan 12, 2004 at 08:46:44 PM PST

same thing happened to me a while back for not properly quarantining new fish from petco, lost all my adults, almost all with no signs of disease in a period of 3-4 months. hopefully your fry turn out as great as the parents, gl.

[ Parent ]

That is so frustrating losing an old friend. (none / 0) (#13)
by unclescott on Mon Jan 12, 2004 at 08:01:37 PM PST

Columnaris often attacks surface down, but internal infections may never show on the skin. :(

It is pretty contagious and a tank wipe-out can be quick, so give some attention to the fry. Now! :)

I don't understand why the Melafix helps with skin ailments, but it does seem to aid the fish's immune system. As with all medicinal items, DON"T leave it in the tank after the treatment period.

By the way, "Flexibacter columnaris" is now (with the gender change in Latin) "Flavobacterium columnare" some places on the google search. You probably encountered that. :)

Maybe just Monday grumpiness, but with all the exposure of commercial fishes to columnaris, heximeta type infections and camallanus, I'm beginning to be amazed that anyone stays in the hobby beyond six months!

Shops are in a pickle. If they quarantine and medicate new fishes, they must charge a lot more. Customers go elsewhere.

Ironically, after deaths, one may be paying a lot more for their fish than if they purchased from a quarantining outfit. American aquarists have a somewhat deserved reputation, compared to relatively high rolling German or Japanese aquarists, of being cheapskates. Many of the rarer fish go to Germany or Japan because someone (in the higher paid classes?) will pay a premium price.

If Americans would pay more, the wholesalers (a logical intermediate point between fish farms, collectors and local breeders) could preventatively treat and hold fish. I don't know how to get that started.

(Recall a recent story of a lady upset about the dollar a neon price. She claimed to have bought 10 for $4.00 just the week before. Of course only one survived. My informant brought her attention to that, "That was a pretty expensive neon." She just looked puzzeled and blinked.)

In the short term, shops make more money on the person who kills fish and is back every two weeks. That is short sighted though, because those people will be gone in a few months and the tank will be in a garage sale next spring. (Always, bleach what you can that was purchased at garage sales.)

The veteran pet shop customer certainly will not dump as much cash per year. But long term pet owners should be good for a couple $100 a year for a decade or more if they stay in the hobby. They also are useful in chatting with newbies in the shops and - oh yeah - on Net forums. ;)

Rant mode off.

All the best and have a good Monday anyway,
Scott the Curmudgeon

[ Parent ]

Re: That is so frustrating losing an old friend. (none / 0) (#20)
by leefromvt on Wed Mar 24, 2004 at 08:31:19 PM PST

I have been having an issue similar to what is being described here. A white mark which I first noticed on a newly introduced female, which I first mistakenly thought could be a defect in her tail, as she seemed to have a little trouble moving it and appeared white in the center of her tail. This I now realize was a swelling of some sort. Now I lost all of the female adult guppy, I moved the males to a different tank as the females were about to drop, the disease progressed pretty rapidly before I had time to properly determine what I thought it was and how to treat it. After reading messages on this site I concluded that is most likely was, Columnaris, the final 2 female guppy with visible symptoms had by this time been moved to the hospital tank. So I treated that tank with Melafix. One guppy had minor visible signs and the other was more progressed. I also treated the tank with the newly born fry, 2 litters of 10 each 2 days apart. I wanted to find out for sure that I had done the correct treatment, so I took the last deceased female guppy to the pet store, not the pet store where I purchased the "Killer Guppy" from (Petsmart) but one I thought was more "Mom & Pop". The fish guy there tested the water first even though I told him that I had added the Melafix and the water was from the hospital tank that was 50/50 with "new' water from the day before, when we decided to quarantine the last 2 adult females (Betty and Wilma) . Even though my reading was "good" he quickly decided that is was a fungus. I do have a picture that I took of one of my fist as she started to get sick, but I'm not sure if I can post it for viewing here. Knowing that from first visible sign of the disease to the death of the guppy was no more than 12 - 24 hours (you could almost track its movement it was so fast), all the guppy started with this strange marking or white swelling on the tail region, which appears to spread but mostly internally making the guppy swollen in appearance. Also it spread 1 by 1 through the tank. Even though I have a million more things to say, this is getting long I will try to rap this up now.
1.) What is a more professional a 3rd opinion of what this could be, so at least I know in the future.)?
2.) Is the treatment I'm using on the fry tank going to help them and the two juvenile females remaining in the tank? (They still have no signs as of the removal of the two with signs) 24-36 hours prior.
3.) The net, filter vacuum, etc I used on the tank with the ill fish can they be cleaned? How?
4.) Any advice on how to recover and prevent would be appreciated.

[ Parent ]

Some sort of Fungal Infection | 20 comments (18 topical, 2 editorial, 0 hidden)

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