Lost three fish - How to prevent in the future

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Molenyn

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 5, 2012
26
0
1
Northern Virginia
In essientially two day I have lost two Balas and my pleco. After the first bala died and I pulled him out, I notice small (very small) little white bumps on him. I figured this was some type of parasite of some and proceeded to treat with a general parasitic medicine. By the next morning the second Bala had died and a few hours later, the Pleco. Neither one of them had any type of bumps or anything on them that I could see. There are also 6 danios in the tank with them and they are fine. But those little guys have survived every mishap I have ever had with the tank and I don't think I could kill them if I tried.

So, the question is, was I right in assuming that it was a parasite and just couldn't do anything in time or did I guess wrong and did the wrong thing? Now is the best time to clean the tank, so do I have to worry about any parasites (if that's what they were) sticking around in the biomedia or can I just put fresh water in, and let it get through a cycle again?
 
little white bumps sound like the parasite ick, look up photos of ick to make sure im right. Sometimes you dont notice and it is more severe or had happened long before you first notice. If left untreated it is fatal. It also can occur more internal or on the gills. That would be more severe and kill faster. Simply raising the temp and using salt, one tablespoon per 5 gallon will kill it. The parasite lives as a cyst(the white bump) as a cyst, it is impervious to medication and treatment. When the cyst hatches, it releases the free swimming parasite and can be killed. So you should still raise the temp and medicate the water because the cyst can still be in the media or substrate. Another option is to move all the survivors to a Qtank. You can treat them more efficiently there. Without a host fish, all parasites remaining will die in less than a week. GL
 
regular cleanings,good filtration. How big were the fish? Tank size? Oversocking tanks makes tanks dirty and causes
sicknesses.
 
Shenanigans said:
little white bumps sound like the parasite ick, look up photos of ick to make sure im right. Sometimes you dont notice and it is more severe or had happened long before you first notice. If left untreated it is fatal. It also can occur more internal or on the gills. That would be more severe and kill faster. Simply raising the temp and using salt, one tablespoon per 5 gallon will kill it. The parasite lives as a cyst(the white bump) as a cyst, it is impervious to medication and treatment. When the cyst hatches, it releases the free swimming parasite and can be killed. So you should still raise the temp and medicate the water because the cyst can still be in the media or substrate. Another option is to move all the survivors to a Qtank. You can treat them more efficiently there. Without a host fish, all parasites remaining will die in less than a week. GL
Click to expand...

+1
 
55 gallon tank with a Fluval 405. pleco was about 5" and the balas were still pretty small 4.5" the danios are about 1.5. 35% w/c a week. The latest new "thing" and the only change i can think of are two new java ferns and a piece of driftwood. Those were about two weeks ago.

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the cysts could come on anything. If the plants came from an infected tank, than it could be them. You probably would have seen it before 2 weeks, but that is not unheard of. Also, in most cases it has to be a serious infection before it takes a fish's life. So two weeks of multiplying and infecting, could do it. keep up with the meds, just because you dont see it, doesnt mean it is dead. the cyst will take a few days to hatch, so once the infection it gone, keep treating it for a few days if you dont remove the fish. You dont want it coming back. The most discouraging thing about fighting disease, is thinking you killed it, only to have it come back every 1-2 weeks. Make sure the tank is good and cured the first time
 
Molenyn said:
55 gallon tank with a Fluval 405. pleco was about 5" and the balas were still pretty small 4.5" the danios are about 1.5. 35% w/c a week. The latest new "thing" and the only change i can think of are two new java ferns and a piece of driftwood. Those were about two weeks ago.

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Click to expand...
weird, filtrations seems good, Wc scedule is good. Did you cycle the tan?, Is there meadia in the filter????
 
Any issues with the tank you first need to look at water parameters such as ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Have you yesyed your water params?
 
Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0 Nitrate is 20-30ppm. The 405 has three trays of biomax and one tray of carbon... Which i took out before medicating per the instructions on the bottle.

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What did you treat with? To me sounds like a fungus. And as always have to have the right tool for the job.

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