Arowana with fungus/bacterial infection:

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L

luexiong

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2011
19
0
0
Minnesota
1. Size of tank? 30 gallon tank

2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia? 0 - 0.5
b. Nitrite?
c. Nitrate?
d. pH, KH and GH? 7
e. Test kit? only have ammonia and ph test kit.

3. Temperature? 79 degrees

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? Freshwater

5. How long the aquarium has been set up? Long time

6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them? 1 arowana in a 40 gallon tank about 4-6inches.

7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? No

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? None
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom? barebottom
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? none

9. a. Filtration? Spong Filter
b. Heater? Yes, it was for 55 gallon or lower aquarium

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? Morning til evening. Sunlight
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? Yes, morning until evening

11. a. Water change schedule? once per week, or one per two week.
b. Volume of water changed? 20%-30% water change
c. Well water, tap water, RO water? tap water
d. Water conditioner used? Chloroma-X and Stress Coat
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed?

12. Foods? Hikari Sticks and glass worms
How often are they fed? Twice a day.

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms?
b. Appearance of poop? Looks regularly
c. Appearance of gills? Fungus/Bacterial growth

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? Yes
b. What meds were used? I used pimafix and also melafix

15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.

I don't have a camera, but the diagnosis is surely a fungus or bacterial growth. I usually get rid of it by using pimafix, but it didn't work. So i tried using melafix and it failed also. The infection is spreading on its dorsal fin and back tail so far. :[ Whats the best medication to treat fungus or bacterial infection? any advices?
 
I'd guarantee you that your Arowana is sick because there is ammonia present in your tank. Your tank is probably either
1. Under water changed.
2. too small for the arowana.
3. not enough filteration.
4. combination of all three.

any other fish in the tank??? you need to check your nitrite aswell. chances are your tank isnt cycled and doesnt have enough beneficial bacteria.

how often do you change water? and what kind of filter do you have?
 
I use a spong filter + a Zoo med 501 cansiter. I change water once per week, about 10-30% water change weekly, ammonia tested was at 0.25. I have no other fish in it.
 
Okay. maybe increase the water changes to 25% twice a week or 30%. With a 30gallon tank thats not bad only two buckets of water which is quite little. Make sure you add prime or any other water treatment chemicals you have to remove chlorine. If you have a chance you might want to get a bottle of Stablity and prime. Prime will make the ammonia less toxic too the fish, and stability will add bacteria to your tank to help breakdown ammonia. do you remove the left over food he doesnt eat?? that might be a good idea aswell as vacuuming every water change.
I wouldn't add many more chemicals because it could just be hurting him more. I think your priority should be getting your cycling back on track and make sure the water is healthy that should help him more then any chemical.
 
I use chloroma-x to clear out chlorine's and also ammonia's, works pretty good against ammonia, and stress coat whenever I change water which clears out chlorine also. I feed it 4 pellets daily and it'll eat them all eventually in a minute. I never tried prime and had never seen it around any local fish store at my area. =[
 
well thats okay. Add the dechlorinator to the tank now just a bit to detoxify the ammonia. make sure you follow the directions i gave you.
 
It got worst, the infection spreaded throughout its scales now. I've also added 1tsp of freshwater salt aquarium into, but its not working.
 
Sounds like a classic case of columnaris...

www.cib.espol.edu.ec/Digipath/D_Papers/35450.pdf

There's an antibiotic susceptibility table on page 40. The easiest to find for fish is erythromycin which can be found in Maracyn I. Like most antibiotics, it will knock out your biological filter. Kanamycin is good too at 1.2 g/gal and is readily taken up from a bath by fishes' gills. Tetracycline can be problematic depending on pH, etc.
 
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