fish question !!!!! STRIPED BASS

[striperkeeper]

ok i had 2 fish die of what some of you thought was columnaris ........now the rest wont eat what should i do ????????


and is there anything i should do to the tank now like tear it complety down and scrub the hell out of everything ?????

heres a coupl photos of the one that are left the first to i put in a different tank show no signs of anything the (3) left in the main tank have this white stuff on them

the 3rd photos is of the one that have no signs of anything



*** NOTE *** i would like to say since i found this site i have ask many question to you guy and you guys have been more then willing to help me and i thank you all for that

 

[greyhoundfan]

to fight fish diseases you have to keep your tank in tip top shape. that means taking out your gravel. Easier to treat fish in bare bottom tanks. A lot of bacteria can accumulate in the gravel and if not vaccuumed properly can be the source of your angst.

As a last, last, last resort. I would try Potassium Permanganate. It is a purple powder that is sold in koi shops and some times pool supply places. What I did to treat my discuses was create a solution of this first. 1 liter of water and 1 TSP of PP. This creates a dark purple solution.

Use medicine droper to add the solution to your tank. Keep doing this until your tank gets to a medium shade of purple.. make sure it's not TOO dark like th solution. This will be too concentrated and kill your fish. If PP concentration is too high it can burn your fish's gills. Keep tank heavily aerated with extra stones. PP solution will also take a hit on your good nitrifying bacteria. Let them sit in it for an hour or so. BUT if you notice that your fish are starting to breathe heavily or get stressed, have a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide handy. This will immediately nuetruelize the PP and your tank water will become clear again.

After an hour or so your tank will start to turn copper/brown when this happens the treatment is pretty much over and the PP has oxidized any living organic matter in your tank. Add the Hydorgen Peroxide to cancel out the PP.

Have pre-treated water ready b/c you'll need to do at least a 80% W/C after your done.

Please becareful if you plan on going this route but if you've already lost some fish using other measures, this might be the only chance you have.

 

[Greenaveli]

Whoa!!! I wouldnt suggest tearing down anything just yet!!! If your fish have the fungus I would try a combo of melafix and primafix first to basically cover a broad spectrum of problems. Me personally I dont like using either so I usually just turn up the heat in the tank and add salt to the water as per instructions on the box. I always put a lil extra.

Greyhound I dont want to doubt your tactics but that PP sounds a lil extreme seeing as you said you have lost fish with this method. A lil scary when you start including peroxide in the equation.

I would try increasing the temp and adding salt first and if there is no change go get a bottle of melafix and primafix and try that. Dont break the tank down cause you might cause more harm than good.

 

[Greenaveli]

Oh yea I would also hit that tank with a healthy water change first. IMO about 40% the hit it with the salt a increased temp.

 

[ShadowBass]

You still haven't mentioned your tank parameters or anything..

Columnaris isn't common in native fish, and neither is fungus. Unless you didn't cycle your tank or your parameters are way out of wack they shouldn't be having these problems like this.

You've now seen how quick these diseases can kill, so you NEED to test your water and do water changes accordingly. Your biggest problem is likely your water quality. Even if you decide to treat you're going to have to do a large water change before adding the treatment.

It doesn't matter what you treat them with, if your water quality is poor or continues to be poor they will continue getting sick and you'll do nothing more than waste money treating them until they die.

Be honest, are the tanks they're in cycled? I've only had one fish die of columnaris and it's because he got severely injured and stressed getting caught between an aquarium heater and a rock for who knows how long. As far as fungus, that can STILL be a case of poor tank maintainance since fungus multiplies on rotting food and such in the aquarium, and yet again, poor water quality prevents fish from recovering from disease.

 

[ShadowBass]

Oh yea I would also hit that tank with a healthy water change first. IMO about 40% the hit it with the salt a increased temp.

1. An increased temp is often MORE stressful to natives.

2. An increased temp only makes columnaris (if that's what it is) spread faster and kill the fish faster.

Nothing wrong with adding salt, especially for fish that thrive in the ocean.

 

[jus1time]

Those type of fish will not handle high heat. pp is safe if you use it properly. If you go to the lfs buy a product called clearwater, if you can find it. Its made from pp and is safe to use double the recommened dose, but not more than that. Then follow the directions on the bottle.

 

[cenecker]

You still haven't mentioned your tank parameters or anything..

Columnaris isn't common in native fish, and neither is fungus. Unless you didn't cycle your tank or your parameters are way out of wack they shouldn't be having these problems like this.

You've now seen how quick these diseases can kill, so you NEED to test your water and do water changes accordingly. Your biggest problem is likely your water quality. Even if you decide to treat you're going to have to do a large water change before adding the treatment.

It doesn't matter what you treat them with, if your water quality is poor or continues to be poor they will continue getting sick and you'll do nothing more than waste money treating them until they die.

Be honest, are the tanks they're in cycled? I've only had one fish die of columnaris and it's because he got severely injured and stressed getting caught between an aquarium heater and a rock for who knows how long. As far as fungus, that can STILL be a case of poor tank maintainance since fungus multiplies on rotting food and such in the aquarium, and yet again, poor water quality prevents fish from recovering from disease.

YES...don't forget that 99.999% of fish pathology in aquariums is DIRECTLY related to WATER QUALITY.