Internal bleeding?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
A

aggressor09

Gambusia
MFK Member
Oct 31, 2007
287
0
16
Queens, NY
Hi all,

I am experiencing trouble with my prize fish and I fear that he is on his way out :(.

Around the base of his fins there is purplish discoloration that appears to be internal bleeding. He ate his usual diet and regurgitated a few hours later. He also left what appears to be fish diarrhea in the tank. There is nothing sharp in the tank (there is actually nothing in the tank besides a heater).

He started doing the death-roll sometime this morning, but has miraculously improved and now seems like he may hang on.

Does anybody know of any methods to treat this or any good things to do for an emergency situation like this?


Thanks in advance
 
Could you please post some pics of the affected areas? In the meantime, try answering these questions to give us a more complete picture of your tank history.

1. What is the size of your tank?

2. What are your water parameters? State the brand of test kit used.

3. Is your aquarium set up freshwater or brackish water?

4. How long the aquarium has been set up?

5. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?

6. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)?

7. What temperature is the tank water currently?

8. Are there live plants in the aquarium?

9. What filter are you using? State brand, maintenance routine and power capacity.

10. Any other equipment used (aside from heater and filter which are two very important components of the tank)?

11. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? What is your lighting schedule (assuming you do not rely on sunlight for our viewing pleasure)?

12. When did you perform your last water change and how much water was changed? How often do you change your water? Do you vacuum the substrate?

13. What foods do you provide your fish? What is the feeding schedule?

14. What unusual signs have you observed in your fish?

15. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? If so, what treatments did you use? State your reasons for planning ahead of proper diagnosis.
Click to expand...
 
I do not have any pictures of the fish as the fish location is 2 states away.

1. What is the size of your tank? 75 gallon

2. What are your water parameters? State the brand of test kit used. About 7.2ph

3. Is your aquarium set up freshwater or brackish water? Fresh

4. How long the aquarium has been set up? Around a year.

5. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them? 1 20" wallago leerii.

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

7. What temperature is the tank water currently? 81f

8. Are there live plants in the aquarium? No.

9. What filter are you using? State brand, maintenance routine and power capacity. HOT Magnum, internal powerheads.

10. Any other equipment used (aside from heater and filter which are two very important components of the tank)? Powerheads.

11. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? What is your lighting schedule (assuming you do not rely on sunlight for our viewing pleasure)? No.

12. When did you perform your last water change and how much water was changed? How often do you change your water? Do you vacuum the substrate? 50-60% once every 3 weeks.

13. What foods do you provide your fish? What is the feeding schedule? Shrimp, smelt, tapia, catfish.

14. What unusual signs have you observed in your fish? Something that appears to be diarrhea, redness and irritation at the base of all fins and below mouth, loss of appetite, death rolling (unbalanced movement).

15. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? If so, what treatments did you use? State your reasons for planning ahead of proper diagnosis. No.
 
Could you please elaborate what your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are? If you are using test strips, switch to API liquid drops to get a much more accurate set of test results. We will then know if water quality plays its role in your fish's health. Those are important parameters to look at.

I am sorry about this but even if you keep only one fish in there, water change every 3 weeks is very inadequate! I would suggest doing it weekly or twice a week. The foods you are giving your fish may contribute a lot to deterioration of water quality. I assume in this case, your ammonia and nitrite may be dangerously high especially nitrate but this is only based on assumption until you get your test results.

For now, I'd advise doing more water changes. The redness on the fins may indicate ammonia and nitrite poisoning. In this case, only frequent water changes will resolve that issue. How does its poop look currently?
 
A 20" inch fish in a 75 gallon is never going to result in anything but problems. Add to that a 50% water change every three weeks and it's not a surprise your fish is ill. His illness is environmentally caused.

Improve the water quality, get a MUCH bigger tank (think several hundred gallons as a minimum), or get rid of the fish. You owe that to the fish.
 
Thank you for the replies that were helpful and addressed my question, i.e the comments from Lupin.

Reddening near the base of the fins can be caused by nitrate or high ammonia levels? Whenever I test for ammonia it is quite low and it has never been a problem in the tank. I have an API drop kit. I have not tested for nitrates in quite some time honestly. I do not live full-time with the fish currently, hence the length in between water changes.

When I purchased the fish it had a bad case of HLLE which gradually faded throughout time. Could this have something to do with it?

Thanks,
 
It's usually ammonia and nitrite but even nitrate can if it's dangerously high. Could you please post the actual ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Ammonia toxicity varies depending on temperature and pH influencing its potency. You haven't answered yet how its poop looks.
 
If you are showing ANY ammonia you're killing your fish. There is NO acceptable ammonia reading. If you are showing ammonia at all it means your filter and water changes are insufficient for the bioload of your tank.

I'm not trying to be abusive, and you can disregard my comments if you choose, but the simple fact remains a 20" fish is living a miserable life in a 75 gallon tank, and it is slowly being killed by its environment. Even if you were able to maintain perfect water (a near impossibility situation it seems you are not ready to accept) the tremendous stress placed on that fish due to the claustrophobic environment will ultimately result in its death --- most likely from a disease which sets in as a result of its stressed/weakened condition.

Please give the fish more appropriate quarters or give it to someone who will.
 
I will post the ammonia readings as soon as possible. I can nearly guarantee that it is 0 as I have a caretaker doing small but frequent water changes to the tank, but I will post the definite water parameters when I return home and to the tank.

The excrement looks somewhat gelatinous or slimy but the occurrence of this has ceased. The death-rolling has stopped and the condition, whatever it may be, has stabilized with the frequent water changes. The fish by nature really doesn't move a whole lot--however, and it has been moving almost non-stop since the malady has begun which is troubling.

I also feel it helpful to note that when I purchased the fish years ago it has a very bad case of HLLE. This seems to have 'healed' through a varied diet, vitamins and frequent water changes. Also, a parasite was introduced into the original tank about a year ago. It took me quite some time to rid the fish of these parasites, but I strongly believe the fish has been parasite free since before the downgrade.

NOTE--I know that the fish is currently in a small tank as I had to downgrade temporarily due to moving. This is also the reason for the infrequent water changes. When the fish stabilizes, it is going into a 200 gallon pond. So please, please stop with the Captain Obvious comments, cchhcc. If you would like to waste a poster's time overstating the completely obvious, please do it on someone else's post. I would like some actual advice on how to get from where I am at now to the ultimate goal--the healthy indoor "pond".

Thanks in advance Lupin or anyone else that can help me out as to figuring out what this condition is. Is he merely stressed because of the small environment?

Thanks,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom