Please Help....Sick Fish Need Suggestions

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Spankmuffin

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2008
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Iowa
Hi all,

Avid reader but rarely post. I have been through all the posts here and cannot quite find what it is that is ailing my fish. I have a 150 gallon show with all malawi cichlids. Fluval FX5 and one Emperor 400. (2) 300 watt stealth heaters. 100 pounds of pool sand and 200 pounds of lace rock. The FX5 is packed with two trays of BioMax and then the top tray holds 4 units of Chemi Pure. The Emperor 400 just runs the two standard filter pads and then 2 units of Chemi Pure as well.

I have removed all 6 bags pf Chemi Pure I run and the tank has been treated with Coppersafe going on two weeks ago now. Bumped the temp up to around 84 degrees and added a bunch of aquarium salt. The problem is my fish are still scracthing, flashing around the tank, some of them shake violently from time to time and even one of my baby Saulosi females has this big red "sore" on her side right behind the pectoral fin. The weird thing is she still eats and swims all over and acts just fine but it literally looks like she is rotting. My big Ngara Flametail Peacock is also looking really rough and ragged. Meaning he still eats like a horse and acts fine aside from the scrathing but he just looks as if he is wasting away sort of. Hard to explain but he is drab in color from usual and just seems out of it but he eats like crazy. Weird...

I initially thought I had a bout of ich and the salt and temp increase would take care of it. That didn't do it so I added the Coppersafe since that has worked well for me before but this has not seemed to help this time. I have had no new fish introduced in about 2 months. All water parameters are great and in the ideal range. No fish show any visible signs of fungus or ich or worms etc... I have no idea what to do or how to even diagnose what is wrong. So I am hoping someone here can help me with what to do or try. All fish eat and swim around no lethargic fish laying anywhere. But almost every single fish in the tank scratch or flash around from time to time.

Could this be some sort of gill fluke or something I cannot see? Help please.

Thanks,

Spank
 
Lisa thank you for the reply. I was sort of thinking that is what they were but I have never had to deal with them before. Shouldn't the Coppersafe be knocking them out though?
 
I'm by far no expert at this....but I think the coppersafe may be killing the flukes but I dont think it can kill the eggs. I would try one of these long term treatments so your FH dont get reinfected by the eggs.

  1. Formalin can be used, but will not affect the eggs of flukes so timing is important. Jack Wattley in "Handbook of Discus" (1985) suggests three treatments spaced three days apart at three drops/gallon for 8 hours. Then do a 50% water change. Moving the fish to a clean tank can be done to make sure that hatching fluke eggs from the bottom of the aquarium do not reattach to the fish. Extra aeration should be used when using formalin. Do not use temperatures greater than 84 degrees F. as oxygen depletion can occur.
  2. Recommended treatment for safety of fish. Treatment with Prazi has been shown to be effective. Routine = 1/4 teaspoon/20 gallons, wait 48 hours, change 50% water, repeat, continuing for a full 21 days without interruption (Prazi also eliminates tapeworm, do not be surprised if the fish have one, it will come out).
  3. Flubenzadol is very effective and must be used for a full 21 days. Use 1/4 tsp/20 gallons every other day. Do 50% water changes daily (has been shown to be toxic to some fish). Untergasser (1989) reports that Flubenzadol also helps eradicate fluke eggs (it also eliminates internal worms/nematodes). Usually the fish may start acting better after 4 or 5 days.
 
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