random dying malawi's !

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vdawgs22

Candiru
MFK Member
Jul 31, 2008
170
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New York
Over the past month i've had a fish die a week.. its a fairly new tank (2 months).. parameters are normal..ph is mid 7's.... the only signs i've noticed are in the prior day 2-3 days before death the fish seem to hide more but still eat (although less)... there may be a slight redening of the gil region but nothing really noticeable unless you are looking for it....i've had malawi's with bloat in the past but they've all swelled up prior to death and none of these have...currently its the bumble bee who seems to be on the fence and the other 4 seem fine and are eating plenty...i did notice some partly white stringy feces.... thinking internal parasite? that is killing them off one at a time? over such a long period?

thoughts?


currently they are eating nls cichlid which i've had success with over the years!
 
Well, that is a high quality food. Usually health problems are related to deteriorating tank conditions. You said your parameters are normal which is good (assuming you mean 0 ammonia and nitrites, and > 20ppm nitrates). The pH should be fine also. Another possibility is when you last cleaned the filter and thoroughly vacuumed the substrate. Even if nitrates are kept low, increased levels of waste buildup in filters and in substrate can have negative effects.

If not those things then it could be a parasite or something. Unfortunately I am not very good at identifying fish illnesses. I will add that pics can be helpful though.
 
White stingy feces is usually a sign of internal parasites. If the fish are still eating, I would add metronidazole to their food. You can also add the metronidazole to the tank, but it works better if taken internally.
 
How's your water temp? Are they breathing heavy? I would check those two first. If they are breathing heavy, it could be either bloat or lack of air in the water.
 
Update... The bumble bee has no stringy feces. They are normal..... The water temp I raised last night and added salt, it's around 84.....everyone is breathing okay and while bumble bee seems more active this morning he has some white cotton like looking spots on face...now I'm guessing bacterial or fungal... Whatever I is I need to kill it in tank on and this fish!!!
 
Not sure if it is the same thing, but a few years back I had a single fish die from what I am pretty sure was columnaris. From what I was told it can become a nasty problem that will eventually kill all of your fish. Thankfully, I either quarantined him in time before it spread or the medication I used (on the whole tank) killed it - I don't know which. Anyway the medication I used (recommended by many) was Aquari-sol. Maybe/hopefully this is not what you are dealing with but you mentioned cotton like spots which reminded me of my fish. My fish had cottony stuff coming out of the mouth and around the lips.
 
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