Ropefish dying....why?

[ShadowBass]

Did you notice any tiny white hairs on them when they were alive? Maybe my eyes are going bad, but I swear I see little external parasites on the frozen fish.

The last pics aren't frozen.

The pics before that are frozen, if that's the ones you mean then no it just looks messed up from being frozen. You wouldn't be able to see parasites, it had ice all over it and i had to rinse it off just to get decent pics.
That or you're possibly seeing dog/cat fur because I moved it with a hand towel from the laundry basket that had fur on it lol.

In the last pics I see little white spots but that's grains of sand because I have white sand in the tank.

 

[Cohazard]

I'm talking about the last pic with the discoloration.

 

[ShadowBass]

Pieces of white pool filter sand.

 

[Cohazard]

Adjacent to the white specks. There are opaque/clear squiggles. Worm like shapes, not grains.

 

[ShadowBass]

Adjacent to the white specks. There are opaque/clear squiggles. Worm like shapes, not grains.

How many are you seeing?

Is this what you're talking bout? It's a close up of one of the pics, that's fur, i have 3 cats, 2 dogs and a ferret it gets on absolutely everything I come into contact with.

Otherwise you're gonna have to highlight what you're looking at because I have no idea. Looking at the fish in person I didn't see any parasites.

 

[Cohazard]

Yeah that is exactly what I was looking at. Why did you move a dead fish with a dry towel if I may ask?

It would be a good idea to dose your tank with anti-biotics, to be safe.

 

[ShadowBass]

Yeah that is exactly what I was looking at. Why did you move a dead fish with a dry towel if I may ask?

It would be a good idea to dose your tank with anti-biotics, to be safe.

I didn't move the last one with a towel, everything I touch ends up with fur on it anyway though.
I patted the frozen one down with a towel because I had to rinse the ice off to make the body visible and my camera flash created a bad glare when the body was too wet.

It would be silly of me to dose a 125g tank with 5 small fish with meds, if anyone else shows issues I'll put everyone in quarantine though and treat them.

Thanks everyone for your advice. Too bad the outcome couldn't have been better

 

[Cohazard]

Wow... I've got this bad image in my head of your place having fur just constantly floating through the air, that, or you always covered in it.

How do you keep it off your dinner?

How long do you plan to keep your fish in quarantine? Do you know how long it would take for the disease causing bacteria to die off in your main tank with the absence of fish? (if that would even cause the bacteria to die).

 

[beblondie]

The ''bad bacteria" never really dies off,it's the reason you're told to wash your hands after servicing the tank.
theres a multitude of bacteria in an aquraium.Bacteria are very oppurtunisic a
healthy fish has no problems dealing with it.The slimecoat helps to defend against
infection.However a fish with a comprimised imune system ie.stress or open wound
cannot hence the onset of infection-Anne

 

[ShadowBass]

How do you keep it off your dinner?

How many pets do you have? I don't. There's fur here and there, don't eat at my house if you're not used to animal fur lol. I vaccuum and clean constantly but animals always shed, sooooo.

However a fish with a comprimised imune system ie.stress or open wound
cannot hence the onset of infection-Anne

That's why I almost think it has to be viral, though I guess a nasty bacteria could take hold too.
No reason their immune system should have been compromised other than that they were attacked by something really nasty because the tank parameters are what they have always been.
I probably won't know either way because I don't have access to a lab, that makes it frustrating because it's a mystery that will never be solved.
I may ask my friend if his professor might want to take a look at them since he's a professional ichthyologist (I've given him specimens before, he's usually interested in that kinda stuff), the bodies might not be in good enough shape at this point after being frozen to figure out anything though. In any case I'll call him tomorrow and see.