Tigrinus hemrrohages and fin slits

[Wet Whiskers]

I've had my tigs since august, and they have been nothing but healthy growing pigs. Two days ago, I thought the littlest one had gotten beat up. We moved him to a hospital tank with amoxicillin in hopes we had caught it in time. The next morning he was dead. Two days ago, my biggest tig (8") had torn fins and some red spots. Today he has a hemorraged patch on his side.

We are in the middle of a 180ga with 100 ga sump build, as our kids have been growing like the monsters they are, and we are over stocked. Today we measured a very small amount of ammonia in our tank. Usually, everything is at 0 with maybe a trace amount of nitrate.
We have been doing lots of water changes being carefully to have the new water exactly the same (temp, pH, and hardness) before we add it in.

Could a trace amount of ammonia be causing this so quickly? I've never seen a fish die from this level of ammonia, but then again our tanks usually read zero across the board.

 

[LBathory]

im really sorry to hear that. tigs are extreemely sensitive catfish and are unpredictable as well. I would do a big water change stat.

 

[Wet Whiskers]

Been doing large water changes every 12 hours. There is no ammonia in the tank now. There was almost no ammonia to start with.

 

[LBathory]

how is his condition? any better?

 

[Wet Whiskers]

Possibly. He isn't eating, and he normally sucks up red worms. The hemorroaged area does not appear as bad, so I am crossing my fingers.

 

[Freedomradio]

That suck's ! Sorry Hoss... keep us updated and good luck.

 

[Wet Whiskers]

I believe it is hemorragic septicemia. First I have consulted a veterinarian specializing in fish. We are currently are treating with Amoxicillin, a broad spectrum antibiotic. We have ordered Gentamycin from national fish pharmacuticals (awesome stuff, but do your research before you use it. It is serious stuff that if used improperly can cause resistance and horrible consequences.) Gentamycin is a gram negative antibiotic, specifically recommended for this disease. We have two tigs in quarantine one of which, my favorite unfortunately, I think will die no matter what we do at this point. Hopefully, we will save the last one.
Unfortunately, we lost a different species in the same tank today, a whiptail. At this point, I think we'll have to treat the whole tank, killing off the biosystem.
Wish us luck.

 

[Freedomradio]

Good luck for sure... any updates ?

 

[Wet Whiskers]

Well, we lost two out of three. However, I was able to overnight some meds from National Fish Pharmaciticals, and I think we've saved him. It was indeed Hemorrhagic Septicemia, and we are treating with Gentamycin, a gram negative antibiotic which is absorbed through the gills. The redness/ hemorrhaging is reduced, he's eating again, and looking quite normal. Please note: As I said before, please be very careful with medications like this as they are very strong, and do not cover a wide spectrum. So, unless you know it is a gram negative bacteria, go for a broad spectrum.

But, thank God. We're so relieved. Didn't need another $200 loss.