Could you please help me diagnose the disease that my fish have?

J

Jeremy S

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Jun 26, 2002
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About 10 days ago my largest guinea rainbow fish started breathing very rapidly and after about two days he stopped eating. A day before he stopped eating I started doing a 25% water change every day while feeding the other fish garlic soaked food to try to prevent the disease from spreading.

That seemed to work until this morning when my favorite fish, the siamese algae eater, also started to breathe rapidly. He takes about 168 breathes per minute. Both of the sick fish show no other signs of disease except the rapid breathing and refusing food. What type of disease do you thing this could be and what would be the best way to treat it? Thanks.
 
I would check your ammonia and nitrite right off, it sounds like they are having difficulty breathing due to one or the other.

Are they gasping at the top or just gasping?
 
yeah if they are gasping it could mean that there isnt enough dissolved oxygen in the water. Try increasing your filter flow if possible or adding an airstone to help airate the water and see if that helps.
 
Heavy breathing

If the ammonia and Nitrites are at zero and the nitrates are at 1ppm. I would think that you can rule them out.

Have you checked for flukes?

Rapid breathing also happens on the later stages of an interal bacterial infection.

I would check for flukes first.
Livebearer is a great treatment for flukes. As is Clout.

If there is nothing visible and you think that it may be bacterial.
Super Sulfa is the easiest to use. It is absorbing so the fish will heal just by resting in the water.
 
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