I need some help determining the nature of an unknown affliction troubling a few of my diamond tetras. Visible symptoms: 1) a darkening around the mouth -- looks black most of the time, but when the fish's colors are faded (for instance, if I turn on the lights in the middle of the night while they're asleep) it looks red and rather bloody, and 2) brownish-black substance "oozing" from the base of their pectoral fins. I have several pictures. One of the fish's infection has become especially advanced and he shows advanced examples of both symptoms, the other two fish each show one symptom but not the other, to a lesser degree. Thusly it seems that while they may be connected, one does not cause the other (i.e., parasitic infection of the fin -> secondary bacterial infection of the mouth). This does not necessarily rule out the possibility of this being 2 separate infections, however.
Clear side-view of the affected mouth and pectoral fin.
Different angle, provides slightly better view of affected fin.
Head on view. You can see that his lips are "chipped" in the middle. Part of the necrotic flesh has fallen away.
No flash (sorry). A bit darker, but all three fish are visible. Female at the bottom right has infected lips. Male at bottom left has one slightly infected fin (not the side facing camera).
Worst photo of the bunch, but I see no compelling reason not to include it.
Stocking parameters: 30 gallon with 11 bloodfin tetras, 5 bleeding heart tetras, 6 penguinfish, and 7 diamond tetras (5 purchased and 2 "survivor fry")
The tank has been set up since August, and no new fish have been introduced since at least february/march (the penguins). No other fish show any symptoms of anything whatsoever. I do not feed live food; only flake, pellet, freeze-dried brine shrimp, and occasionally minced peas.
If I had to guess the origin of the disease, I would say it is bacterial and resulted from me not cleaning the filter for a very long period -- it's an Aquaclear 110 that I'm planning to use for the 125 gallon tank I bought but have yet to set up, and is impossible to get off the back of the 30 gallon without spilling a ton of water because it is in the bottom of a 2-tank stand. Excuses, excuses, I know. I have since cleaned the filter of debris, and while it wasn't a total sludge-fest, it was certainly not pretty to look at. I'm guessing the build-up of debris served as a breeding ground for whatever is afflicting my diamonds.
I recently moved the diamonds out of the 30 gallon to a cycled 10 gallon (and moved the 10 gallon's inhabitants into some of my 20 gallons) after multiple failed attempts at treatment, fearing it may be untreatable and will spread to other inhabitants.
Water parameters for the 30 and 10 are, and have been, mostly the same.
Ph: 7.5, Ammonia: 0, NitrIte: 0, NitrAte(30g): 5-10, NitrAte(10g): 0-5
Despite not cleaning the filter for such a long time, I keep up with regular water changes (25-30%) every week or so, two weeks at the longest. In between my barrage of anti-everything chemical treatments, I have performed many more, some of them rather large (50%).
I use AmQuel to remove chlorine only when doing large water changes. For 25% changes I generally use untreated tap, though I changed that policy when I did several changes 2 days apart (see below).
My list of "anti-everything" treatments
To begin with, these were all done in the 30 gallon tank, to treat the obvious symptoms of the (at that time) 1 clearly infected diamond tetra and hopefully wipe out any possible trace in the others.
Started with a 6 day treatment of Jungle Parasite Clear (Praziquantel, Metronidazole, acriflavin, diflubenzuron). I started with anti-parasitic simply because the "ooze" from the base of their fins seemed more likely to be parasitic than bacterial in nature (in my opinion). 25% water changes done every two days, between doses and at the end. No effect.
Moved on to an 8 day treatment Jungle Fungus Clear (Nitrofurazone, Furazolidine, Potassium Dichromate). 33% water changes done every 4 days, between doses. No effect. 50% change at the end.
Throughout these 14 days, I also treated with MelaFix and PimaFix.
Began a 6 day treatment of Maracyn Plus (Sulfadimidine and Trimethoprin) in conjunction with CopperSafe (Copper Sulfate). No effect. Began to notice symptoms in the other 2 diamonds, and then moved all 3 into the 10 gallon to stem possible further contamination, and to get them away from any possible remaining source of it in the tank. I also moved the other 4 diamond tetras into one of my 20g tanks for the same reason, since this disease seems to affect diamond tetras much easier than any of the other species in the tank.
They are now very unhappily cooped up in there, mostly motionless, punctuated by the pursuit of food when it is added or the healthier male chasing the others out of his territory (which consists of roughly 90% of the tank). Prior to this they had always seemed their usual lively selves, even the most grievously affected of the bunch, so perhaps it looks worse than it feels. I am currently trying to feed them Gel-tek Neomycin, but they don't care for it at all so I have been soaking their flakes in it, which I fear may diminish its effectiveness. I may also attempt to add Kanamycin to their food, but I have very, very little on hand and no one sells it around here.
Finally, at one point I attempted a manual removal of the jelly-like stuff at the base of the fin. It simply squished between the tweezers, so while it may be a colony of tiny parasites or something else, it is certainly not one large parasite or leech. I also tried a few drops of very concentrated (aquarium)salt-water at the fin, hoping to destroy any beasties living there. Also had no effect beyond stressing the fish out.
Anyway, thanks for reading all that, and I hope someone can offer some sort of help or insight. I've been re-reading every source of information on tropical fish diseases to isolate the cause and cure, but have come up empty-handed. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be viral or microsporidial, or they're pretty much done for (though at this point, I'm at loss for what else it could be). If I neglected any pertinent information, please ask.
Clear side-view of the affected mouth and pectoral fin.
Different angle, provides slightly better view of affected fin.
Head on view. You can see that his lips are "chipped" in the middle. Part of the necrotic flesh has fallen away.
No flash (sorry). A bit darker, but all three fish are visible. Female at the bottom right has infected lips. Male at bottom left has one slightly infected fin (not the side facing camera).
Worst photo of the bunch, but I see no compelling reason not to include it.
Stocking parameters: 30 gallon with 11 bloodfin tetras, 5 bleeding heart tetras, 6 penguinfish, and 7 diamond tetras (5 purchased and 2 "survivor fry")
The tank has been set up since August, and no new fish have been introduced since at least february/march (the penguins). No other fish show any symptoms of anything whatsoever. I do not feed live food; only flake, pellet, freeze-dried brine shrimp, and occasionally minced peas.
If I had to guess the origin of the disease, I would say it is bacterial and resulted from me not cleaning the filter for a very long period -- it's an Aquaclear 110 that I'm planning to use for the 125 gallon tank I bought but have yet to set up, and is impossible to get off the back of the 30 gallon without spilling a ton of water because it is in the bottom of a 2-tank stand. Excuses, excuses, I know. I have since cleaned the filter of debris, and while it wasn't a total sludge-fest, it was certainly not pretty to look at. I'm guessing the build-up of debris served as a breeding ground for whatever is afflicting my diamonds.
I recently moved the diamonds out of the 30 gallon to a cycled 10 gallon (and moved the 10 gallon's inhabitants into some of my 20 gallons) after multiple failed attempts at treatment, fearing it may be untreatable and will spread to other inhabitants.
Water parameters for the 30 and 10 are, and have been, mostly the same.
Ph: 7.5, Ammonia: 0, NitrIte: 0, NitrAte(30g): 5-10, NitrAte(10g): 0-5
Despite not cleaning the filter for such a long time, I keep up with regular water changes (25-30%) every week or so, two weeks at the longest. In between my barrage of anti-everything chemical treatments, I have performed many more, some of them rather large (50%).
I use AmQuel to remove chlorine only when doing large water changes. For 25% changes I generally use untreated tap, though I changed that policy when I did several changes 2 days apart (see below).
My list of "anti-everything" treatments
To begin with, these were all done in the 30 gallon tank, to treat the obvious symptoms of the (at that time) 1 clearly infected diamond tetra and hopefully wipe out any possible trace in the others.
Started with a 6 day treatment of Jungle Parasite Clear (Praziquantel, Metronidazole, acriflavin, diflubenzuron). I started with anti-parasitic simply because the "ooze" from the base of their fins seemed more likely to be parasitic than bacterial in nature (in my opinion). 25% water changes done every two days, between doses and at the end. No effect.
Moved on to an 8 day treatment Jungle Fungus Clear (Nitrofurazone, Furazolidine, Potassium Dichromate). 33% water changes done every 4 days, between doses. No effect. 50% change at the end.
Throughout these 14 days, I also treated with MelaFix and PimaFix.
Began a 6 day treatment of Maracyn Plus (Sulfadimidine and Trimethoprin) in conjunction with CopperSafe (Copper Sulfate). No effect. Began to notice symptoms in the other 2 diamonds, and then moved all 3 into the 10 gallon to stem possible further contamination, and to get them away from any possible remaining source of it in the tank. I also moved the other 4 diamond tetras into one of my 20g tanks for the same reason, since this disease seems to affect diamond tetras much easier than any of the other species in the tank.
They are now very unhappily cooped up in there, mostly motionless, punctuated by the pursuit of food when it is added or the healthier male chasing the others out of his territory (which consists of roughly 90% of the tank). Prior to this they had always seemed their usual lively selves, even the most grievously affected of the bunch, so perhaps it looks worse than it feels. I am currently trying to feed them Gel-tek Neomycin, but they don't care for it at all so I have been soaking their flakes in it, which I fear may diminish its effectiveness. I may also attempt to add Kanamycin to their food, but I have very, very little on hand and no one sells it around here.
Finally, at one point I attempted a manual removal of the jelly-like stuff at the base of the fin. It simply squished between the tweezers, so while it may be a colony of tiny parasites or something else, it is certainly not one large parasite or leech. I also tried a few drops of very concentrated (aquarium)salt-water at the fin, hoping to destroy any beasties living there. Also had no effect beyond stressing the fish out.
Anyway, thanks for reading all that, and I hope someone can offer some sort of help or insight. I've been re-reading every source of information on tropical fish diseases to isolate the cause and cure, but have come up empty-handed. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be viral or microsporidial, or they're pretty much done for (though at this point, I'm at loss for what else it could be). If I neglected any pertinent information, please ask.
