A salt dip for my danio...

About a month ago I picked up 5 longfin leopard danios from my LFS, 2 males and 3 females. One male was much smaller than the rest, but I figured he might still be young. Over the last month, his stomach has continued to shrink though his colors have stayed nice.

He pretty much hangs out by himself, towards the top of the tank. He doesn't eat much, and rarely eats with the others. At first I just thought he was a little special or frazzled from the move. I brought 4 other danios (ugly pink glo fish longfins- GMO is not my thing) back to the LFS to get some credit for my new swordtails. After that, he actually got more active and started feeding with the other danios for a few days.

The last day or two, he's looking to be in worse shape. I started reading about similar symptoms, and suspect an internal parasite.

Here he is in a quick salt dip (15 minutes left), on recommendation from the LFS. I was going to get some more serious meds, but I am hella broke and LFS Guy suggested I start with this (he gave me a little salt to try out).

Fingers crossed... I have a love/hate relationship with danios, but not so much I want them dead. :sick:

If anyone has any suggested remedies or even ideas about the specific illness, I'd love to hear them.

Here's my info:

24g FW 4 month old tank, 74F
Penguin 200b, Hagen Mini Elite (I rinse the sponges and change out filter floss every 2 weeks), DIY CO2
API Master Kit: 7.4pH/0-0-0 Ammonia-Nitrite-Nitrate

9 danios, 3 swordtails, 2 oto's, 1 ramshorn
ludwigia, anubias, chainswords, microsword grass, mosses, stupid stupid BBA

*I haven't quarantined any fish ever. I do only buy from 2 trustworthy spots, don't mix water, and do try to be mindful about the conditions in the shop and which particular fish I buy, FWIW.
*The tank gets some natural sunlight.
*Last water change was 5 gallons on Saturday, my weekly routine. I treat with Prime and add Flourish. I don't vacuum. *Anywhere. =/
*I feed the fish TetraMin, TetraColor, freeze dried brine shrimp, Hikari algae wafers, zuccini, frozen bloodworms 2x daily (with the flakes in heaviest rotation, everything else is every few days). Besides the veg/algae I feed what they can eat in 2 minutes.
*All my other little friends are looking fine. The danios all have a couple of graze marks for battle scars, but they are very faint and tiny).

All I've done so far for the skinny one was the salt bath (1tsp to 4 cups of aerated tank water) today for 30 minutes.

Here's a video of him after I put him back in the tank:
[video=youtube;zbSPQ-Odqqg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbSPQ-Odqqg[/video]

Thanks everyone!

H2Ogal said:

Poor thing. He's obviously not swimming/eating well, but I don't know why. (I'm not very good at diagnosis.) Maybe he's weak from not eating/internal parasites, or it could be that he's always had a swimming disorder that keeps him from competing successfully for food? Salt works for some external parasites, of course, but if it's an internal parasite, I think a QT tank with medicated food and/or a medication that specifically treats internal parasites, might be the best option. Good luck!

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Thanks H20Gal! I wonder about the swimming disorder... he does swim quite normally from time to time. When it comes to feeding, he just hangs out in his corner til the madness dies down, then he gets a little more active and nibbles at any stray flakes nearby. Unfortunately, a QT tank is not in my budget right now... it will definitely be my next major fish purchase though.

OrionGirl said:

Agreed. A SW dip won't have any impact on an internal parasite, but will further stress the fish. A medicated food would be best. I'd give it to all of them, since the whole tank has been exposed.

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And thank you, OrionGirl. I knew it was intended for external parasites, but I also read in a few articles that it can help make them poop and flush their insides a little, too. I figured it'd be worth a shot. I hate to think I could be stressing him in the process, and will keep looking for signs of this as I treat him.

Do either of you have recommendations for specific medicated food products? I just went by my LFS, and the other guy who works there was more of the mindset that $10 of medication wasn't worth a $1 fish... *sigh.* Call me crazy... but I get attached.

Nonetheless, they didn't have any medicated food, and the only treatment they have that says it works internally also is API General Cure and Fluke Tabs. Any thoughts on either of these? I am thinking I'll just have to order from Amazon.

In the meantime, my new male swordtail has a bump on his chin that I'm pretty sure wasn't there when I got him. It's not discolored or anything... and I might just be overreacting at this point:

It looks like the fight is ending...

Sad.... he's looking even worse now... slowly sank to the bottom, got nipped by one of his brethren and is now struggling at the surface. He did show a little interest in food though. I'm gonna get some ice water ready for him just in case.

:shakehead:

(I put him back in his aerated observation container for now. He's laying on his side at the bottom breathing faintly and looking around a bit.)

Still hoping for some food recommendations for the other guys... all I can seem to find is the Jungle stuff online, and a lot of people have a hard time getting their fish to eat the stuff. Then there's the NLS Thera stuff, but I'm not sure if it's as comprehensive as the Jungle Parasite and Jungle Bacteria..

silentcircuit said:

Get the API stuff. It's got Praziguantel (probably spelled wrong) and something else I can't recall. Dose as recommended -- treat them all, as if one has them it's likely they all do, and this isn't particularly nasty stuff, mostly just helps them pass worms. Worth a try.

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Will do first thing tomorrow, thanks. I'm ordering the Jungle stuff and the NLS stuff for later, too. I figure it can't hurt to have... my cc bill on the other hand...:silly:

He's in a bucket of mostly fresh, treated water... about 2.5 gallons with 1.5 tsps aquarium salt in it, now. Alternating between swimming around and crashed out on the bottom every few minutes...

RIP "Lone Wolf"

Found dead in the bucket this morning... the icing on the turd of my day.

In the meantime, I can't tell if it's paranoia but the bump on my swordtail's chin is still visible, and one of my otos has been much less active than usual in the last 48 hours, so in with the General Cure. I went slightly under dosage, 20 gallons worth for a 24g tank, preceded by a 25% water change. This is what API General Cure looks like when I first added it... kinda freaky:


I guess I assumed it would dissolve instantaneously.



Lil' Buddy in a snowglobe.

The saga continues...

Forum Moderators: would it be possible to alter the title of the original post to: "3 Fish, 3 Symptoms, Please Advise"?
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So today...

Mr. Neon Swordtail still has his strange bump on one side of his chin.

One of my female leopard danios has assumed the Lone Wolf's demeanor: slightly listless and hovering in the same spot beneath the filter output.

I found one of my otos, Buddy, laying on his side breathing kind of fast with a large grey patch and overall looking faded. He's been quite still for the last few days. I never treated the whole aquarium with salt, so I don't think it's that.

I'm currently treating the tank with API General Cure, second dose is scheduled for tomorrow night. Really sad about this guy, my otos are my favorites.



Is there any hope?