Help with diagnosis please...

[Lupin]

This is oddly familiar to me. Looks like costia. Does the fish scratch heavily?

Costia (Ichthyobodo necatrix)
Synonyms:
The name was formerly Costia necatrix, however the name Costia is more familiar and nevertheless still use until today.

Also called "Blue Slime Disease" in reference to heavy secretion of mucous membrane.

Symptoms:
Gray or milky areas of skin, clamped and frayed fins, frequent flashing movements

Causes:
This is caused by external flagellates which are secondary parasites that will gradually appear if the fish succumbs to stress or severely weakened.

Treatment:
Hydrogen peroxide, Formalin, Copper Sulfate, Acriflavine, Sera Costapur, Sera Ectopur

 

[mikeb210]

This is oddly familiar to me. Looks like costia. Does the fish scratch heavily?

They actually do not move much at all. I reached in and lifted one of them out without a fight, if that tells you anything. I gave each fish a Methylene blue dip today to try and kill whatever it was, and I am slowly increasing the tank to around 1tbsp per 5 gallon salt as well. They are still looking quite awful. Every bluegill looks dead, with the exception that they are still alive. Each one has a white/clouded eye and their fins are tattered and look to be dissolving slowly into a white mush. The sunfish look fine, but they are hanging out on the bottom not moving much and their tail fin is clamped. Not sure if that's a proper description, but they aren't using it at all. Kinda remind me of puffers and the way they use their tails. Their behavior is definitely off, but I'm not sure if its just from the move or if they are not well.

 

[mikeb210]

Sorry, I'm gonna keep this open. The fish are still looking awful, one of the sunfish is getting a little bit of cloudiness in the eyes too. The rest look like zombies. At what point do you give up and euthanize the fish? I'm not sure if they can hold out and there is no point in pushing it if they are beyond recovery.

 

[coach_z]

bump in hopes that someone can help you out! good luck!

 

[mikeb210]

bump in hopes that someone can help you out! good luck!

I appreciate it.

 

[mikeb210]

BUMP

 

[froglover007]

It loks a little like some sort of fungus but I have no clue. bump

 

[Lupin]

I don't have much experience with native fish which is why I felt lost here but as far as I am concerned, that isn't saprolegnia to me. I'm still betting on costia. I'm not a fan of trying one med after another but if it were me, I'd just treat the whole tank with formalin or acriflavine except the sunfish if the sunfish remained unaffected.

 

[mel_20_20]

I agree it looks like costia... they are pitiful looking, really. I'm so sorry for your difficulties. If treatment doesn't see results soon I'd consider euthanasia.

 

[mikeb210]

I put them down on Monday. They weren't getting better. I kept the three green sunfish, and they are actually doing really well. Two of them were completely unaffected, and one (who actually seems to be the liveliest) had a minor bit of fin rot on the tail, which basically shortened his tail by about 25%. They are doing well, and started taking to krill yesterday. I don't really know how to go about getting them on pellets but I'd like to get them on something balanced like massivore or other predator pellets. I brought the salt levels up in the tank and hopefully that will keep the immune systems working overtime to beat the bacterfungavirus.