Disease Question
- Thread starter Statman
- Start date
That's interesting, you're seeing whitish patches with no redness at the edges, doesn't look like a wound, not fuzzy/cotton wool like, is this right?
Hmm... I have Untegasser's Handbook of Fish Disease, here's what I found:
(Quoting Dieter Untergasser's Handbook of Fish Diseases)
"Clearly dilineated, whitish, translucent areas measuring 1 - 3mm appear on the skin, often visible only from a head-on view - your fish are affected by the protozoan ciliate Chilodonella.
This large heart-shaped organism parasities skin and gills. The fish rub themselves against objects and become lethargic. When the gills are involved, they hang just under the surface and gasp for air. The area from back of the head to the dorsal fins seems to be a preferred site. First, 0.5-1mm round or elliptical spots on the skin become cloudy. The skin thickens at these well-defined areas and the colour fades to white. Finally it begins to disintegrate. Small, young, and weak fish can become affected uniformly over the whole body, in which case they die. The gills sometimes are destroyed as far back as the solid cartilage. In stronger, more resistant fish, only white, slimy areas form on the skin and enlarge only very little over the course of several days [...] Prevention consists of clean food and not too many fish in the tank. In mild cases, a salt bath (1g:12.5L of water) suffice; greater effect is provided by Acriflavin, Methelyne Blue and Malachite green oxalate."
(End quote)
So... if this sounds like what's going on, it's parasitic, not bacterial, and erythromycin won't help. I would try a salt bath since it sounds like he's not too badly affected. Daily water changes (replenish salt after each) and a nice, quiet environment with top-quality food should really help as well.
Hmm... I have Untegasser's Handbook of Fish Disease, here's what I found:
(Quoting Dieter Untergasser's Handbook of Fish Diseases)
"Clearly dilineated, whitish, translucent areas measuring 1 - 3mm appear on the skin, often visible only from a head-on view - your fish are affected by the protozoan ciliate Chilodonella.
This large heart-shaped organism parasities skin and gills. The fish rub themselves against objects and become lethargic. When the gills are involved, they hang just under the surface and gasp for air. The area from back of the head to the dorsal fins seems to be a preferred site. First, 0.5-1mm round or elliptical spots on the skin become cloudy. The skin thickens at these well-defined areas and the colour fades to white. Finally it begins to disintegrate. Small, young, and weak fish can become affected uniformly over the whole body, in which case they die. The gills sometimes are destroyed as far back as the solid cartilage. In stronger, more resistant fish, only white, slimy areas form on the skin and enlarge only very little over the course of several days [...] Prevention consists of clean food and not too many fish in the tank. In mild cases, a salt bath (1g:12.5L of water) suffice; greater effect is provided by Acriflavin, Methelyne Blue and Malachite green oxalate."
(End quote)
So... if this sounds like what's going on, it's parasitic, not bacterial, and erythromycin won't help. I would try a salt bath since it sounds like he's not too badly affected. Daily water changes (replenish salt after each) and a nice, quiet environment with top-quality food should really help as well.
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Yay! I'm so glad we've found out what's wrong 
All it means is to add salt to the water - I'd do this gradually over a day or two and watch for any signs of stress (heavy breathing, altered behaviour). If your pleco shows signs of being stressed, change some of the water to reduce the salt concentration and keep it at a level he can tolerate.
The book said to use 1gram of salt to 12.5L of water so... let's see... I measured out some salt on my kitchen scale and found that (roughly) 1 teaspoon of salt = 5g. 12.5L is just over 3 gallons, so if I did this right, the ratio the book gives is about 1 teaspoon of salt to every 3 gallons.
When treating for ich or other diseases, many people use up to 1 teaspoon per gallon, so one teaspoon per three gallons should be fine.
Make sure you dissolve the salt before adding it to the tank, and I'd add it in about four doses over 24-48 hours to give the fish some time to adjust to the salinity.
Keep us posted on how he's doing, I hope this helps.
All it means is to add salt to the water - I'd do this gradually over a day or two and watch for any signs of stress (heavy breathing, altered behaviour). If your pleco shows signs of being stressed, change some of the water to reduce the salt concentration and keep it at a level he can tolerate.
The book said to use 1gram of salt to 12.5L of water so... let's see... I measured out some salt on my kitchen scale and found that (roughly) 1 teaspoon of salt = 5g. 12.5L is just over 3 gallons, so if I did this right, the ratio the book gives is about 1 teaspoon of salt to every 3 gallons.
When treating for ich or other diseases, many people use up to 1 teaspoon per gallon, so one teaspoon per three gallons should be fine.
Make sure you dissolve the salt before adding it to the tank, and I'd add it in about four doses over 24-48 hours to give the fish some time to adjust to the salinity.
Keep us posted on how he's doing, I hope this helps.
you can, or what I did is go to the grocery store and by a box of "canning and pickling salt" its only ingredient in NaCl (sodium clorite) (salt) I did this instead of table salt to avoid the anti-clumping agents in normal salt. Rock salt is the same thing, but its a pain because its in huge chunks...
I've heard of people using table salt without having any problems, but if your skeptical about that then use aquarium salt. Also remember to use a flat teaspoon of salt.
