found a dead fish w/hole in stomach

T

trkyhunter91

3yrs and still learning!!!
Apr 18, 2006
55
0
0
47
Ohio
Hi everyone. I have been battling and fungal infection in my 29 gal. tank for months now. It almost goes away and then comes right back except one fish meds havent helped(its gill is swollen and white fungus on one side) then 2 that have mouth fungus( these go away and after done treating comes right back). Theres was only 5 fish in this tank. Tetras and danios. I used Maroxy and a green powder the lfs gave me. I actually thought it finally got rid of the mouth fungus. Now its back after 5 days med free. The one fish that I thought didnt have anything would hang out at the heater and not swim too much ( just thought it was from all the diff. meds I ve tried).
Yesterday I wake up and he's swimming on his side and gasping. Thought maybe where I havent done the water change after using the meds may of done this. So like a idiot I move him to my healthy 10gal tank that has 2 loaches,6 zebra danios,2 black mollies, and a swordtail in it. Next morning it is dead and has a hole from its anus to side of stomach. Looks as if the blood was sucked out of him, and looks as if its insides was gone. ANy Ideas to what this is and what do I do now? Treat the 10 gal and 29gal.
I dont think my 29 gal can handle much more meds.
I have one other fish in the 29 without fungus, but it flashes and swims rapidly just about all day and night up and down the glass. Poor guy is so stressed. I dont have the cash right now and cant find a test kit for everything together in my area. Been looking for several months. The lfs said that the water checks out fine though, but didnt give me the readings. I will take a sample again in a few days and get the numbers.
Just dont want anymore probs in a tank and if that fish had worms or something I didnt know if it stays in the water or the fish.
Thank you Shannon
 
the loaches might have been eating him after he died. It sounds like a wound from post-mortem predation, and not fungus.

From your other post about your snail, you're finding out that not just loaches eat snails. But loaches also eat not just snails.
 
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by the way, I would advise against putting your 4 goldfish in a 10 gal. That's much too small for even 1 goldfish. What most people don't realize is that they are prolific waste machines that make not just a lot of poop, but also toxic ammonia. I've seen folks on this forum recommending AT LEAST 15 gal per goldfish, much more, of course, if they are large. They can get big, 8" for fancies, 12"+ for long-bodied, and live for decades.
 
This hole is like a tunnel though. Ive had lots of dead fish, but none like this. It was so weird looking and kinda made me sick. It wasnt even jagged around the edges of the hole so make it look like something eating at it. I thought maybe they may have done that, but the tunnel looking hole threw me off. Thanks for the help though. This is the first fish to die around the loaches so was all new to me. YUCK !!! lol Shannon
 
First off, you need to get a test kit for ammonia, nitrite (and nitrate if possible) ASAP. All the meds used in the tank may have started a mini-cycle (medications can destroy good bacteria) and the gasping and flashing may be due to toxic conditions in the tank. You can buy separate ammonia and nitrite tests for now, and later on you can purchase a master test kit online if you need to.

What's your water change schedule? Perhaps it's time to step up the water changes to flush all that old medication out of the tanks, so you can get to the bottom of what's causing this chronic problem.
 
also warning you: you may now have contaminated your healthy tank with fungus by introducing the sick fish.

yes, a test kit is essential. I made that same mistake, too, the first time I treated for an illness. I used medication and it screwed up my cycle. It's a vicious circle, poor water quality induces illness, medicate for illness, medication causes poor water quality.

the best "cure" for bad water is frequent water changes. so be prepared. when you have sick fish, it may even be necessary to change water DAILY, depending on your stocking level in the tank.
 
mouth fungus is almost always columnaris--a bacteria. Try maracyn/maracyn 2 in a combined treatment approach. Frequently works.

White outlining of scales and fins is also a symptom. Bacteria will attack, live and prosper in gill membranes.

Depending upon the strain of Columnaris it may be that a stronger med is required. A chlortetracychline should do the trick for you if the Mardel products mentioned above do not work.

Turn the heat down to 76-77. Not higher. Columnaris grows much more rapidly above the 77 F limit. It will not slow down growth if you dialed it back to 68 F. Higher temp simply accelerates reproduction.

Concurrent with meds will be water changes. That will act to reduce the bacteria population the meds are attacking.

With the water changes do thorough gravel vacs to eliminate detrius from substrate. Feed the minimum possible amount. Columnaris feeds on decaying organic matter (fish food) so you need to eliminate it.

Salt to remedy some of the osmoregulatory problems that the fish will be suffering through. Tablespoon per 5 gallons should do the trick.

Sounds like another one of your fish likes to nibble on floaters when they happen.

What are you ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph and temp. How often do you change water, vac substrate and clean filters? how much water do you change when you do a pwc? If it is indeed columnaris those are questions you should think about (or post answers here) because that particular bacteria flourishes in suboptimal water conditions. Also, it flourishes when the immune response by the fish is compromised by stress (overstocking, stocking conflicts, handling, transporting.....)

Not an absolute that it is columnaris--just a guess based on the quick description you provided.
 
trkyhunter91 said:
This hole is like a tunnel though. Ive had lots of dead fish, but none like this. It was so weird looking and kinda made me sick. It wasnt even jagged around the edges of the hole so make it look like something eating at it. I thought maybe they may have done that, but the tunnel looking hole threw me off. Thanks for the help though. This is the first fish to die around the loaches so was all new to me. YUCK !!! lol Shannon
Click to expand...
Yeah, scavengers can do some disgusting things. Deep sea hagfish will tunnel into dead bodies until the whole corpse is just a bag of skin, filled with writhing slimy hagfishes. Sorry for the graphic description, but it's nature. Since loaches are elongate like hagfish, it's very possible that they do the same kind of thing.

A side note, natural scavengers may also be behind the so-called "alien mutilations" on livestock carcasses. Surgical-looking incisions can be made by flies and other insects eating the dead flesh around wounds.

Sorry, graphic, but I'm a biologist :devil:
Gore is my bread and butter :D
 
I usually do a 30% water change/vac every week, but with the maroxy it was a 5 day treatment and the green powder stuff was a 3. So its been at least 8 days since I ve done a change. I did put the filter back in 2 days ago. Planning on changing the water tonight after my 4yr old goes to sleep ( much easier then ) :clap: I will go tomm. Again and try to find a test kit or have them test the water.
I was already informed also about the superman goldfish that just wouldnt die. LOL We didnt think that they would survive long after the fair. Boy was we wrong. I guess they are stuck in my 55gal. So sad to have so few fish in that tank. Oh well , my little girl loves them and they are gonna be here a while I can tell. Thanks everyone. SHannon
 
Try for the test kits. If you're in a mini-cycle, you'll be needing to check the water every day while doing water changes. If this is impossible, then ask the LFS for the EXACT numbers for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and maybe PH, and then post here. Don't let them give you a "your water's fine" answer, as that's really not much help for diagnosing problems.
 
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