Help diagnosing...

[Spikor]

OK, my dwarf got WORSE FAST!

I have some fotos to show the disease a bit better. Anyone know what this is? Hit gills are all red and bloody and the marks that were all white on his sides are now red too. the base of his feelers are also bloody...

I need help. Is he a lost cause or should I put him down? I have him in his own tank now but the tank was set up in a rush and i don't know how good the water is. also and most importantly! are my other fish likely to be sick now too?



i also noticed that the fins on his sides are going constantly very rapidly. like a hummingbird.

he showed no behavioral problems until just today. he wasn't looking for food when i fed them worms tonight and he was just generally sluggish and hiding more than normal.

 

[pl*co]

It is important to know what the water conditions are. You may want to put an air stone in the tank to help the fish breathe in the meantime and keep the light off to lower the stress as well. He does not appear to be ready for putting down just yet though... again, from what I can tell in the pics.

Edited:
You got a lot of good advice in this thread when you first posted...
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46346

All of the advice there should be followed, plus add an airstone.
Quarantine
Stress coat
Bacterial meds - Maracyn 2 or Maracyn Plus, but I highly recommend Melafix
Salt
Airstone

 

[Holly9937]

wow, he looks pretty bad... Can you get him into the QT tank? and are there other fish that still might be beating him up. This may be a dumb idea, but could it be hemmoraging (sp?) or having internal bleeding if he got beat up bad enough? Sorry, I hope he pulls through

 

[Spikor]

he is in the QT tank now though that tank may not be an ideal place for him...it is obviously better for the rest of the fish to have him away. i was in the process of taking a dirty tank and cleaning it out to make it a hospital tank. i didn't have a chance to test water, but i am doing all of that today for all of my tanks so i will know how it is later.

my biggest concern is for the rest of my fish. and almost equally concerned for my sick little buddy. he has had a very rough time since he's been in my possesion. i feel bad for him.

the tank he came out of had these #'s

It is a fairly heavily planted tank (29 Gal, 65watts with yeast CO2 @48ppm*)
PH 6.4
Ammonia 0ppg
Nitrite 0ppg
Nitrate 10ppg
KH 4dKH
GH 10dKH

*i know that is too high, i need to bring up the PH to bring down the CO2 a bit...6.7PH would make it 24ppm

Hospital Tank #s. He looks better after an overnight in his own tank, but not good at all. his waste seems to be very thin and stringy. well, i think it was waste, it was caught up in his 'feelers'. it could have been some sort of fungus i suppose too, but i think it was waste.

PH 7.0-7.2
Ammonia 0 ppg
Nitrite 0 ppg
Nitrate 80-160 ppg (this was pretty darn red)

 

[Spikor]

wow, he looks pretty bad... Can you get him into the QT tank? and are there other fish that still might be beating him up. This may be a dumb idea, but could it be hemmoraging (sp?) or having internal bleeding if he got beat up bad enough? Sorry, I hope he pulls through

I don't think he's getting beat up really anymore. And he has always held his own with the only fish that would even care to bother him, the pearl gourami. in fact i see him chase the pearl more often then the pearl chases him around. that means maybe once or twice a week so it isn't like they are fighting all the time. and it looks like the 'wounds' he has now are results of infections on old wounds...or worse some other sort of infection. i think this guy is in serious trouble. he has lost his appetite now and his blue color has gone away. poor guy.

 

[pl*co]

Yah, that nitrate is pretty high. How can that be? Dang, the tank he came out of looked pretty good. The pH wasn't all that low, but is better now.

Don't forget to get him some Melafix to help him heal up and put an air stone in the QT to take the stress off him too.

 

[Spikor]

i have been dousing him with melafix but i'll need to get him airstone. how does the nitrate get that high? what would cause that? will it come back down on its own with more nitrifying bacteria growth?

 

[katfood]

Have you used biospira recently? That could cause those funky levels. Just a guess.

 

[pl*co]

If you don't have an airstone, but have a pump and some air line, that will do. As for the high nitrates, what was the source of the water in the QT tank?

 

[Spikor]

well i have a pump for another tank so i may do a swap but i think i'll get an airstone anyway. his gulping has slowed down today so i think that is good. the water with the high nitrates is mostly from my tap. there is a little bit of water from the original owner of the tank. but i've done a few 50%+ water changes so it is mostly my water. what causes high nitrates? should i use a nitrate reducer? i think having the levels that high will cause even more stress for him. i know algae reducers are essentially nitrate reducers. or should i just do a massive water change? like 50% back to back? will this stress the fish having a drastic jump in nitrates?