Hemorrhagic septicemia?

[htinkle]

it is possible to that the immune system of this particular fish does not have the anti bodies to fight .

Or maybe she's a carrier with a very strong immune system and won't let the HS beat her. As usual the redness disappeared within 24 hours. She even spawned a few weeks ago.

I'm waiting for the lfs to get some meds in as they only had this multi-cure stuff I'm not sure about. In the meantime I'm doing 25% water changes a day and have added a bubbler to increase O2 levels.

It's a shame I didn't know about HS when the fish were purchased. When we noticed the red mark on her I was sure it was a slight bruising from being netted badly. At least I know what to look for now.

 

[kj5kb]

I've had good luck with triple sulfa for HS in platys, with no apparent effect on Ramshorn or malaysian trumpet snails.

 

[htinkle]

Ok great. I have ramshorns and MTS as well. Luckily Trisulfa is what the lfs is getting in.

 

[htinkle]

Any idea how long it should take for the disease to clear up? I just realized the Tri-Sulfa tablets we get here in Australia have different ingredients to the ones I've seen on US websites. The directions say to treat once and repeat in 3 days if necessary. I did the first dose over 48 hours ago and tonight the female cory has a new, small red spot on her side. I think I'll do a second dose tomorrow. But if that doesn't work it looks like tetracycline will have to be tried. I really hope this is bacterial HS.

Is there anyone else that has battled with HS before, and found it can come and go without the fish ever looking sick?

 

[leighasnana]

I've only had a guppy with this before. It was bought for me and I noticed the red streaking as soon as it went into the tank, it was dead the next day. I have no idea how long it had suffered with the disease in the store.

If this is bacterial I'd have the tank at room temp. You don't mention the temp. of your tank but I do know that bacteria will multiply quicker in warm water. Sorry I couldn't help more. Good luck.

 

[htinkle]

So this is strange then. Every post I've found on the net about HS, either the fish died in days or got better with treatment. I've had the cory's for months now. Only the one female has shown these symptoms. And it has come and gone the whole time. I never did anything till now because I thought she was injuring herself somehow and it clears up. I'm still not convinced it's HS because shouldn't she be dead by now or at least passed it on to the others? I just don't understand. And the tri-sulfa seems to be doing nothing. I've always been told it's not wise to medicate without knowing what you're treating. She just doesn't look or seem sick in any way apart from the red spots. She's as active as the other cory's. She eats well. Has laid eggs. No other fish are sick.

I will re-dose the tri-sulfa and if it does nothing, well, what do I do? Try a different drug even though this may not be HS? Do nothing? Geez. I really don't want to be responsible for breeding superbugs.

Edit: I still need to know how long this should take to clear up so I know if the treatment is working or not. I'm in the dark here guys.

 

[htinkle]

Last night - exactly 3 days after first treatment - I checked water parameters. No ammonia or nitrite but nitrate had snuck up to 20 ppm. Did a 50% water change. The directions say in severe infestation the dose can be doubled. I took middle ground and added 1.5x the normal dose. No snails or fish dead this morning.

However the cory still has a bit of the red mark from a couple of days ago. She's never taken this long to heal before.

 

[Lupin]

However the cory still has a bit of the red mark from a couple of days ago. She's never taken this long to heal before.

You're telling me it's disappearing?:grinyes:

 

[htinkle]

Not sure if that's a question Lupin. But I'll explain what has been happening as best I can.

When I purchased the cory's, this female had a red streak (fairly small) on it's side. I thought it was bruising from being caught badly. And I thought if the red was there tomorrow I'd return her. But the next day it was gone. So I guessed my "diagnosis" was correct.

But every few days or so, this one cory - and only this one - ends up with a new reddish area somewhere. It's usually on her side somewhere like in the photo. But usually within 24 hours it disappears. Then a new one appears. And on, and on....I never knew what HS was until last week. I was convinced either it was injuries from a sharp rock sand etc, mating behavior or something. And because it heals quickly, doesn't leave permanent marks, she has never been off her food or looked sick, does not sulk in the corner, still digs in the sand like no tomorrow, hangs out with the other corys, has spawned etc, I guessed once again my "diagnosis" was correct. But after watching carefully the last few weeks, including at night time, I could not see where or how she was injurying herself.

And then the red mark appeared under her head last week and I thought this is something more serious. A friend suggested I ask here for advice. And I have received some advice and am doing my best to put it into practice. However, the day after starting treatment she had a new red mark (well antibiotics do generally take a while to work). But this mark is still visible 3 days later, though it's slowly disappearing. It has never taken this long to disappear. Sure it's only a day more than usual. But I'm wondering if I'm treating the correct disease, or using the correct meds.

I found a post at an Australian forum the other day where a guy said he has used the same Tri-sulfa as I've got many times successfully. He said he always does a water change on the 3rd day then does the second dose. So that's what I've done.