Rasbora Problem

eveliens

eveliens

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Mar 5, 2005
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NWA, USA
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Okay, this is post-death for the most part, but it's been making me wonder.

Several months ago I moved and brought several tanks with me. Most of the fish either died right off (filter issues in one of the tanks) and the rest were doing well (and still are). The exception to this was my rummynose rasboras.

Before the move I had a school of 15 of these guys. They were active and brilliant and breeding. In fact, 2 of the 15 were babies. Despite trying to be careful with the move immediately lost the babies and two of the females. The rest seemed to settle in and be okay. However, since then I've been losing them one at a time. I have one lone guy left.

They were basically turning into fish skeletons. Sunken bellies, dull colors, lethargic. I thought internal parasite and treated with oral/food meds. Didn't make a difference. So I tried powder. Nope. They were eating, and the lone one is still eating, but they'd just fade.

None of the other fish in the tank were affected. The parameters were fine. The nitrate was a tad high at 60ppm but I brought it down. The only difference between the old water and the apartment water is the apartment water is softer and has a lower pH.

I even tried switching them to their own tank to see if they just weren't getting enough food or were stressed. That seemed to kill them off even faster :huh:
 
If a fish eats well and still loses weight odds are it's either internal parasites or a Mycobacterial infection. What anti-parasite and antibiotics did you try? Internal parasites are usually alot easier to treat than Mycobacterial infections. I assume you're talking about Rummynose Tetras, Hemigrammus rhodostomous or H. bleheri. The new water would actually be more suitable for them as they come from very soft acidic water. Once a fish reaches a certain point in the downward spiral towards death any change, even a good one is too stressful and can speed the coming of the end.
 
Sawbwa resplendens. They're also known as Asian Rummynoses and Naked MicroRasbora. Unfortunately, they prefer basic water, so I'm wondering if the change wasn't too nice for them. They are wild caught. I forgot to mention I also have loaches endemic to Lake Inle (like the rasboras) that I've also been having issues with since I moved.

I tried Jungle's Anti-parasite fish food first and then used it in conjunction with the API anti-parasite. The ingredents for that appear to be Metronidazole, copper sulphate, and trichlorfon according to the website. Forgot to say I never saw white and/or stringy feces either.

I did a quick look up on the mycobacterium (I think that's funny since that's a disease that severely affects pet rats) and the symptoms fit except for the lesions, but they could have those inside where they're not visible. Unfortunately, popeye and lesions WERE present in the deceased loaches.

It looks like I should euthanize the remaining rasbora (I was planning to anyway; I hate to see them waste away). What are the possibilities the other fish in the tank have low-level infections? Tanks mates are gold barbs, pearl gouramis, an angel, and clown pleco.
 
When I was researching for my M. erythromicrons I read that fish from Lake Inle had bad problems when kept in soft water. They talked about how people assume the fish need soft water and end up killing everything off while trying to keep them happy. Maybe you could try increasing the hardness of your water in the loach tank to keep it from happening to them, too.

I think your other fish will probably be okay but keep a close eye on them just in case.

Nice to see someone else from Kansas! I miss living there so much.
 
It's alot easier to make soft acid water hard and alkaline than vice versa. You could redo the substrate with crushed coral or a gravel designed for African Cichlids, or just put some in a bag in your filter. The odds are that all of your fish are harboring the pathogen. There are many different Mycobacteria, including the pathogen that causes Tuberculosis in humans. This is a clue as to what meds to treat with and how long to treat. Minocycline is the most readily available drug active against Mycobacteria. Maracyn II is minocycline. Duration of treatment should be longer than for most bacterial infections, a minimum of 2 weeks. That said your fish could live very happily and not show symptoms. One word of caution. Mycobacterium marinum, the specific species found in fish is transmissible to you. I had a nasty case a couple of years ago. http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199853&highlight=mycobacterium+marinum
 
I've actually been raising the hardness and pH slowly to keep it from swinging or stressing out the fish. The massive chunks of driftwood probably aren't helping. I'm planning to catch and remove the remaining loaches to another tank. The problem is that if it's myco then any fish I move them in with has the potential to become infected.

The biggest irony of this whole fiasco is I love soft water fish and never could have them because of where I lived before. So I simply bought fish that liked hard water or weren't picky. Now I have these hard water fish!

And thank you for the warning. I'm very aware that some strains are transmittable to people. I'm very careful about cuts because I work at a LFS too. Nasty looking pics btw.

Dr. Awkward, where'd you live in Kansas? I bet Texas was a bit of a culture shock.
 
I'm from Wichita. Yes, Texas was a big culture shock. Whenever I go home to visit family all I want to do is grab strangers on the street and hug them because I'm so happy to see normal people again. No offense to Texas, people just have different priorities down here that I don't quite understand.
 
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