septicemia!!

T

TitusvilleSurfr

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Mar 17, 2007
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As I was collecting live brim for my carnivorous fish two days ago, I inadvertently caught some snails as well. I threw them in the bucket to help clean the glass (unnecessarily), but mainly as turtle food. Tonight after work, I noticed my fish had a mild case of pop-eye. Like any good aquarist I checked the water parameters: Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate, 6 ppm, PH ~ 7.5 I began to observe more closely and noticed faint red blotches at the base of the anal and caudal fins. I took this information, inflaming and pop eye, to Google and came up with septicemia...a horrible bacterial infection which is usually carried by snails.

After reading the effects and realizing what is happening to my fish (his internal organs are liquidating...causing fluid behind the eyes causing pop-eye) I am very very VERY worried. I need to figure out how to cure him, fast!

Please help, this little guy has been with me a long time...and I intend fully to have him healthy for many years to come.
 
Well I suppose I will dose Maracyn-Two. Nobody has any comments at all? Is Maracyn-Two the best choice or will it just screw things up? Help! :(
 
i did a bit further research on google about septicemia and it has a very high death rate (just having it as a human requires you to be in the ICU if thats any comparison)

maracyn-2 is the recommended treatment.. good luck.
 
humans can get this do we have to eat the snails or just be in contact with them
 
not sure what exactly causes it in humans, but any living being can get it... lemme look it up some more.
 
alright... pretty much, septicemia is an infection that spreads to your blood, thus spreading it throughout your body in a VERY short time.


kinda like if you get an infection in a cut, and it spreads to your bloodstream, etc etc.. its not like its a contagious disease.
 
Update: The pop-eye is worse and the fish is now resting on the bottom instead of being his usually very active all over the tank self. I had 3 turtles in the tank with him, though he was just moved to a hospital tank. I worked a double shift today and was not able to go to the lfs to pick up meds. I am working a double tomorrow also, but convinced friends to pick up some Maracyn-Two for me. I saw the ICU stats in my own research as well and I freaked. This is a cardio disease, basically blood poisoning, effecting the heart, liver, and blood vessels. Symptoms in humans include loss of interest in food and surroundings, fever, chills, lethargic, anxious or agitated, coma, and a 50% death rate. All of these visible signs are holding true and I can only assume the fever and chills are as well. This just breaks my heart. :/ The redness at the base of the fins is attributed to broken blood vessels (internal bleeding). Thank you for your replies and I will update if anything changes.
 
As far as I know, septicemia isn't a disease. It's the term used for the medical condition caused by a bacterial infection, any bacterial infection, when it gets to an advanced stage. Instead of being a localized infection, it become systemic and widespread. Bacteria are in the bloodstream, and the body experiences a severe immunoresponse.
 
Ok, nobody panic. Yeah, hemorragic septicemia is a dread disease in humans, but fish throw symptoms early, and generally, it's not all that horrible. Pop eye is the bigger danger to your fish right now, and it's the one you've got to treat first. Maracyn 2 should treat just fine, but don't put off medicating any longer. And pretty much anything you use to treat pop eye is going to wipe out septicemia as well.

I've had hem sept in all my clowns at one time or another. After all, they love eating snails, and gives them a lot of exposure. I've never lost a fish to it. Tank buddies from jungle labs works just fine to clear it up, and if it was transmittable to humans, I would have caught it by now, so you're not going to get sick from your fish. Just treat at once for pop eye, and hope you've caught that one in time. Best of luck for your fish.
 
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