Best course of action for sick fish?

[plantnoobdude]

One of my Neon green rasboras has this infection looking thing on the side of its body. It is in my Low tech tank.
What should I treat this with?
Very worried so any replies would be appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Not easy to tell from your image, it's a bit too blurred to give a proper diagnosis. How would you describe it? Is it a growth or more of an ulcer for instance.

 

[plantnoobdude]

Not easy to tell from your image, it's a bit too blurred to give a proper diagnosis. How would you describe it? Is it a growth or more of an ulcer for instance.

I’ll try get some better photos.

 

[plantnoobdude]

Not easy to tell from your image, it's a bit too blurred to give a proper diagnosis. How would you describe it? Is it a growth or more of an ulcer for instance.

It looks like something is eating away at the fish and it looks quite fluffy, I also notice very few of the fish have slightly discoloured white lips. Does that help? Will try get photos, but it’s difficult because they’re very active fish.

 

[Guest]

Could be columnaris. Try eSHa 2000, it's a broad spectrum treatment. It can also be combined with gdex and EXIT for an even broader approach. It's usually very well tolerated.
Always read the instructions, and when calculating the correct dose don't forget to factor in the capacity of filters etc.
And remove chemical 'active' filter media like fresh charcoal, it may absorb the active ingredients.

Columnaris - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[AlecF]

And lost of water changes, as well as extra oxygen.

 

[xZaiox]

Sorry to hear about your fish @plantnoobdude

It looks like something is eating away at the fish and it looks quite fluffy, I also notice very few of the fish have slightly discoloured white lips.

I can't really gather from the pictures alone what it is, but if I were to simply go off of your description then I would agree with @Guest above, potentially columnaris. Columnaris can come in different forms, i.e it's been known as both "saddleback disease" and "mouth rot". You've mentioned discoloured white lips, as well as this infection "eating away" at the fish, and these are quite common in columnaris.

If you have it available, I would jump straight to an antibiotic such as Seachem's Kanaplex (Kanamycin), or potentially Doxycycline (found in API's 'Fin and body cure'). I'm actually quite a strong advocate for only using antibiotics when other treatments have failed, but columnaris can progress quite quickly, and it's highly contagious. Many UK meds are unfortunately mostly antiseptics, or gram-positive targeting, whereas columnaris (and most problematic aquarium bacteria) are gram-negative.

 

[plantnoobdude]

Could be columnaris. Try eSHa 2000, it's a broad spectrum treatment. It can also be combined with gdex and EXIT for an even broader approach. It's usually very well tolerated.
Always read the instructions, and when calculating the correct dose don't forget to factor in the capacity of filters etc.
And remove chemical 'active' filter media like fresh charcoal, it may absorb the active ingredients.

Columnaris - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Is this safe for shrimp and otocinclus?

 

[plantnoobdude]

Sorry to hear about your fish @plantnoobdude

I can't really gather from the pictures alone what it is, but if I were to simply go off of your description then I would agree with @Guest above, potentially columnaris. Columnaris can come in different forms, i.e it's been known as both "saddleback disease" and "mouth rot". You've mentioned discoloured white lips, as well as this infection "eating away" at the fish, and these are quite common in columnaris.

If you have it available, I would jump straight to an antibiotic such as Seachem's Kanaplex (Kanamycin), or potentially Doxycycline (found in API's 'Fin and body cure'). I'm actually quite a strong advocate for only using antibiotics when other treatments have failed, but columnaris can progress quite quickly, and it's highly contagious. Many UK meds are unfortunately mostly antiseptics, or gram-positive targeting, whereas columnaris (and most problematic aquarium bacteria) are gram-negative.

I will look for these meds, I recon they might be quite hard to get in a timely manner however.

And lost of water changes, as well as extra oxygen.

will do.

 

[Guest]

Is this safe for shrimp and otocinclus?

Yes, I’ve used it with both and all was fine. But follow the link and decide for yourself 😉

 

[plantnoobdude]

I will look for these meds, I recon they might be quite hard to get in a timely manner however.

Unfortunately I was right. Both those Meds recommended by @xZaiox are not available (or very expensive) . I will go ahead and purchase ESHA2000

 

[xZaiox]

Both those Meds recommended by @xZaiox are not available (or very expensive) .

Yeah this is why I prefaced it with "if available" - unfortunately we don't have these meds available in shops in the UK since they contain actual antibiotics. America is apparently not so strict I ended up getting them after getting tired of the UK based medications repeatedly not working for more serious illnesses. I find mild illnesses like fin rot or infected ulcers can usually be treated with clean water, salt and methylene blue. For infections that spread inwards such as columnaris, I find antibiotics are usually needed.

I wish you the best of luck with your treatment moving forward though, and hope your fish make a full recovery! Keep us updated 🙂

 

[plantnoobdude]

Unfortunately I was right. Both those Meds recommended by @xZaiox are not available (or very expensive) . I will go ahead and purchase ESHA2000

Yeah this is why I prefaced it with "if available" - unfortunately we don't have these meds available in shops in the UK since they contain actual antibiotics. America is apparently not so strict I ended up getting them after getting tired of the UK based medications repeatedly not working for more serious illnesses. I find mild illnesses like fin rot or infected ulcers can usually be treated with clean water, salt and methylene blue. For infections that spread inwards such as columnaris, I find antibiotics are usually needed.

I wish you the best of luck with your treatment moving forward though, and hope your fish make a full recovery! Keep us updated 🙂

I actually have meth blue available, should I do a salt/ meth blue dip? My ESHA2000 should arrive on Thursday (courtesy of prime)

 

[xZaiox]

I actually have meth blue available, should I do a salt/ meth blue dip? My ESHA2000 should arrive on Thursday (courtesy of prime)

If this is actually true columnaris, then I would say it's likely pointless, because columnaris will eat inwards and such a treatment will only effect the external bacteria. However, it can be difficult getting the right diagnosis in the first place. I would definitely be mindful that stress can greatly effect fishes immune systems, so frequent netting and doing dips can itself have an adverse effect, but an untreated illness can also end very badly, so I would say yes to the dips if you can easily catch them.

Do you have a spare quarantine/hospital tank that you could use to treat them in? If yes, then it could be worth moving them in to there and treating with salt + methylene blue.

 

[plantnoobdude]

If this is actually true columnaris, then I would say it's likely pointless, because columnaris will eat inwards and such a treatment will only effect the external bacteria. However, it can be difficult getting the right diagnosis in the first place. I would definitely be mindful that stress can greatly effect fishes immune systems, so frequent netting and doing dips can itself have an adverse effect, but an untreated illness can also end very badly, so I would say yes to the dips if you can easily catch them.

Do you have a spare quarantine/hospital tank that you could use to treat them in? If yes, then it could be worth moving them in to there and treating with salt + methylene blue.

Unfortunately no, I don’t have a quarantine.

If I do not succeed with ESHA2000, I will likely look into using salt and methylene blue dips. And if that doesn’t work…. I’ll try source some antibiotics.

 

[FISHnLAB]

Sorry you are having trouble plantnoobdude, I hope you are able to get it sorted in short order🙏.

Canada too has ridiculous laws banning fish meds causing the death of many fish that could be saved but, there are online fish doctors that will prescribe them as well as do a video assessment. Probably not cheap(I'm not sure) but, maybe an option in the UK too?

 

[KirstyF]

I found specialist vets that would treat fish in Birmingham and in Swindon when I was looking for TB testing. The fish vetinary society also provide a list of UK vets prepared to treat fish if you google them.

Unfortunately as they tend to be specialist, costs are often high. The one I ended up at, Great Western Exotics, in Swindon, charge £90 for a consultation alone and I’m not sure that they would do a video assessment.

As I had to take the fish in simply for euthanasia and testing, I never asked about that option.

Also, as I didn’t really need to talk about the issue too much and just wanted TB to be confirmed or not, they were kind enough to waive the consultation fee and only charge for the euthanasia (£30) and testing (£130).

Hopefully you won’t need to go down the vet route, but just in case, hope this helps.

 

[plantnoobdude]

I found specialist vets that would treat fish in Birmingham and in Swindon when I was looking for TB testing. The fish vetinary society also provide a list of UK vets prepared to treat fish if you google them.

Unfortunately as they tend to be specialist, costs are often high. The one I ended up at, Great Western Exotics, in Swindon, charge £90 for a consultation alone and I’m not sure that they would do a video assessment.

As I had to take the fish in simply for euthanasia and testing, I never asked about that option.

Also, as I didn’t really need to talk about the issue too much and just wanted TB to be confirmed or not, they were kind enough to waive the consultation fee and only charge for the euthanasia (£30) and testing (£130).

Hopefully you won’t need to go down the vet route, but just in case, hope this helps.

I think the fishies are on the mend!!!! I finished my 3 day course of ESHA2000, and the previously very shy and retiring rasbora with the infection, has rejoined the school and has started eating again=) there are still signs of infection but I am quite hopeful*

 

[AlecF]

I think the fishies are on the mend!!!! I finished my 3 day course of ESHA2000, and the previously very shy and retiring rasbora with the infection, has rejoined the school and has started eating again=) there are still signs of infection but I am quite hopeful*

A Christmas miracle.

 

[xZaiox]

I finished my 3 day course of ESHA2000, and the previously very shy and retiring rasbora with the infection, has rejoined the school and has started eating again=)

It may be worth continuing the course of treatment if the infection is still present. I believe the instructions on the leaflet state it can be continued for a number of days extra. The ingredients in eSHa 2000 aren't very potent, so I don't think you'd see any harm from continuing the dosing.

Really happy to hear that it's progressing towards the right direction 🙂