# New to Disease!



## rounds (Aug 14, 2005)

I don't really consider myself a beginner in taking care of fish, as I've had my 55 gallon tank for about 6 years now, without ever having any major problems. The problems did start, however, when I moved about 5 months ago. I've had pretty much the same fish in my community 55 gallon for the last 3 or 4 years until said move. Recently, they're all dropping off like flies! I suspected the cause was a parasite, but was never quite sure until recently. Just yesterday, I noticed three of my remaining 7 fish had cloudy eyes and a couple of them had white sores. 

I'm just looking for advice as to whether or not I'm handling this situation correctly. Since I began treatment, I've already had a pictus cat die-off. First thing I did was about a 33% water change and then added the correct dosage of melafix. I plan to add melafix for the next 5 days or so. I took out the carbon from my filter as well. Does this seem correct? Is melafix the right medication to use? Is there anything else I should try? This seems like a horrible parasite problem that threatens to literally kill every fish I have within the next week. It would stink having to start from scratch again after all this time.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

What are your water parameters like? Is it possible that you could have re-cycled the tank after your move? What other fish are in the tank?


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## rounds (Aug 14, 2005)

My water parameters seem to be fine. I don't remember the exact numbers, but when I checked everything, it was all good. The ammonia was a little high, but I took care of that. 

What do you mean by "recycled tank after your move"?

The fish I have left are - geophagus cupido, gibbiceps pleco, 1 clown loach (others died), 1 upside down cat (others died), 1 spotted cat, 1 other pleco (can't remember the type!!!!!!). Last night I buried a pictus cat, whose friend recently died, and my beloved queen arabesque (sp?) pleco.


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

Recycled- this would happen if you removed all the water, the gravel dried and or you clean out the tank really good because none of the bacteria good or bad would remain.

Sometimes the change in water hardness and other things can effect the fish, especially if they are used to something different for so long. They may just not be adapting well.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

How did you "take care" of your ammonia problem?


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## rounds (Aug 14, 2005)

My wife corrected me and said we didn't have an amonia problem. We checked everything and all levels are where they should be. Also, when we moved, we didn't clean the gravel and we added some of the water from before the move. 

Do you think adding more salt will do anything?

We now only have 4 fish left and 3 of them aren't looking too good...


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

No, no salt.

How long ago since the move?
How long did the move take?
How long did the unwashed gravel sit around festering?
How were the fish caught & transported? 

I think that you have a problem with some aeromonas or pseudomonas type bacteria. The move may have caused a population shift in your gravel microfauna, resulting in these or other nasty bacters growing like crazy. If the fish were abraded or shocked too much during the move, they would have been easy pickin's for the resulting infection.

Melafix is fine as a general tonic when things aren't very bad, but once they have gotten this bad it won't work. Another water change, this time involving a good cleaning of the gravel, followed by a regimen of Maracyn-II & Maracyn Plus, should eliminate the bad bacteria while preserving enough of the good ones.


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## rounds (Aug 14, 2005)

How long ago since the move? 7 months
How long did the move take? 4 hours total, including: transport, set up, etc.
How long did the unwashed gravel sit around festering? 4 hours
How were the fish caught & transported? Caught in nets and put in buckets

They have been dropping off slowly since the move, but within the past 2 weeks we lost about 6 fish.


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