# symptoms of ethoxyquin??



## Hermie_Luver (Nov 13, 2005)

Hey everybody, I just joined. :grin: 

I have a 46 gallon fish tank, currently with 10 fish. I have had most of the fish in the tank for 1 to 2 years. The temperature is currently 74-78 degrees.

This is sort of a stupid question, but I have lost a Glo-lite yesterday and am now watching my Silver Hatchet die. I have had these fish for quite a while...this is a back to back death.

Although I am being quite suspicious, to me a back to back death is unusual. I also discovered that the food that I have been giving to my Gold Nugget Algae Eater has the preservative Ethoxyquin in it.

I am suspecting this food, because I feed my fish Hikari Blood Worms, with no Ethoxyquin.

What are the symptoms of Ethoxyquin poisoning? I want to make sure my fishies are OK. Are my fish just old? Or is it Ethoxyquin?


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Unfortunally that is used in many petfoods. Everything from dog and cat foods to cricket and fish food. 
It has been banned in foods for humans.

One thing it does is shut down kidneys and livers in test animals. This would create the inability to properly process foods into energy for the fish and get rid of the excess waste.

Typically the fish you mentioned can live 5 to 10 years. Have you checked your ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels?


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## Hermie_Luver (Nov 13, 2005)

The nitrates are usually below 16ppm. 

Nitrites and Ammonia: 0

PH is around 7.0 - 7.7


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## Hermie_Luver (Nov 13, 2005)

One thing I did forget to mention...

My Glo-lite died a slow and painful death... it was upside down and swimming in circles for 3 days.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

That is many times a sign of swim bladder problems. 



People have debated for years over the cause of swim bladder disease. It is pretty well established now that a number of things can cause swim bladder disease. Some of the things which have been suggested are: 


A virus. The virus attacks the epithelium of the sac and inflammation occurs which makes the epithelium too thick for gases to diffuse across. Thus the fish is stuck at a certain buoyancy because gases have nowhere to go. This may be more of a factor in non-goldfish species.
A bacterium. There is little evidence to support this, but it's widely known that bacterial infections can cause the same kind of thickening of the swim bladder epithelium as viruses.
Anatomy. Globoid-shaped fish like ornamental goldfish are predisposed to problems with the swim bladder because their guts are all squashed up in their abdomen. This arrangement predisposes to food impactions, which in turn clog up the pneumocystic duct.
Diet. Feeding dry foods which tend to take on water like a sponge and expand in the fish predispose to food impactions. See # 2 above.


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## Hermie_Luver (Nov 13, 2005)

My hatchet died. It had been swimming oddly for 2 days.

What can I do for preventing this from happenning with my other fish?


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Feeding shelled peas on occasion will help in many cases. There is somthing with the greens that help with the digestive tract in fish. Esp if you suspect it being somthing in their food the occasional change in diet will do them good.


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## Hermie_Luver (Nov 13, 2005)

Ok. Thanks!


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