Rampant Infections

[blackpearlaquatics]

I am the owner of a small tropical fish store and I take pride in my fish health and water quality.

I love fishkeeping and I always strive to improve my husbandry. Carl, I have found your Aquarium Medication section to be the best reference on the internet. So at the risk of sounding snobby, I would like to keep this thread very straightforward:

Controlled Variables:
I am assessing freshwater tropical fish as this is the problem area. My 750 gal Cichlid system has zero problems.
Water quality is fresh-fed R/O @ 100gpd with 0 everything. The 850 gal system runs 45 ppm Nitrates.
This system has been running for a year.
My water temp is maintained at 78 degrees.
Redox 300-400 mhz
TDS: <35
I usually have a 300gph 8' tall sterilization-quality ozonator tower running, but it is under repair this week.
Foods: high-quality gelatin-based prepared foods.

Assumptions:
Farm-raised tropical fish are often reared and distributed using heavy regimens of antibiotics or arrive with parasites & weakened immune systems.

FYI- A local PetSmart manager informed me that Standard procedure is to treat their water heavily with Maracyn upon the arrival of each fish shipment. I do not want to sell antibiotic-laden fish to my consumers. Furthermore, I doubt that the antibiotics would withstand oxidation from my ozonator.

Problem:
(note: not all fish arrive in an afflicted state. But when they do, they decline quickly without swift action. * denotes acceptable improvement or limited success ** denotes complete turnaround)

Tetras- Body Rot, body rot, and body rot, with occasional tail rot.
Not appearing to respond to Metro food. Have also tried 1tsp/600gal potassium permanganate treatments with little success. Cases vary. 5-85% mortality rates.

*Barbs- Mouth Rot
Responding very well to Metro prepared gelatin food by following seachem's instructions. Results still need verified. Estimating 90% efficacy. Results need verified.

*Livebearers- Fin & Tail Rot
Need constant grazing to maintain health. Sometimes batches of fish respond to Metro. I believe more aggressive oral treatment is needed? (My TFS mentor, who lives in a neighboring town, claims that metro prepared food is solving his livebearer problems)

Irridescent Sharks- Fin & Tail Rot, Eye Cloud
I am estimating 75% mortality rate with this batch. Poor response to Metro food thus far. More aggressive oral treatment needed?

Rainbow Sharks- slight listlessness, lack of appetite, Sudden Death
50-85% mortality rate. Is highly aggressive oral treatment needed?

**Angelfish- Thin stomachs, clear feces
Treated with Metro prepared gelatin food by following seachem's instructions. 95% efficacy.

*Clown Loaches- Slow decline, Emaciation, clear feces
Not on system. Treated sucessfully once with Prazi. Treated unsuccessfully once with prazi due to aquarium crash. Daily 50% water changes were not enough to save them. Latest batch responding well to Metro food. 100% efficacy. Results need verified.

**Plecos-tattered fins, emaciated stomachs.
Constant grazing recommended. Treated with Metro prepared gelatin food by following seachem's instructions. 75-85% efficacy.

*High-fin banded loaches- Clear feces, cloudy eyes, hazy fungus patches on skin
Responding well to Metro prepared gelatin food. Also important to have high flow, low nitrates, and cool temperatures. These fish are in 76 degree water on a seperate aquarium.

Danios- slight listlessness, Sudden Death, occasional visual ID of body rot.
Not responding to Metro food. Will more aggressive oral treatment be needed?

Bristlenose Plecos- Body rot, fin rot, rapid decline.
50-100% mortality rate. Water treatment may be necessary.


So based on these results, I would like to know your suggestion of what antibiotic I can administer orally to my affected fish. It appears that mouth rot and livebearer shimmy disease are responding to Metro. I still have problems with body rot and fin rot.

All advice with orally-administered medications is welcome.

[blackpearlaquatics]

Also, if anyone needs more specific descriptions of the infections on particular fish (i.e. hemmoraging, paper-like tail decay, fungusy-growth) I can provide them down to the tiniest visible detail.

[Carl]

Hi, welcome to Everything Aquatic!

My first comment, while somewhat off subject is to generally disagree with the use of Maracyn (Erythromycin) as a preventative unless Streptococcus is a problem, as most aquatic infections are gram negative and Maracyn is gram positive.

Here are my initial thoughts (I will think on this more):

*You noted livebearer shimmy, this tells me that maybe positive mineral ions are low. Do you add a constant supply of minerals to your system as well as buffers?
Also UV Sterilization can help here (Ozonizers do not)

*Have you provided a fish bath with salt and Methylene Blue along with Furan 2 (Nitrofurazone) and possibly Metronidazole since this antibiotic seems to help?
You noted the use of Potassium Permanganate, have you tried this in a concentrated bath?

*You noted that many fish decline rapidly after arrival; this could be fish weakened by poor handling/shipping and suffering with kidney & liver failure, which the MB bath MAY help, but often are beyond help with any available treatment (I have seen this on more than one occasion over the years)
The best remedy is to find a different whole supplier of fish is this is the case

*Since Metronidazole has worked somewhat, consider adding Neoplex (Neomycin) to your medicated feeding preparations (along with the Metronidazole).
Also the addition of of Kanamycin to the Metronidazole mix might add more wide spectrum treatment
(use one mix or the other)

Carl

[goldenpuon]

Welcome to our site blackpearlaquatics! It is awesome that you run fish store. I am sorry to hear about the problems in your shipments of fish. I am nowhere near as knowledgable about fish as Carl. However, it definitely sounds like many of your fish are coming in with moderate to severe cases of internal parasites. To add to what Carl said, I have had success with slowing the progression of a disease and destressing fish by making their tanks very dark for a few days to a week. Also, wondershells can be a great help for Redox of water.

As well, medicated wondershells are good for mild cases of many of the diseases you are describing (with the exception of internal problems like internal parasites). I have used them for guppies that came down with shimmies twice and both times, the fish recovered.

Last, I don't really have any real experience in the aquarium industry, but if shipments from the same breeders keep containing sick fish, you may want to switch to another source. Also, though I am sure this is difficult, you may need to euthanize very badly affected fish. As much as I hate to write this, in some cases that may be for the best so customers do not buy fish that infect their tanks and so any sick fish in the same tank do not infect healthy fish. I have found alka selzer to be good choice for putting down fish as humanely as possible. The fish panic for a second or two and then "fall asleep". I use 2 tablets per quart of water (but of course the amount will vary based on the size of tablets used). I make sure to use enough- otherwise the fish can wake up. Also, to make sure they are completley gone, I leave them in the water with alka selzer for an hour and of course do not add the water back into the main aquarium.

I hope that helps and that the fish do better!

Renee