Planeden Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 I don't know what all is going on with this tank, but man it has been frustrating the snot out of me. History: The tank has been running for 8 years, most of that time on auto pilot. I got a free silver dollar to replace a dead one (lucky find of one the appropriate size for the old fish I had). Four days later everything was dead. No nibbles on anyone, so something wiped them out fast. I dosed the empty tank with melafix for a week and let the thing run empty for a month thinking that would starve anything that may have been in it. I added a few new silver dollars. One developed a spot, spread to the others, and all dead. Waited a while, started again. Slowly got several fish, and another silver dollar developed a spot right before a 10 day trip. We guessed melafix and left dosing instructions to the house sitter. Came home, three fish left, around 10 died. Waited a bit and started over, again. I noticed a Rainbowfish seemed to have an internal parasite on friday. I treated with API general cure (all i could get on short notice). The rainbowfish seems fine. But Saturday, another silver dollar had the same stinking spot. It has not grown since, nor has it spread to anyone else. I'm not sure if the medicine was helping, but the course of it ran out yesterday. My filter did not seem to be up to snuff, so i replaced it yesterday. But the Eheim 2217 is rated for 180 gallons and it is working on a 55 gallon tank. So, even at diminished capacity, I would think it would have been more than enough. Also, the current fish load is pretty small since we are rebuilding. All water parameters, including with 10 or so dead fish for a while, have always been fine. I even had them checked at aquadome to make sure i wasn't doing something wrong. Any ideas what this spot is? Any suggestions on how to fix it? I'm thinking it may be a fungus now, so Pimafix? If I get another die off I'm going to drain it, clean it, and start over from scratch. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 1) got a uv ? 2) are you pulling your carbon while medicating ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted July 4, 2013 Author Share Posted July 4, 2013 1) got a uv ? 2) are you pulling your carbon while medicating ? 1. no 2. yes...well, i don't run carbon usually anyway except to pull meds. i added some yesterday that came with the new filter. it'll probably be good for a month and then i'll just leave it in there until i clean the filter again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 1) consider it ! If the pathogen is floating, you should be able to nuke it with a properly sized UV. Ask around on the club for a loaner. That's certainly an easy experiment when compared to a full tank breakdown. 2) moot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 That blows. I looked at several freshwater fish disease pages (which bummed me out, like totally). This one has: Description Small black specks on skin. Symptoms Black Spot Cause Small fish worms (Diplostomulum). Have you done a necropsy on any of them? I'd type Diplostomulum into Google Images and see if that looks like it. Edit: table looked good in preview but messed up on submittal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCAB Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 You're not talking about the multiple black spots, are you (those are natural to some silver dollars)? Just thought I'd ask, sorry if I sound like tech support asking if your computer is plugged in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 You're not talking about the multiple black spots, are you (those are natural to some silver dollars)? Just thought I'd ask, sorry if I sound like tech support asking if your computer is plugged in. No worries, I was unclear. Not the black spots. The white spot that is a blobby vertical line straight down from the front of the dorsal fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 That blows. I looked at several freshwater fish disease pages (which bummed me out, like totally). This one has: Description Small black specks on skin. Symptoms Black Spot Cause Small fish worms (Diplostomulum). Have you done a necropsy on any of them? I'd type Diplostomulum into Google Images and see if that looks like it. Edit: table looked good in preview but messed up on submittal. Oh, apparently you are having sick fish, too? necropsy, Ummm, no. Wouldn't even know how to. Sorry, not the black spots, the white smudge. I'd guess fungus, but it's not fuzzy. At first we thought it was some bacterial infection that causes bleaching, but I don't remember the name of it. That is why I'm leaning towards fungus now, but thought someone else may have a better idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 1) consider it ! If the pathogen is floating, you should be able to nuke it with a properly sized UV. Ask around on the club for a loaner. That's certainly an easy experiment when compared to a full tank breakdown. 2) moot 1. I'm considering it. I can't imagine anything will have survived in the water through all this and not be buried in the substrate. But, if I can borrow one from someone it may be a good thing to try. But if I were to need to buy one I'd have to convince myself I could need it. If I remember right it'd be in the $300 range for a 55 gal. There may also be ome other advantages to a ompleted breakdown, too, that I'm considering. But all it's other problems seem to have finally sorted themselves out. So, I'm really just left with the satisfaction of "watching" the little killer(s) die. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 I may have one you can borrow. PM me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 I don't have sick fish, yet, but looking at the pictures bummed me out. Try these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 were you looking just for me? well, thanks. that's generous. Columnarous is what we thought before and tried treating with antibiotics. didn't know about the malalite green for it. first time i have heard of it for that. anyway, the thing it looks most like on there (other than columnarous) is "body fungas". so, maybe we'll try an anti-fungal and then a uv sterilizer if that doesn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Crap! I haven't had problems with diseases or parasites. Until now. I just noticed that my pair of German Blue Rams have white spots! Now I'm cleaning out and restarting my UV (been off since it was SW). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 dang george, i didn't think it would be that contagious. sorry man. what kind of white spots? does it seem like ick? user planeden does not accept any responsibility or liability for the transmission of bad mojo across the internet. PPR legal team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planeden Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 update: after a few days on pimafix, the spot is gone. i will continue treatment, then go ahead and UV the tank for a bit, and hope the curse will be lifted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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