Purple Firefish got ich

[carlos_fb]

I found GVH food soak at a LFS, I will add it to the Cyclops Tomorrow and see if he likes it.

How do I know if the fish has bladder/buoyancy problems? I noticed this afternoon while feeding him that he let out some air bubbles from his behind.

 

[Snowboarda42]

Wow Lee doesn't normally recommend brands, you got lucky on this one.

As for Buoyancy problems, if the fish has trouble staying in one level of the tank, such as constantly trying to swim down, or vice versa, then you can assume it has a buoyancy problem. Most of the ones with swim bladder issues are deeper dwelling species that are brought to the surface too fast (humans get what's called decompression sickness).

If I'm thinking correctly, a fish that has trouble staying down has a bladder with too much air. In normal circumstances, it would be smaller and have less effect due to the increased pressure on it that comes with being deeper underwater. A fish that has trouble staying up has a bladder that has too little air in it, or the bladder itself has collapsed, thus rendering it useless.

A little air coming from a fish anus might be caused by the fish expelling air in order to maintain the correct amount in its swim bladder, or it might just be gas caused by the fish's intestinal track due to the breakdown of solids.

If I'm wrong on any of this, I'm sure Lee will come slap me in the right direction soon

 

[leebca]

Snowboard did a very good job!

Fish passing gas is not irregular. This fish's diet, contains an excess of fats, so some intestinal bacteria may be consuming part of it.

 

[carlos_fb]

So do I need to treat it or not?

 

[leebca]

No. Just keep trying to encourage a better balanced food with vitamin supplement soaks.

 

[carlos_fb]

Will do, thanks

 

[carlos_fb]

Firefish is been loosing weight and swimming funny. I've been feeding him 3 times a day and everytime I offer some Cyclops he would eat a little but not much.

I wrote to Liveaquaria and this is what they responded.

It is certainly possible that your Firefish has a Swim Bladder issue of some sort. The easiest way to treat this is to feed a parboiled pea, either frozen or fresh. This can be mashed up and treated with a garlic supplement to increase its palatability. As swim bladder issues often lead to bacterial infections, we recommend following up with an anti-bacterial treatment.

What do you think??

 

[Jan]

Huh. I'd want to know why they were recommending a pea. It probably can't hurt, but then again, it would have been nice if they'd explained the treatment protocol. I've read that sometimes a broad spectrum antibiotic will help a swim bladder problem. Not always, though.

 

[leebca]

I can't explain the pea treatment. Like Jan I'd like to understand why. It might be worth writing back to the person who made this recommendation and ask them to explain how or why the pea is supposed to work. As for now I can't say it is a good idea or not.

The swim bladder is connected to the esophagus in some very young fishes. As they age their bladder becomes independent of the digestive track. Sometimes food gets caught in the bladder when it is connected and then later a bacterial infection may develop. If the bladder is infected, an antibiotic that goes through the fish skin is recommended. That includes like Maracyn Two for Saltwater fish and a few others.

Even though the Marine Ich treatment isn't over, I would raise the sp. gr. to 1.016 at 0.002 units per day to see if the fish acts differently, just to be sure it isn't having issues with hyposalinity.

 

[carlos_fb]

Firefish is looking a lot better, it has been more active and finally started eating properly (he loves the Formula 1 with the GVH vitamins).

Do you still think I should raise the salinity?

 

[Snowboarda42]

If he's looking alot better, I would just leave it as it is. Wait until he's acting much more normal, wait a few more days, and then begin to lower the SG back down to 1.009. If he starts acting funny again, then bring it back up and possibly look into another form of treating the ich. Certain fish act certain ways to lowering SG. Some seem to act the same, others, ie your case, act abnormally. Keep feeding him the vitamins though, that definitely can help correct problems.

How is his swimming doing now?

 

[leebca]

No. Now that the fish is eating and behaving a bit more 'normally' I'd not do anything but keep the water quality in the perfect zone.

 

[Jan]

Lee, is it possible to kill the ich parasite without going all the way down to 1.09? I'm with you...if the fish is doing better the last thing I'd want to do is lower the salinity right now.

 

[leebca]

Jan,

I didn't get from Carlos' last post that he had done any raising of the sp. gr. so far. I would think it was still where it was for the hyposalinity treatment.

However, you open up a can of worms regarding the 'right' sp. gr. :evil: Some very old texts list 1.016 as the target sp. gr. Later ones indicate 1.014 is the target. But evidence has shown that what hyposalinity does is 'stress' the disease. We know what stress to the fish is like, well in the case of a hyposalinity process, stress is put on the pathogen.

Since almost all marine fishes can handle 11ppt or about 1.008 to 1.009 sp. gr. units, this level puts the greatest stress on the pathogen and prevents the likelihood it will make it into a third generation.

This level has been tested by a couple of professional/public aquariums, most notably the one in Oklahoma City, a few years back. I adopted this same treatment from them, following their good success with it. Is it necessary? Probably not, but best to err on the conservative side where the fish is okay and more stress is heaped upon the pathogen.

 

[Jan]

Sounds good, Lee.

When I had my sick clown in QT, I didn't go below 1.011 and he recovered. I never was entirely sure what was wrong with him, just that he almost died. He recovered except for his eyesight but he still seems to be be a happy clown, hanging out in his RBTA and getting hand-fed every night.

 

[carlos_fb]

Lee is right, I haven'r raised the salinity since I started the hyposalinity treatment.

The fish is eating like crazy 3 times a day, it's stomach which looked sunken until last week, is looking way better and I am sure it will look completely normal in a week if it continues eating this way.

The swimming is better but not normal. It used to spend all the time at the bottom of the QT but now it is all over.

Should I just leave it alone?

 

[leebca]

Just complete the hyposalinity treatment, and maintain excellent water quality. You might want to include immune boosters, vitamin supplements, and fat supplements in its food. Immune Boosters

 

[carlos_fb]

I just got home and he is dead. Yesterday I spent like an hour just checking on him and he looked perfect, actually I was planing on putting him on the main tank next weekend since the hypo treatment was almost completed. This morning he looked fine, I fed him and now he's gone.

I double checked all the parameters and they all look good so I don't understand what happened to him, very sad for sure!

 

[Jan]

Bummer!!!

 

[leebca]

Sorry to hear this.

For the record, you understand that after the hyposalinity treatment, the fish is still kept in quarantine to verify it was cured. Check out the recommended procedure.