fish disaster

[mooreay@_no_spam_pipeline.com.au]

Hi all

A few weeks ago we noted the out break of a fungal infection in our 4' -190lt
tropical setup. The tank is/was stocked with mostly S American a mix of tetras
and 5 corys, 4 large clown loaches for snail control and a solitary
bristlenose catfish. We checked our ancient copy of Axelrod and found that it
was only infectious to ill fish and shouldn't bother any others. Over the last
2 weeks we lost only a few tetras. Two days ago we purchased 12 rummy nose and
12 harlequin rasboras (sp?) to restock. We treated the tank with a commercial
treatment called Pimafix which is supposedly all natural -it seemed to have a
lot of tea tree oil in it. The dosage was only 40mls for the entire tanks (4
teaspoons).We came home last night to find ½ the tanks dead. I did an
immediate 25% water change. During the evening we lost the remainder of the
corys. Tonight we finally lost the bristlenose that had survived so much with
us - it was like losing a member of the family. We also found the last loach
dead as well as 4 of the rasboras. We are down to only 10 harlequins in the
tank.

Tank ph is 7 - temp is 24C - no nitrites or ammonia according to the test kit
I have. My question is what the heck can kill so quickly in such a stable
tank? We have had fish breeding in this tank and it has been running for over
5 years. This loss has been devastating. Any ideas - please reply here or to


thanks

[Elaine T]

wrote:
> Hi all
>
> A few weeks ago we noted the out break of a fungal infection in our 4' -190lt
> tropical setup. The tank is/was stocked with mostly S American a mix of tetras
> and 5 corys, 4 large clown loaches for snail control and a solitary
> bristlenose catfish. We checked our ancient copy of Axelrod and found that it
> was only infectious to ill fish and shouldn't bother any others. Over the last
> 2 weeks we lost only a few tetras. Two days ago we purchased 12 rummy nose and
> 12 harlequin rasboras (sp?) to restock. We treated the tank with a commercial
> treatment called Pimafix which is supposedly all natural -it seemed to have a
> lot of tea tree oil in it. The dosage was only 40mls for the entire tanks (4
> teaspoons).We came home last night to find ½ the tanks dead. I did an
> immediate 25% water change. During the evening we lost the remainder of the
> corys. Tonight we finally lost the bristlenose that had survived so much with
> us - it was like losing a member of the family. We also found the last loach
> dead as well as 4 of the rasboras. We are down to only 10 harlequins in the
> tank.
>
> Tank ph is 7 - temp is 24C - no nitrites or ammonia according to the test kit
> I have. My question is what the heck can kill so quickly in such a stable
> tank? We have had fish breeding in this tank and it has been running for over
> 5 years. This loss has been devastating. Any ideas - please reply here or to
>
>
> thanks

Are you sure it was fungus and not flexibacter? Flexibacter columnaris
(old but common scientific name) can cause fuzzy, fungus-like patches on
fish and rapid wipeouts. Forget the Pimafix - it's snake oil.
Flexibacter lives in tanks and becomes infectious when tank conditions
favor its growth and stress the fish. This usually happens when there's
a buildup of debris in the gravel and a lot of dissolved organics in
the water as is common in old tanks.

A thorough tank cleaning is in order, at least two cups of fresh carbon,
and lots of water changes. Also add 1 tsp/gallon salt as it slows the
growth of the bacteria.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com
PGP public key available at https://keyserver1.pgp.com/

[Daniel Morrow]

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Hash: SHA1

Bottom posted.

- --
You can find my public key at https://keyserver1.pgp.com
> wrote in message
...
> Hi all
>
> A few weeks ago we noted the out break of a fungal infection in our
4' -190lt
> tropical setup. The tank is/was stocked with mostly S American a mix of
tetras
> and 5 corys, 4 large clown loaches for snail control and a solitary
> bristlenose catfish. We checked our ancient copy of Axelrod and found that
it
> was only infectious to ill fish and shouldn't bother any others. Over the
last
> 2 weeks we lost only a few tetras. Two days ago we purchased 12 rummy nose
and
> 12 harlequin rasboras (sp?) to restock. We treated the tank with a
commercial
> treatment called Pimafix which is supposedly all natural -it seemed to
have a
> lot of tea tree oil in it. The dosage was only 40mls for the entire tanks
(4
> teaspoons).We came home last night to find ½ the tanks dead. I did an
> immediate 25% water change. During the evening we lost the remainder of
the
> corys. Tonight we finally lost the bristlenose that had survived so much
with
> us - it was like losing a member of the family. We also found the last
loach
> dead as well as 4 of the rasboras. We are down to only 10 harlequins in
the
> tank.
>
> Tank ph is 7 - temp is 24C - no nitrites or ammonia according to the test
kit
> I have. My question is what the heck can kill so quickly in such a stable
> tank? We have had fish breeding in this tank and it has been running for
over
> 5 years. This loss has been devastating. Any ideas - please reply here or
to
>
>
> thanks

Could a disease have been brought into your tank via the new fish? Maybe
flexibacter hitched a ride on the new fish into your tank? Just a thought,
good luck and later!

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