Secondary infection?

[mellofone]

I have a tank that had several clowns in. They have survived over 4+ years, even through some tank migrations, as well as us moving into a new house. I was shocked I never had any problems.

I guess I spoke too soon...

I added a few more baby clowns in the last weeks. Even after being in a quarantine tank, they apparently developed ich. I've never had ich before in the many years of using tanks, so I GUESS that's what it was. The fish had small white spots on the tails and bodies, and they all started breathing very heavily. I thought I cought it early enough, and I have been dosing with Rid-Ich+ (at just over 1/2 dose) for 2 weeks. I followed the directions (except the 1/2 dose part) and added it every 24 hours. I upped the tank temp to about 81 degrees. The Tiger Barbs seemed not to like it any warmer then this, so this seemd to be a happy medium. I was also doing a 25% water change with gravel vac every other day.

Things seemed like they were clearing up, and then the body count began. So far 5 of the 7 smaller clowns are gone, and my two older clowns look like they aren't doing any better. My 4", 3 year old seems to be in decent shape, but he still has smaller white dots on him, on his fins and even on his eyes. He has now started to swim "differently." I guess I could describe it as a balance issue??? One of the smaller clowns still has white dots all over him. I assume I am fighting a losing battle here...

The larger, 7" 4 year old is all but done for. He has been on his side for a full day now. He has very few white spots on him, but this morning, something different happened. I can only describe it as he's losing his skin or something. His tail is also just coming apart at the ends. See pics:





He's breathing steadily, but I can't honestly think he will live through it. Is that common with just ich, or have I gotten something else? I hate to sound over dramatic, but it's really killing me. I finally (after far too long), got these guys moved into a larger tank. Everything was going along fine for quite some time, and now this.

Should I be using something else besides Rid-Ich? The Tiger Barbs that are also in the tank seemed to have pulled through it with little or no issues, and the spots appear to be gone. Believe me, I am open to ANY suggestions. Should I Keep dosing?

[Katy]

I'm sorry. Hopefully the experts will be here to come to the rescue in time!

[Diana]

If the Ich is still showing up with new spots then I would increase the dose of Rid Ich. Dose some in the morning and some in the evening for a total of 75% of the labeled dose, or even up to 100%. The reason for splitting the dose AM and PM is that Rid Ich does start to break down after a few hours, and maybe it is getting too low to kill the Ich. By adding some in the AM and some in the PM you are keeping the dose a little higher, so maybe it will be high enough to kill the Ich, but still is less than a full dose added all at once, easier on the fish.

I do not know what is going on with the fish with the damaged tail. Is there a power head in the tank? Any other way he could have gotten injured?

[mellofone]

I do not know what is going on with the fish with the damaged tail. Is there a power head in the tank? Any other way he could have gotten injured?

There is an FX5 filter and a small aquaball filter. Nothing that could do damage like that.

[JonasBygdemo]

Could it be a bacterial infection?

[mellofone]

Could it be a bacterial infection?

That's what my question was. I have no idea.

It's a moot point really, all the clowns but one have died. I just wish I knew what I had so I can treat it...

[Rychek]

Whatever you do, do NOT follow the directions on the bottle for stubborn cases of ich! That is to say, don't dose a full dose every 12 hrs. I made this mistake and all of my clowns paid the price for it. Instead, do like Diana suggested and dose less more frequently if needed.

[mellofone]

So now that basically everyone is dead, except for the tiger barbs, what is the best way to proceed? Should I dose more? I basically have to start over...

[FishyLady]

So sorry to read this, it must be soul destroying!!!

Val

[plaalye]

How big is the tank mellofone? You definitely need to continue treatment. I treat full strength for at least a week after the last visual spot is gone. I've never had a loss. Sorry for yours!
If this is a large tank, and you have a smaller tank available, you might move the barbs to the smaller tank for treatment, it's so much easier. You could then sterilize the big tank and start it clean again.If there's only a few barbs, and you're not too attached to them, you might do a clean sweep and start over completely. Tough decision but this way there's no danger of transmission to the new tank. Best of luck going forward!

[mellofone]

It is a 75 gallon tank...

[newshound]

very sad
i

[glenna]

I swear that looks like some sort of flesh eating bacteria on the tail of the deceased loach laying on the bottom. Plus, I can;t really see any ich spots on the dying fish... (not that ich is that hard to ID, but maybe the weakened fish succumbed to secondary infection)
Would definitely treat for bacteria in order to clear the tank. It is a shame you cannot send a wound culture to ID the pathogen, but that would be too late at this point, anyway.

[mellofone]

The only odd thing I can see in the tank is some white fuzz that grows on certain things. The last clown died while I was at work. By the time I came home, he was covered in white fuzz. I also noticed that some shrimp pellets and veggie pellets seemed to be covered by this fuzz. It only seemed like things on the bottom. Maybe that's why the loaches were infected and not the free swimming barbs?



Excuse the terrible quality, I was too busy cleaning things up to go and grab my SLR. Any ideas?

[PASoracco]

the white fuzz makes me thing it was a bacterial or fungal infection that combined with the ich. The loss of color and fin rot on that fish also make it seem like more was wrong that just ich, even a really bad case of ich. the fuzzy food makes me feel like their could also be over feeding or water parameter issues; did you measure your nitrate, nitrite, etc during any of this?

I would move the remaining barbs if possible, wash the substrate, gently rinse the filter medium in tank water, and start over fresh.