Is my Gastromyzon injured or sick? (pics incl.)

[Iris76]

I could use some help, please.
I have a Gastromyzon ( I think he's a Farragus) and he looks injured to me. It looks as if he has 2 tiny cuts from the side and from above it looks like a hole. He is also a bit skinnier than usual. Wednesday he looked fine, thursday he got the wound and the next day his back and tail looks a bit less fat. I saw him eating today and he's also grazing. I hope he is only injured. He does not appear sick to me because his patterns and colours aren't faint, does not breathe rapidly and he is eating but that he got skinnier and has an injury, concerns me. I have this male for over a year now and i have never seen him looking like this. Last time new fish were added to my tank was 6 weeks ago and the rest of his tankmates are looking and acting normally. He lost his mate a few months ago (they were my first Hillstream Loach couple ever) but he still appeared as a happy hilly.
In only 2 days time he does not look very well and i'm afraid i might loose him







Do you think he's injured or sick?
Do i need to quarantine him (if i can catch it!) or do i need to treat the whole tank?
What can i treat him with, if necessary?
Sorry for the blurry pics, my mobile aint thát great

[Jim Powers]

Its hard to say for sure, but I have had similar looking marks appear on Gastromyzons, too. On these individuals I thought that they might be wounds from a sharp rock. They soon dissappeared. I never noticed any change in activity or weight loss, though.
Removing the fish from the tank for quarantine would be difficult and very stressful to the fish. So, I think I would just make sure that the water quality is good, and observe this fish as well as the rest of the fish in the tank for the time being and see if the fish gets better in a few days. The fact that it is acting normal and feeding is a good sign.
Let us know what happens.

[Menu]

Hi Iris,
It really looks after injury.
Patchy Disease comes faster you notice it after four or five days.
So I do not think he´s sick.
When he eats and is not always hidden, he's probably healthy.
Observe good and change the water often!
But where do these injuries?
Do you have any aggressive fish in the tank?
They do not tolerate stress well.

[Iris76]

Thanks guys, that's reassuring.
I think it's more possible that he cut himself on the gravel, than that he cut himself on the slatestone. I do have a lot of slatestone in my tank but every sh*tty piece had it's edges treated with a sandingmachine. (i still cough when i think of the dust that came off!) The gravel is tumbled but maybe he got stuck somehow and cut himself, i really have no clue.
It's not a gaping wound, it's just that i am worried. I love this loach, he can show iridescent greens for time to time on his back and then he's so beautiful. I hope he'll turns out ok. In a 100x50x40 cm tank his tankmates are:

- 6 other Gastromyzon Ocellatus/Farragus
- 5 Beaufortia Kweichowensis
- 1 Pseudogastromyzon Cheni
- 5 Schistura Balteata
- 2 Rhinogobius Wui/Duospilus
- 2 Stiphodon Rainbowcolour
- 4 Atyopsis Moluccensis

The only ones that can be feisty sometimes are the Schistura's and the Cheni. The Cheni is called 'The General' because he has warts on his nose and looking all manly when he raises his coloured dorsalfin, making sure the whole tank is his during feeding time. But i do not think he could have injured the Gastromyzon. The Schistura's are only bothering eachother and never bully the Hillies. For the rest they are squirming in and out of the many holes between the stacked pebbles, playing in the flow underneath the waterfall or scouting the tubes that run under the gravel. I hardly see them all over the tank, so i do not think thay are the ones to blame either.

Tomorrow i'll do a waterchange ( saturday is always tank maintenance day ) let him in the tank, watch him that he keeps eating and if anything chances, good or bad, i'll let you know what happend. I always use vitamin drops on their food, so i hope he's strong enough to pull this through without any bacterial infection. They are used to a pipette so i can always try to feed him directly. Usually he relishes Artemia and bloodworms but i only feed them frozen foods, once a week. For the rest it's algae wafers from hikari and Tetra.

In the meanwhile i'll keep my ...

[Iris76]

The cut looks better and smaller than yesterday, but he is skinny
I assume that the wound bothers him and that eating isn't easy.
He does graze but not constantly. He does move through the tank, isn't shy or acting sick and even scooches up the ladies. His colours and definitions are fine but he has a 'tent-like' look on his spine that worries me.
I hope the cut is gonna heal, with that his ability to graze and that he gains weight soon ...

Atleast he eats:


A bit of the cut and that he's skinny:


From the underside he looks normal to me:




Even has time to scooch on over to the ladies :


♂ & ♀ :


From above his patterns and definition look great but he has that 'tent-like' skinny look on his spine:


Sorry that the algae are disturbing some pics but i only keep the front pane of the tank algae free.

[Jim Powers]

The tent-like look and rapid weight loss is what concerns me most.
Do you have any idea how old this fish is? I was wondering if old age is part of the problem.

[Menu]

That looks not good.
He could also have intestinal flagellates.
Even if he eats enough, he becomes progressively thinner.
If he is older, a treatment has not much sense
It is very difficult to cure infected fish.

[Iris76]

Hi Jim & Menu,

I have it 1,5 years and got it from the dealer, so i have no clue.
For what i know, they have a lifespan of 5 to 6 years.
This one was full grown when i bought it, so it might be age.

He's still alive and he is still eating but is getting thinner on his tail by the day.
Still good in his pattern and definitions but has a whitish, thready feces hanging out his anus and that makes me think of internal worms. It's hard to see on the pic, but it is hanging out of his anus. The thread looks like it's a scratch on the glass but it's his poo.
I have Cerpofor Dactycid from Colombo. It's for all sorts of internal and external worms, Hydra's and Planaria.

Components :
- Levamisole 10 mg./ ml.
- Flubendazole 0,0196 mg./ ml.

Dosage/Use:
- 1 ml. per 5 liter
- Add aeration
- Change 25% of the water before dosage
- Change again, 25% of the water after 48 hours and start to filter over carbon.
- Repeat treatment after 14 days.

I know this medicine worked on a goldfish before, but i have never used any medication on my Hillstreams and i'm a bit nervous about this, because they are so sensitive to it but i really feel if i don't treat him, i'm gonna loose him anyway.
( and i'm afraid i need to treat the whole tank )
I started a q-tank with active filtermedium and grown rocks from the big tank, so i'm waiting for the q- tank to get on temperature and i'll put him in. He is not afraid at all, i can pick up a rock where he clings on, lift it up and he usually doesn't swim away. I think i can trick him that way.

I'm gonna start with 50% of the recommended dosage.
Maybe i'm already too late but i'm going for it.

I'll keep you guys posted.
Thanks for concerning, the feedback is much appreciated.

[Jim Powers]

Good luck!! And keep us posted.
As for lifespan, I have two Gastromyzons at the moment that I bought as adults 8 years ago, so some will live more than 5-6 years.

[Iris76]

Thanks, i'm gonna need that luck!

I just put him in the quarantine tank and caught it without any chasing.
I lifted the rock slowly from the tank and put it in the q-tank, with hilly and all.
He has a few algae rocks from the rivertank, an internal filter, aeration and a heater in the setup,
so i guess this is what he'll have to do it with. Now all i can do is wait and hope for the best.



I'll keep you guys posted.

@Jim: 8 years! Congrats, means they thrive well by your care.

[Menu]

White mucous feces is a sure sign of intestinal parasites.
I hope you have success with the treatment!
As guarantees apply my knowledge: Maracyn, CostapurF and Esha2000, but this mediums does not help against intestinal flagellate.
Everything else carries a degree of danger!


Good luck!

[Iris76]

Thnx guys.
I checked this morning (8 a.m.) and the little fella is still alive.
Gonna check if he wants to eat something today.
I'm gonna keep you posted!

Edit: 2 p.m.
My Gastromyzon died.
When i got home from work i checked on him and he was dead.
Menu, thank you for the medicine advice, i will get Esha2000.
Too bad it was now or never for this Gastromyzon and that Dactacid is all i have that treats worms.
But i'm still glad i tried. If i hadn't, i would have lost him anyhow.

Pfff, i do not like this at all. Do i need to treat the maintank?
I mean, is it a running timebomb (contagious) or should i wait and take the risk and see if more individuals get sick?

[Menu]

Sorry you lost them.

I would treat the whole tank in no case!
Usually have only a few fish.
Intestinal flagellate drags you sometimes in with frozen food, so only buy high-quality!
Observe good and good luck!

[Jim Powers]

Sorry to hear that your fish died.

[cider]

Hi Iris, sorry to hear , was following the posts. bummer. G