Nearly lost the P. Alternans

[killforfood]

My Daughters tank has been running now for a couple of months with no real problems. I did notice though that a couple of the female Zebra Danios were being driven pretty hard by the males and had apparently sustained some damage in the mouth area as there was a bit of white on their lower lips. I decided to treat with Melafix since it’s supposed to be a fairly safe natural antibiotic and I could always progress to stronger medications later if needed. We were doing a water change and decided to add the medication to the fresh water. This is the first time using this medication and I made the near fatal mistake of misreading the dosage. So rather than adding 5ml per 10 gallons I added 10ml per 10 gallons. I also should have taken into account that a 25 gallon tank is really more like 20 gallons and when you consider the gravel rocks and driftwood its even less. Needless to say I gave the tank a serious overdose. The effects were immediate; the P. Alternans which I rarely see started popping up all over the place. Some were swimming for the surface and one was floating and couldn’t overcome his buoyancy. The Danios clamped their fins and went pale. The only time I’ve ever seen something so dramatic was years ago when I set off a bug a bug bomb in the basement. All of the fish were showing similar signs of extreme stress and were only saved after doing a massive water change.



I spent days searching all over town to find these rare P. Alternans and in this picture this one is pale and near death floating on the surface.



It’s just not normal for these guys to come out in the open like this.
Moments after this picture was taken, this little P.Alternans rolled over on his side and laid there like he was dead. I felt sick.



Here’s one hanging in the plants near death.


I’m not sure why I took the time to take the pictures but I was kind of confused and upset trying to figure out what I had done and what to do to correct it. I reread the dosage on the bottle and immediately realized that I had overdosed them and that I needed to do a major water change and fast. I hollered at my Daughter who was sitting there crying on her bed (boy if that didn’t make me feel terrible) to run to the kitchen and start filling buckets. She’s a real trooper and has learned how to do water changes and match the temperature to her tank. I ran to the garage for 2 more buckets and quickly hacked off the top of a milk jug to make a fast water scooper. In no time I had 15 gallons out of the tank and Rachel had already filled a bucket of fresh water and added some Amquel to kill the chlorine and was running for a second. It was all very dramatic. I think my wife must have thought the house was on fire the way we were running back and forth with our water buckets.

In the end all was good. The fish responded to the fresh water like it was from the fountain of youth and totally and quickly recovered. Best of all Rachel gave me a big hug and thanked me for saving her fish. Never mind that it was my stupid mistake that nearly killed them. I’m just glad she was there helping out as I’m not sure I could have done every thing fast enough by myself to save them.
I hope this next line doesn’t offend the dyed in the wool fish lovers out there but I would rather discard a couple Danios than risk an entire tank die-off. I’ll probably have to run the risk of medications again soon though as I noticed that adding the buckets of water stirred up the gravel and apparently little white worms are breeding in the substrate. First I need to identify them to determine if they are friend or foe. The Danios eat them like they are candy but if these worms can survive as internal parasites, I’m in trouble.


Here's a couple of pictures taken a few days ago before the near disaster


Rachel calls him Mr Crackles because she heard me tell the guy at the store to catch the one with cracked paint on his side Personally I can't tell the P. Alternans apart yet.



This is Snake Eyes, well, because he has Snake Eyes


I'm still trying to decipher this guys name but it appears to be in Hebrew or something? I hope it's not Arabic cause I'll be forced to call Home Land Security on him


Hammy is our Triangularis. He's constantly on the lookout for intruders in his territory. The Kuhlis pretty much tell him to take a flying leap but he sure has the Albino Ancistrus buffaloed.


Sure am glad I'm ending this on a happy note.
Joel.

[mikev]

Glad the fish survived!

FYI:

Melafix is not a good idea with Kuhli's even at "normal" dose. It sends them into an overdrive (some kind of psychedelic action) and there was a case mentioned when a Kuhli might have died from it.

I've used it once to extract kuhlis from a tank where the only alternative was stripping the tank; they got only short-term exposure to it; this appears not to be harmful. Long-term exposure at the very least exhausts and stresses them in big way. If melafix does get into a tank with kuhli's, it is best to try to remove it asap.

Given that melafix is a very weak drug, I'm not certain it is ever warranted.

[Mark in Vancouver]

What a sensational kuhli! Glad to hear everything survived.

[killforfood]

What a sensational kuhli! Glad to hear everything survived.

Thanks Mark,
This criptic critter still has me confused about his species. I'm leaning towards P. Kuhlii or P. Myersi. either way I love the crazy pattern on him.

[cybermeez]

I had Kuhlis react very badly to Melafix at normal doses a few years ago and adopted the emergency water change strategy too. I haven't used it in a tank with Kuhlis since. PimaFix (made by the same company) is even worse. It outright killed them so I'd strongly advise against every using PimaFix on Kuhlis. They are quirky little critters and you never know how they'll react to things, even from one individual to another.

BTW if those little white worms are short, like 1/4 inch or so, then they are probably planaria which are a harmless fish snack. They eat excess food in the gravel and can be a sign of over feeding. You might also see them wriggling on the glass or in the water column.

When I had my Mooseface I was happy to have planaria living in the substrate because that's what Mr. Moose thrived on. I think planaria are essential to the survival of such hard to keep sand sifters.

[killforfood]

Well I'm happy to say that all the Kuhlis appear to be doing fine. I took a week and a half off work to go hunting and that allowed me to observe the tank this morning while I would normally be at work. I was thrilled to see as many as five or six P. Alternans out foraging at once. Their colors were bright and they were quite active. Whoo Hoo
I'm pressed for time packing and all so no pictures but when I get back I'll take some more. I need to also get pictures of these little worms that live in the gravel but so far my attempts have only proven that my camera hates me. They look smaller than the Planeria pictures that I looked up. These are white and as thin or thinner than a human hair and not longer 8mm.
With the high magnification of a loupe I can see tiny ones on the glass that are probably no longer than .1mm.
I'll have to sort this all out when I get back.
See Ya, Joel.

[cybermeez]

Glad to hear the Kuhlis are dong well! There are many different species of planaria and I'd bet money that's what you're seeing in your tank. I'll be very surprised if you can get a photo of them because they are so small...like short, little pieces of thread.

Tubiflex worms are long and unless you've fed live ones to your fish, they won't be in your tank.