Red veins, fin deteration,

[Helen 8,511]

thanks hun. yes you did.. we will discuss more on the report, ok?

[koko 14,363]

thanks hun. yes you did.. we will discuss more on the report, ok?

[Sieta 69]

I actually went and picked up some Tetracycline early this morning and began treatment with it today because when I woke up some of them had the beginning of some eye bulging going on.

I hope this is the correct stuff? All the symptoms I had seen in the fish matched the box better than the other antibiotics I looked at in the store.

Koko any time I have tested the pH in the tap compared to before a water change it's usually spot on and they usually handle large changes well, but I hadn't tested the tap in awhile so it's possible, plus I had all the salt in before those large changes so I thought that may contribute as well...

Edited February 15, 2016 by Sieta

[Helen 8,511]

you can use the tetracycline.. however, you need to be sure that your PH is not above 7.5. word is that the med is ineffective when the PH level is at 7.5 or greater. so, if your PH is less than 7.5, please go ahead and use it.

[Sieta 69]

I just now tested my tap and the tank with the meds in it.

My tap is testing at 6.6 pH

My tank with meds is at 7.8-8

Will the meds raise the pH?

Is this still effective?

I had already started the meds yesterday morning around 8 am, I was afraid to wait any longer when I saw the bulging start and increased white poops. Lily the gold ryukin who was going belly up so bad and had the worst tail is doing remarkably better this morning, she is swimming upright and even unclamped off and on and her tail looks better.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Sieta

[Helen 8,511]

the information i read online for tetracycline is that the medicine becomes ineffective with PH over 7.5, but if you are already seeing improvements using it with your current PH, then continue on.

[Sieta 69]

Hopefully it's not just wishful thinking on my part, here's a video.

<a href='http://s1081.photobucket.com/user/Sereya_Dawn_Sims/media/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20160215_093148_zps41zeo5z7.jpg.html'><span rel='lightbox'><img src='http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j347/Sereya_Dawn_Sims/Mobile%20Uploads/IMG_20160215_093148_zps41zeo5z7.jpg' alt='Posted Image' class='bbc_img' /></span></a><iframe id="ytplayer" class="EmbeddedVideo" type="text/html" width="640" height="390" src="http://youtube.com/embed/rxK0tu81Ch4?html5=1&fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen /></iframe>

Edited February 15, 2016 by Sieta

[Helen 8,511]

they look good compared to your previous description. i say keep going

[Sieta 69]

Hopefully I'll never have to deal with something like this again, but just in case what's the preferred antibiotic to have on hand?

[DawnMichele 6,045]

Glad they are doing better.

[Arctic Mama 3,638]

Sieta, my basic medicine cabinet of antibiotics is kanamycin, metronidazole, furan 2, erythromycin, triple sulfa, and yes, good old General Cure. I usually grab for the first three but I've had need of each at various points in my fish keeping.

I also keep praziquantel, levamisole, epsom salt, aquarium salt, paraguard, acriflavine, methylene blue, and quick cure (a formalin/malachite green treatment) on hand.

I live remotely enough that getting meds quickly can be problematic, so I have quite a fish pharmacy around here

[Sieta 69]

I've got furan 2 and kanaplex coming from amazon.

I already keep meth blue, salt, prazi pro,

api and jungle fungus and parasite meds, (I can never remember which brand is which one for these)

And my local store is 5 mins from me and they keep erythromycin, general cure, and Tetracycline.

Should I order the other stuff to keep on hand?

[Sieta 69]

So far all the fish have shown improvement. But Stripes has given me a new worry now.... Can you guys let me know if this is something else I need to worry about or just part of the process?

Here are the status rundowns on them all at the moment...

They all are now eating again...

Choji - has been a champ through the whole process he has been barely acting like nothing was wrong through most of it.

Lily - who was floating belly up and getting stuck to the filter with all that crap on her tail is now swimming around like nothing is wrong, and her tail almost looks normal.

Bully - who was one of the healthier ones with Choji was the one that showed the eye bulging though and has been bottom sitting ever since, but his eyes do look normal again, and this morning he started back eating with the rest of them and moving around.

Stripes - was the other one that had massive trouble swimming, constantly bottom sitting and the bloody smears on his belly The bloody smears/red belly area is completely gone now and looks normal. The small white fungus looking patches he had at his fin are gone now. He is eating now and looking a bit more active....

BUT this morning I'm seeing two white areas on the top of his head that look almost like the calcium/salt water spots you can get on the tank when you drip some salt water and it dries. Sorry that's the best way I can think of to describe it.

Today will be the last and 4th dose of the Tetracycline.

Is there something else going o. With these new patches?

<a href="http://s1081.photobucket.com/user/Sereya_Dawn_Sims/media/Mobile%20Uploads/Photo%20Collage%20Maker_oTi8jB_zps2x9uwmd3.png.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j347/Sereya_Dawn_Sims/Mobile%20Uploads/Photo%20Collage%20Maker_oTi8jB_zps2x9uwmd3.png" border="0" alt=" photo Photo Collage Maker_oTi8jB_zps2x9uwmd3.png"/></a>

[Helen 8,511]

it could very well be a reaction to the meds. i say let it be for now but keep a close eye on it.  when the course of Tetracycline has finished, do a very large water change and refresh the water with no meds. keep that going for a few days to see if everyone continues on well with no meds. the white spots look very much to the surface and i am not concerned about them this very minute.

 

if it gets any worse or even no better without the Tetracycline in the water, post back immediately with pics so we can compare and assess what to do next.

 

i am glad that they are all making good improvements

[Sieta 69]

OK good, that's what I was hoping to be able to do.

I just want to say thank you Helen you have been so very kind through this whole ordeal and everyone has been so great and helpful.

I suppose I should consider myself lucky I've never had to deal with problems like these before with my tanks. The worst I had ever had to do in all the years before this was the occasional fin rot from buying my bettas in cups and flukes that weren't very bad at all. It's scary.

[Sieta 69]

I did the water changes and.removed the tetracycline today. 3 of the fish seem great and like their old selves again.

Those spots on stripes through spread to cover the top of his head and he is back to bottom sitting and clamped.

I'll post a video shortly.

[Sieta 69]

[Helen 8,511]

any chance we can put this one in a hospital tank/tub?

[Helen 8,511]

 

 

it's really annoying, i can't get this video to display or even to show a link. but i received it as a link in my email notifications and so i was able to see your video.

[Helen 8,511]

OMG. everything weird just happened with that post ^

[Sieta 69]

Yeah I can put him in a hospital tank, will a 10 do? Or do I need to find room for my 20?

By the way, all the spreading on his head happened before the meds were taken out. He has been pretty steady since, but this morning he is swimming to get food so a little improvement.

[shakaho 6,312]

We recommend 10 gallons which makes for easy water changes and easy measurement of medications which often have dosages per 10 gallons.

[Sieta 69]

He has actually started swimming a good bit more just since my last post. He has eaten pretty well. Would it be.OK to hold off on moving him for just a little bit to see if it was just a bad reaction to the meds? If not I'll go ahead and move him now. There's pics I just took to show his head.

[Helen 8,511]

if you are comfortable to just keep observing at this stage, then we are happy for you to do so. my only concern is that the funky slimecoat on his head (which is spreading) will get worse. so please keep an eye on it. if within the next 24 hours that patch spreads, i am recommending salt dips and would like to to prepare for such a process. so, if situations worsen and you choose to go with my recommendation, here is the process for you to become familiar with.

 

SALT DIP

1. dissolve 30 teaspoons salt/gallon of water (30 grams/Liter, or 113.7g/gallon). This concentration is 3%. Let it match the temp/pH of the tank, and make sure to add de-chlorinator. You can also use tank water, but because you are adding a lot of salt per gallon, you will need to heat up the water. Hence, it's crucial that you cool it back down.

2. prepare a holding tank. This is a tank that is pH/temp matched with the main tank, and has been de-chlorinated. This can be a 5 gallon tub, with bubblestone, or something bigger.

3. make sure you have some sort of timer

4. gently lift the fish out of the tank, and place into temp/pH matched salt solution.

5. start timer.

6. if the fish stays continues to stay upright, or tilts over but can get back up, keep him/her in the salt solution for exactly 5 minutes.

7. remove fish from the salt, and place in holding tank. The reason why we do this is to: 1) give the fish a place to recover by him/herself, and 2)to let the fish purge out ammonia/wastes in a place that is not the main tank.

8. if the fish starts to lose balance and cannot get back before the minutes, remove him/her and place in holding tank, as described in #6.

9. after 1-2 hours, the fish can be moved back to the main tank. He/She might still be disoriented, but should be fine.

[Sieta 69]

OK, I'll do this at 4pm this evening if there's no decrease/improvement or it's spread more. It's 8am here now so that's in 8 hours and will give him a full 24 hours out of the meds.

Does that sound OK? It will also give my husband time to get home to help me set everything up since I have neurological problems and have a rough time carrying anything especially if it's breakable or fragile. I'd hate to drop the poor guy or a tank.

If needed immediately though I'll do it myself and hope for the best.

Edited February 19, 2016 by Sieta