[BronwenL]

Hi all, I'm pretty new to the aquarium hobby (4 months or so) and I'm learning a lot. Unfortunately much of it the hard way. I joined the forum to seek advice after a large, sudden die-off. I think a parasite or disease came into my tank with a group of galaxy rasboras. They have all died except one, and taken about 50% of my other fish with them including all but one of my dwarf emerald rasboras. I've been treating with Melafix and Pimafix, then went to Herbal Microbe-lift for 10 days. Now I have Bifuran+ recommended by my LFS as a food additive. Except that there are no instructions on adding it to food. Pointers greatly appreciated! Thanks for having me.

[BronwenL]

Update: I've figured out what is killing my fish. Camallanus worms. So nasty!!! Dont know what to do for this. Yuck!

[Jakiebabie]

Welcome Bronwen! Love the name!
Well I can tell you, likely 80 percent of the members in here have learned the hard way just like you! I'm sorry you also had this experience!!
But we're glad you found us!
I don't have any experience in the meds.... but I'm thinking it should be a very good long time before you add another fish... a month if you can hold off. Let all the meds wear off, or eventually use some carbon in your filter for a few days to pull the old meds out. Your tank has been thru a lot and needs to settle... mature.... chillax!
At this point who/what is left in there? How big is the tank? Do you know all your numbers? Am, NI, NA, PH etc? If you don't know these numbers, get yourself a liquid API test kit. (more reliable than strips)
One thing that would really help the tank is live plants if you can. Let nature do it's thing. And.... when the budget allows.... get a 10 Gal (min) quarantine tank where newbies live for a min of 3 weeks, some say more, before being added to the main tank. Good luck, keep us posted on how it's doing!!

[thekoimaiden]

Hey and welcome to the forum! I'm sorry you joined under such sad circumstances, but I hope we can help you get them all cleared up. The people over in the disease forum are great helpers. I invite you to post there, but don't forget to copy and paste the sticky into your first post. It will help speed along the process.

[Bronwen]

Thank you for the welcome Jakiebabie and koimaiden.

This is my tank tonight:
It is planted with live plants, and all the decor except for a "fertility goddess" (glass) and a Buddha (resin) are real rock or wood.


I definitely will not be adding any more fish any time soon. I have found a guy online who is going to get me some meds for the worms (EEEUUU!!!!!) so hopefully I'll be able to get that before I have any more losses. I feel bad for the poor little guys - the worms must hurt. Did I mention EEUUU!!!

As of last count I have:
3 female guppies and 2 fancy males, plus at least 5 3-day old fries
5 neon tetras
5 white-tip tetras (so cute! like little bulldogs)
4 gold longfin danios
1 galaxy rasbora
1 dwarf emerald rasbora
3 Gertrude's blue-eyed dwarf rainbowfish
1 male and 2 female Praecox rainbowfish
8 Cories (2 peppered, 2 dwarf panda, 2 false julii and 2 possibly agassizi)
3 siamese algae eaters
A handful of Amano, Orange Halo and Cherry shrimp
10 Nerite snails and too many of those average pest snails that wont stop reproducing.

I also kept my 10 gallon starter tank so that I could use it as a hospital. Unfortunately I put an infected rainbowfish in there so I'm going to have to treat that before I can use it as the "welcoming" tank. This is the 10 gallon:


As for water parameters, I know I have hard water with pH of 7.5. I tried treating that early on but it just stressed the fish with extra chemicals so I am letting that be what it is. I've added some aquarium salt which seemed to make everyone feel better. I noticed an increase in appetite and activity all around. I've read conflicting reports about salt with Cories but so far they are my little champs and they're doing great. All my other water parameters are good. I have the API test kit and I'm somewhat ODC about using it. I test at least twice a week, especially if fish are sick. I keep the water unusually warm because it combats Ich, of which I had a very small outbreak a couple of weeks ago. I'll reduce the heat next week back to about 79/80 over the course of several days. I have the tank aerated and running a Penguin Biowheel 200 filter. The lights are 4x 6500 in an Odyssea fixture.

Today was the first day in over a week I didn't have a death in the tank, but seeing those red worms coming out of a Guppy and a rainbowfish didn't make me happy. Actually, it made me itch. Once I've tried this Levamisole to get rid of the Camallanus, I'll post the results in the disease forum. Maybe my trial and error can help someone else!

Okay, that was a huge post! Thanks again for the welcome.

[Jakiebabie]

Beautiful tanks!! Good for you for persevering thru all this... I know it can get very expensive! I agree KoiMaiden... we have another Disease Expert in the making here!!

[Olympia]

Welcome to TFK!
Sorry you're having illness troubles. :(
How big is your tank? It's very awesome looking.
Not going to note on insignificant schools since you said you lost a ton. But 79-80F as a permanent temperature is much too warm for many of these fish, so after everything's clear I'd do around 76F for them. :)

[Bronwen]

Thanks for the compliments Jakiebabie. I have to say this has been a MUCH more expensive hobby than expected - it started with one beautiful Betta by himself in a tiny bowl and went to the 10 gallon within less than 2 weeks. One of my employees started the 40 gallon for me and did the original "landscaping" which I've added to and modified over time. When the fish are well, I love the tank. I sit and watch the fish for hours. I get very upset when someone dies.

Thanks for the welcome Olympia! I will admit this has been stressful with the illness but I am relieved to have it positively identified. I thought it may be Aquatic TB for a while which sent me into a bit of a spiral. Next time I add fish I'll rebuild the schools of rainbowfish and rasboras, but everything will have been stable for a while by then. I'll follow your advice on the temperature. I'll drop it 2 degrees today and take it to 76 over 2 weeks. I have to go out of town tomorrow on business so hopefully when I get back everyone will be happy. Today, no new losses so far.

[thekoimaiden]

You and your employee did a great job on the aquascaping! That is a gorgeous tank. Let's hope all of your fish pull through this disease!

Ya.. this hobby can get kinda expensive. All told I could have probably bought another car with the money I've spent on my fish (over 5 years, tho).

[Olympia]

I thought this was a cheap hobby at first, minus the actual fish tank.
Boy was I wrong, especially getting into live plants, and now looking into books.
but it's worth it in the end.
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