possible parasites and meds

[Beckybettas]

Hi, Im looking for advice on safely medicating fish. Its a 32 gallon with ramshorns, bladders, 1 assassin,  1 mystery snail, 5 amano shrimp, 7 pracox rainbows, 5-7 kuhli loaches and a deceased giant betta. I also found a deceased rain bow fish yesterday. I added 7rainbow fish about 3 weeks ago and no I didnt quarentine. The betta recently was lethargic quit swimming, stopped eating and just rested on top of his see shelter near the surface. He became severly bloated and pine coned, I didnt want him to continuing to suffer so I put out of his misery. When I netted him I noticed a small greenish-brown jelly like blob on his side. The deceased rainbow fish just stayed at the surface, not eating and got very thin. So Im thinking possible parasites. I had noticed the betta and  some rainbows occasionally rubbing on plants. The betta also had a small round brown spot on his eye that never changed. I dont want to loose any more fish, Some more meds arrived today so what should I use? I m sorry but I didnt get fish pics. Here is a tank pic.

parameters: ph 7.2, ammonia .5 ( my tap H20 is also .5), nitrite 0, nitrate 5, temp 77-79 

 

[Colu]

As you have snails and shrimp I would use medicated food it less likely to harm your shrimp or snails what I would do is treat with levamisole in food feeding a small amount twice a day one day  a week for 4 weeks and follow up with a course of paracleanse in food feeding a small amount twice a day for upto 2 weeks @Beckybettas

[Beckybettas]

Thank you Colu for the info. Since I was missing some of the ingredients plus not sure if the loaches would get enough cuz they are competing with snails I followed the package directions and dosed the whole tank twice. Everything did ok, mystery snail and shrimp are more active, rainbows are hiding less but kuhlis don’t seem too happy. But now I have more problems…at least one of the rainbows has Popeyes in both eyes and looks to be starting to pinecone but they are eating ok.  A couple rainbow fish now have white poop.Loaches hiding more and eating less. My ammonia levels have gone up too and are staying at 1 so wondering if cycle crashed or something else is going on. Have done a couple of 30-50% water changes and added more bacteria but that  hasn’t helped. Ammonia 1, nitrite 0, nitrate < 5, ph 7.2, temp 78

not sure what to do next, thinking about Kanaplex?

[Colu]

Frist when Popeye is affecting both eyes it can be caused by a bacterial infections growth behind the eyes Frist what I would do is test daily and do  daily 50% water changes add a double dose of prime or Fritz complete to help detoxify any ammonia till it constantly stays at zero if you have some cycled media you could add from another tank that wil also help        re-establish your cycle what I would do is quarantine the rainbow fish with Popeye and treat with kanaplex and some aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 3 gallons the salt will help reduce any possible fluid buildup in the eye  @Beckybettas

[Beckybettas]

I added a new sponge filter that was soaking in a cycled tank for acouple of weeks, last week. My 10 G quarentine tank is getting a new  occupant tomorrow (bad timing) so cant use that one but have just set up a 2.5G . I do will do the salt and kanaplex and have increased the Complete. Thankyou for your help. This is starting to be a bit overwhelming but very thankful for ACo-op and this group.

[nabokovfan87]

Hoping things improve for you @Beckybettas Welcome to the forums.

[Beckybettas]

Thnakyou. but I still havent been able to catch the fish with popeye but found a RBF near death yesterday on bottom of tank, can only find 3 out of 6 kuhlis and those look like they have inflamation near their gills.......and I thought fish would be easier than an axolotl...... so wrong! 

[nabokovfan87]

Can you post new water test results? Are you showing ammonia, bubbles on the surface?

It might be worth adding some carbon to your filtration for the time being until you can identify what's been causing issues.

[Beckybettas]

I added a HOB filter with purigen about a week ago. I had removed the original filters to make more room for the fish and have been using a sponge filters instead. I wasnt sure if I could find one that fit into the top of my 32G Flex but fortunately a Tidal 35 fits perfectly. I added purigenn and its been running for a week now. Im continung to use the sponge filter as well. Ammonia levels dropped to less than .25 but today up to .5, ph 7.4, nitrite < .25, nitrate 5. I should also say that my tapwater has .5 ammonia as well so I have ammonia present in all my tanks (.25 to .5)but other fish are looking OK. 2 more rainbow fish in the 32 G are not looking well, 1 is bloated, 1 is wasting, both have white poop. Ive started the oral paracleanse that Colu reccommended but the sick ones are not eating. Not sure if the kuhli loaches will eat it and am worried left over medicated food will spike ammonia. May have to dose entire tank? Anyway am going to pick up carbon filter today (30 + miles). Ive been hesitant to make too many changes all at once so I could figure out was is going on. Hyger sponge filters for other tanks ( two 10 G, two 15G)  arrived today, am going to try adding some ammonia flters to them. May have to go to HOB filters for 10G, but HOB filters for 15G wont fit with lids. Im open to suggestions, not sure what else to do.  No ammonia bubbles in any tanks.  Thankyou for helping.

[nabokovfan87]

@Beckybettas it isn't an option for everyone, but if you're able to store water in a container for water changes it might be a method to off-gas your ammonia and get better water for your fish.  You can use a jug (video below) or a big trash can on wheels with lava rock at the bottom.  Add an airstone, and cover it with a lit (some vent holes added to the lid) and that would help to get rid of the ammonia in your water prior to water changes.
 

 

On 6/12/2023 at 3:22 PM, Beckybettas said:

Ive started the oral paracleanse that Colu reccommended but the sick ones are not eating. Not sure if the kuhli loaches will eat it and am worried left over medicated food will spike ammonia. May have to dose entire tank?

If you're having issues getting them to eat, yes you'd probably want to dose the tank after a few water changes.  Just keep in mind, whenever you add meds (food or directly to the tank) it is good practice to add an airstone.
 

 

On 6/12/2023 at 3:22 PM, Beckybettas said:

May have to go to HOB filters for 10G, but HOB filters for 15G wont fit with lids. Im open to suggestions, not sure what else to do.  No ammonia bubbles in any tanks.

I had the exact same issue.  My sponge just wasn't hosting enough bacteria.  I added some lava rock to the tank and that helped stabilize things.  It acts as a biological media and the hardscape.  Depending on species in the tank, that may be an option for you.  If that doesn't work, add an addition sponge filter or add a bag of ceramic media on top of the sponge filter (just rest it on top of the sponge).