Whirling Fish Disease (Myxobolus cerebralis)

[MaxM]

My son discovered one of our Fry swimming funny. I realized when I saw it that it was sick and quarantined it. I added Methylene Blue and Acriflavine to treat it. Afterwards, I did some research to see what it is that it has. It appears to me that the fish (and possibly others in the tank) are suffering from "Whirling Fish Disease", a parasitical disease that I understand attacks the nervous system and causes deformity and often death. The main signs seem to be a deformed skeletal body and/or erratic swimming in whirling or jerking motions. Below are links to two videos showing this erratic swimming behavior.

According to what I found on one sight it says, "There is no known cure for fish infected with the whirling disease parasite."

However, on another site it has a list of treatments. Unfortunately, not all those products are available in my country. I'll have to contact my local aquarium store and ask them if they know what I can use.

 

Whirling Disease (Myxobolus cerebralis) in Fish

WWW.AQUARIUM-POND-ANSWERS.COM

To end off, one of the sites I visited stated that it is highly contagious and I believe that one of my fish in my main tank is suffering from it too.

MY QUESTIONS TO ALL OF YOU ARE:

Have any of you ever experienced this?

Were you able to save your fish?

Is it transferred hereditary? It is possible that the danio in my main tank that is deformed was the parent of these fry (didn't see when the eggs were laid). 

One of the things it mentions to treat with is Sodium Chloride. Are we talking about regular table salt or do I need to order special?

THIS IS HOW MY FISH IS SWIMMING (WARNING: This video has a disturbing end)

 

 

HERE IS ANOTHER WAY FISH INFECTED WITH THIS DISEASE SWIM:

 

 

[Brandy]

I have never dealt with the disease, but the salt you want is generally marine or aquarium/pond salt. Table salt often contains additives to keep it from clumping when it gets humid, and I don't know how they would affect fish--probably not at all, but I don't know. If you actually have table salt with no additives, it is ok to use that.