Sick Maculata

[Bowles42]

I noticed something wrong with this guy a week ago or so. His condition quickly deteriorated. Strangely his behavior never changed. He swam about happily, and ate like normal. I pulled him out of the tank last night and euthanized him for fear of contaminating the rest of the school. Any ideas on what this might be?







Everyone else in the tank seems fine. Thanks for the help.

[milalic]

Seems like something took a bite out of him. What other fish you have in the tank?

It might be some kind of bacteria...

[Bowles42]

The only other inhabitants currently are CPDs and Maculatas. There was a German Blue Ram in there when I first noticed, so I guess it could have been the ram. I've seen him chase them around but never really attack them before.

Perhaps initially it was physical damage and then progressed into bacterial?

Thanks for the reply.

edit: Also amano shrimp in there for what it's worth.

[milalic]

Originally Posted by Bowles42

The only other inhabitants currently are CPDs and Maculatas. There was a German Blue Ram in there when I first noticed, so I guess it could have been the ram. I've seen him chase them around but never really attack them before.

Perhaps initially it was physical damage and then progressed into bacterial?

Thanks for the reply.

edit: Also amano shrimp in there for what it's worth.

It can be. Keep watching your other fish for any sign of illness. If you do see anything in them, post it here. I will try to keep track of this thread.

[Bowles42]

All of the other fish seem fine as of today, and I first noticed this last week or so. I will update this thread if anything changes. Thanks for the help.

[lauraleellbp]

+1 Looks to me like he got a bite taken out of him and it got infected. I'll be completely amazed again with how tough fish can be if the little guy pulls through! GL!

[milalic]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

+1 Looks to me like he got a bite taken out of him and it got infected. I'll be completely amazed again with how tough fish can be if the little guy pulls through! GL!

unfortunately the fish was euthanized

[lauraleellbp]

Originally Posted by milalic

unfortunately the fish was euthanized

IMO that was a humane choice, he looked pretty bad.

RIP little fish!

[Bowles42]

I watched him for a week and he was definitely getting worse, not better. I was afraid that if he died on me I would not notice his corpse for a day or two. I'm interested to see other people's opinions on this.

At what stage of an infection do you euthanize a fish, if ever, and at what lengths do you go to medicate them?

I've found that the longer I have been in the hobby, the less empathy I have for the individual fish and I tend to make my decisions based more and more on the health of the entire eco-system, not the individual fish. I also find economics play a role, it is very easy to spend more money on the medication than on the fish itself.

Thoughts?

[lauraleellbp]

I'm pretty pragmatic, as well- probably b/c I lived on a farm for part of my life. With a fish that far gone I probably would have made the same choice.

There's a lot of factors I would weigh in, but I do try to QT and treat fish that I think have a shot at getting better, and healthy enough that I think I will be able to put them back in with the rest of the main tank.

I keep Melafix, Pimafix, and aquarium salt on hand. I won't use other commercial medications unless I can be sure of a diagnosis- otherwise I think they're a waste of money and may do more harm than good. So if a fish won't respond to that combo, I'll usually just go ahead and put them down.

I do need to get some clove oil; I think that's the most humane way to go but I don't have any ATM...