[ollyjo]

Anyone have knowledge/experience with hemorrhagic septicemia in their tank?

The only thing I can classify that is causing my barbs/whiteclouds to swim crooked, get red blotch on their bottoms and then die. Lost like 7 fish in the last 2 weeks..

Have them all in a hospital tank now, but worried my 55gal main planted tank is still infected? I know my nitrates did a spike and my tank kind of recycled after swapping out my substrate which is why i thought they were initially dying but my levels are fine now and they still dropping.. i only added java fern, water lettuce and some hair grass after the substrate swap ..

I have Maracyn 2 on the way to treat the fish and am guessing I should treat the main tank as well with just the shrimp in it? or do I also have to do a massive breakdown and disinfect my 2 bio filters, driftwood, substrate etc.?

I may have to treat them and add them back to the main tank to see if they catch it again..

 

[Django]

I have a Pristella Tetra that went through what sounds like the same thing, except on both sides of the fish. She's still alive a month or more after the infection. She was the biggest one of five Pristellas.

She got about as far as you can go into the twirling action. Now she's thinner and somewhat diminished, and she has black spots where the red spots were.

Good luck with it!

 

[WaterLife]

If you are sure it's septicemia, then here is some info (note that speticemia is often caused by other gram-negative anaerobic bacteria -aeromonas)

Aeromonas & Vibrio Disease | Septicemia | Pop Eye | Treatment
Aeromonas & Vibrio Disease | Septicemia | Pop Eye | Treatment
Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia: How I Cured my Fish - Illness & Disease - Goldfsh.com - The Goldfish Forum

Minocycline (Maracyn 2)
Aquarium Medications Part 2 | Antibiotic & Antimicrobial Treatments
Minocycline, Oxytetracycline and Tetracycline I know are safe for inverts (would assume the rest of the Tetracycline group are as well, but not certain).

Do your tanks lack much surface agitation and water circulation? Dirty tank/lot of organic build up?
While I do not believe this particular bacteria would infect inverts, there are similar gram-negative anaerobic bacteria that can infect shrimp. So if the tank is is breeding ground conditions for these types of bacteria, you could treat that tank as well, or move the shrimp with the fish and just sanitize the other tank with Chlorine/Bleach. Might be unnecessary, but I always play it safe.

Big thing though is to aerate better and remove excess organics from the tank if that is the cause. And of course keep water conditions pristine and minimize stressors so fish's immune systems are in top shape to resist any disease.


@Django when you say "twirling action" I think of whirling disease. (can happen in tropical fish even though some sites say it only happens to salmon)

 

[Nordic]

If you had a nitrate (actually any of the N spikes), treat the fish with methylene blue first. It is the first medicine to use to fight these types of poisoning.

 

[Django]

I don't think the "twirling" motion is the same as "whirling", where a fish will chase it's tail. My fish was like an upward spiral.