[hassan.nabeel]

Hi everyone,

Please help me diagnose this fish disease. In last 2 weeks, my 1 Red Eye Tetra, 1 Serpae Tetra have died with similar abdomen parasite. And now this zebra danio is also suffering. Can I somehow still save her?

I haven't tried any meds yet. Need to know if its bacterial or parasite.


I don't have the test kit. I established this aquarium in Oct last year and I do weekly water changes regularly. About 2 months ago, I bought 4 Mollies which resulted in anchor worms in my tank. I quarantined all those fish but all of them died one by one. Aquarium has been fine after that until last week I saw a red eye tetra die with this kind of belly. And then a serpae tetra and now this danios is effected.


Regarding the tail: 4 months ago, I had some gold fishes as well. I now know it was a bad idea to mix them in my community tank. That gold fish eat my Neon Tetra and also this tail. I immediately gave that gold fish to my neighbor. It was breeding pair . My 3 year old daughter still asks me about them.

This infected danios still still swims fine. It has been without tail since last 4 months.

I have been feeding them freezdried blood worms and Hikari slow sinking micro wafers.

I will try to keep looking for a diagnose. Please suggest, should I dose any meds in this tank?

Its 90 Gallon, 10 red eye tetras, 6 penguin tetras, 3 neon tetras, 6 tiger barbs, 10 serpae tetras, 2 golden gouramis, 1 Dwarf Gourami, 1 Rainbow Shark, 1 clown fish, 1 pleco, 1 angel fish.

I am worried I might loose all beneficial bacteria from meds?

 

[WaterLife]

Not all meds harm beneficial bacteria. I've heard that med ingredients that end with the last letters being "in" are known to harm beneficial bacteria. But even then, it is only to a certain degree. In a well established tank, enough biofilm has developed and protects the beneficial bacteria from the meds, some may die off, but the remaining bacteria recovers/repopulates fairly quickly.

How is your water surface agitation and circulation throughout the tank?
Did the open wounds (exposed flesh) just show up out of no where or were they first white patches, maybe even protruding from the fish's body (ulcers)?

Were the anchor worms present in this current tank, or were they only on fish that were in a separate quarantine tank? (still possible to transmit anchor worms to the other tank via contaminated water, equipment/decor, etc)

Might be worth looking into Vibrio and Aeromonas (anaerobic bacteria that cause flesh rot/open wounds.
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Vibrio_Aeromonas.html

Any other fish showing symptoms?

If the fish isn't breathing rapidly or in much distress, it still has a good chance at surviving if the correct treatment is done soon.

 

[hassan.nabeel]

How is your water surface agitation and circulation throughout the tank?

I have two air stones, 1 HOB filter and 1 submersible filter. I think circulation throughtout the tank is good because I see my stem plants are tilted sideways towards my internal filter

Did the open wounds (exposed flesh) just show up out of no where or were they first white patches, maybe even protruding from the fish's body (ulcers)?

Didn't notice any white patch. This particular Danios was actually very healthy even without its tail. It would swim and chase others in my tank.

Were the anchor worms present in this current tank, or were they only on fish that were in a separate quarantine tank? (still possible to transmit anchor worms to the other tank via contaminated water, equipment/decor, etc)

I saw them in one of my mollies in current tank and immediately moved all of them to my 10 G. I know there is still risk that my 90G remained infected.

 

[WaterLife]

If the damage/wounds are just from an anchor worm that is now detached, it should heal fine on it's own as long as the water quality remains healthy.

If the wound spreads/enlarges, it may be a bacterial infection (could be secondary and not the initial cause of damage).
Though, it should be noted that any weakened fish, especially open wounds, are more vulnerable to secondary infections, which is why it is important to keep the water quality healthy and reduce stress.

Whatever you do, don't use any Formalin (Formaldehyde) medication on fish with open wounds as it will likely kill them.

If you suspect you have anchor worms, you should treat the whole tank (water column) with Levamisole (commonly found in animal dewormers) or Fenbendazole. A second or even a third course of treatment may be recommended to make sure all newly hatched eggs die.

Sorry I can't give a more certain answer. Since your water sounds pretty well aerated, anaerobic bacterial disease chances should be lowered, unless you have a dirty tank. I haven't seen much anchor worm damage so I can't confirm whether the damage in your pics is 100% from them or not. From the looks of the wound, I don't see dead tissue there so I am doubting bacterial infection, looks to be physical injury from either injury from an object within the tank (tankmates don't seem to be able to cause the damage shown) or anchor worms that "drilled" those holes.
I do suggest making sure your water quality is good with test kits to give the fish best chance at recovering. Also be sure to inspect all the other fish very carefully daily and especially check how the damage goes on this injured danio.