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ever since i moved house two years ago I have had a recurring illness in my fish tank.

the fish will be fine for months and months at a time, water quality is good although i can't gurantee pH or general hardness - it seems to change frequently but the changes don't coincide with the illness (maybe an after affect??)

the illness genrally runs like this

fish sits at the bottom, i do water changes and it makes some difference,

eventually the WC don't make a difference - the fish begins to lose weight but is still eating loads and very active

after about a month - six weeks the fish stops eating and takes another month to die.

I think I prolong their life by doing twice weekly carefully monitored WC's but i can't find anything to allievate the syptoms(sp?is that really how you spell that?)

it has happened occasionally in the 25G in the same room. a batch of platies one after the other over the space of the last year.

the most recent case is my key hole cichild she died yesterday.

the weird thing about this illness is that it only affects one fish at a time and the other fish continue to thrive.

I wondered if there was an illness I should know about some kind of slow killer? cory di suggested TB? could it be that?

thanks for any help
GFG

_______________________________________
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone

It could be TB, but it's hard to tell without listing your current water paramters, or some from around the time the incidents happen. Do you monitor temperature also? That could be of use in trying to find the cause.

It could be parasitic or bacterial but I would be inclined to think that it is a intestinal parasite. Nearly all fish carry some sort of parasite. Fish with strong immune systems will generally resist the effects of the parasite.

In my experience, water changes, and thereby good water quality, help fish withstand parasites. Check closely for other symptoms such as white, stringy feces and let us know.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Sometimes high NitrAtes,(40ish) though safe, can lower fish immunity, which might explain recurring illness.

I'm inclined to agree that it may be internal parasites. Even if one fish has them, they can easily be picked up by others. I've read that fish - especially bottom-feeders often "mouth" the droppings of other fish as a matter of course. Not that they eat it, just that scavenging along the bottom, every now and then a piece will get in there and, though they spit it right out, thats enough to transfer the parasite. Try some anti-parasite foods, Jungle labs makes them. Try that treatment for a few days and then I guess wait and see if it happens again.

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Back in the saddle!

thanks for the replies,

i have a heavily planted tank and my nitrates don't get very high certainly not 40ppm plus more like just to 20ppm?
it could be a pH problem but i don't know why that would affect one fish at a time

the next time some one gets sick i will try anti parasite meds - i think my shop carries jungle stuff.

i have tried working out if it coincides with hte arrival of new fish but I don't think so.

certainly all the fish eat off the bottom so it could be that.......

i think i will vac more offer and get some anti parasite meds in case

thanks again
xx
GFG

_______________________________________
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone