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my bosmanns rainbow has been like this for 4 months ive tried an anit gill fluke treatment with no success and im currently using melafx for fungus which if anything might be getting worse is whole right side is a mess the fin doesnt work the gills r open and filled with nasty things he breathes rapidly and theres somthing going on by his top fin looks like missing scales

he eats everyday but just started rubbing up against stuff and is very jittery

normally i would euthanise him after 4 months but since its an expensive and andangered fish i dont want to

http://www.thereeftank.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=4320&password=60a5e724d88aa0227991a6a6ae7dde22&sort=1&cat=500&page=1

Last edited by resle at 12-Feb-2005 11:45

Have you tried treating with salt? I, and other, have good results with treating fish with salt after nothing else worked.

Is he in quarantine?

I would use Parasite Clear Tank Buddies as I believe this fish has possible Gill Flukes. If he doesn't have that, he may have a protozoan infestation and Parasite Clear Tank buddies has acriflavine which is good for that.

I second the salt, but how much depends on whether he is in quarantine, and if not, what other kind of fish or inverts are in the tank with him.

Incidentally, remove any inverts you want when treating with Parasite Clear. Also, when you buy a box, make sure you look at the ingredient list and see Praziquantel. They reformulated it last year to include this great med, but did not change the box - only the ingredient list. If some fish store has old stock, you don't want it.

If you don't have freshwater aquarium salt, pick some up - preferrably, Doc Wellfish. We'll talk about dosing after you answer the questions.


Last edited by Cory_Di at 12-Feb-2005 18:56

hes in a 2o gallon quarintine i have aquarium salt

If he is alone in the 20 gallon, then lets try to bring him up to a 0.3% salt solution, which is the therapeutic level for many parasites, including costia. This must be done gradually and can be done with the Parasite Clear. In fact, I suggest you dose the Parasite Clear in case he has gill flukes and we'll add some of the salt solution.

A 0.3% salt solution = 1 level Tbsp per gallon. This cannot be dosed all at once. It needs to be done in thirds or less, spaced 12 hours apart or more. The salinity needs to be raised gradually so that he doesn't go into osmotic shock. The 12 hour increments will allow his body to acclimate.

1/3 of 0.3% is simply equal to 1 tsp per gallon. If you have the freshwater aquarium salt like Doc Wellfish rock salt, it will dissolve best in very hot tapwater (but let it cool before adding any). I put a drop of chlorine/chloramine remover in the cup. Technically, you add all of this 0.1% solution at once, but I would dribble a little in over a few hours. 12 hours after you have dosed the last amount, repeat the procedure, and then again one more time.

Each time you dose more salt, watch him a few minutes for his tolerance level of it. Rainbows are pretty tolerant of salt.

I must say that he looks pretty bad in the pic and with rapid breathing he could die suddenly with or without any treatment. The salt should be soothing on him and may lift him a little. With sores and wounds like that he could be experiencing a little osmotic shock and the salt will help with that.

Like I said, you can dose the Parasite Clear Tank Buddies and begin your first dose of that salt. The acriflavine can be effective against external infections, as well as, some protozoan infestations.

You may want to consider feeding him the new Jungle Anti-Bacteria Medicated Food. It should be easily found at a Petsmart. Jungle was distributing it broader the end of last month, but I don't know how far it has gotten. Oral meds are always more effective than anything you can put in the tank and they don't mess with the bio-filter.

Let us know how he does and best of luck. If this doesn't work, there is a chance this fish may have fish TB, but I wouldn't go there yet. Fish TB can be characterized by open wounds, emaciation (wasting), and they may have popped eyes and later, spinal curvature among other symptoms. There is little hope for a cure, but Kanacyn is a possibility often discussed. Aquatronics makes it. Since there is some possibility of fish TB, don't stick your hands in the tank with open wounds. It doesn't manifest itself in humans the way we think of TB (in the lungs). Rather, it comes in the form of a stubborn wound on a hand that won't heal, or a stubborn sore throat that is hard to cure (man was starting siphon with mouth and ingested some tank water by accident). For humans to get these forms of fish TB, they must be immune suppressed as most people would simply fight it off without incidence.

Has he ever flicked or scratched himself on objects in the tank while this was going on?

Diane


Last edited by Cory_Di at 12-Feb-2005 21:50

yes he has scratched him self on objects but only during the melafix treatment and very few times

if he has gill flukes then how come my treatment for gill flukes didnt help that i treated for 3 months?

Last edited by resle at 13-Feb-2005 08:44

Was the medicine expired? Medicine doesn't really "go bad", but after the printed expiration date, it loses much of its potency.

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

when i pour the salt in can i just use a gravel vacuum but tie a knot in the hose to make it drip very slowly?

Not sure I understand. The rate needs to be slow, however you choose to do it. The bottom line is that you do not want that amount of salt to dissolve in anything less than 36 hours.

There are different meds for flukes. Some are more effective than others. Did the product you use have praziquantel? If not, what did you use?

If a protozoan are causing it, the salt will help.


Last edited by Cory_Di at 13-Feb-2005 21:00

well after much improvement and on the third dose he died :#(

On the third dose of salt?

Did he die right after it went in? Usually they can recover if you see a reaction right away and do a partial water change.

I've subjected a rainbow (juvenile) to that level of salt and he was fine.

My guess is that he was just too far gone. If anything gets into the gills, be it bacterial or parasites, it can easily be much more fatal than anything on the skin itself. Often, without biospy, we just can't tell.

Sorry for your loss