Parasite infection in Bristlenose Catfish

Hi,

we (dad and I) have a mixed freshwater tropical aquarium. After much deliberation and research, I have worked out that we have a parasite infection in the tank. A few fish have died already. Dad did one treatment last week but the BNC did not like it so he changed the water about 50%, but the BNC's are still not happy. Since the treatment a couple of more fish have died. Ive convinced dad that its got to be the parasite infection again and its still there. All the water paramaters are ok, are consistently ok, as dad is quite certain of always checking that, the filters are good etc.

So this time I have moved the BNC (3 of them) into a quaratine tank to protect them from the parastite medication as it said they don't do well with it. WE also put our golden apple snails in with them as well. The
BCN's are quiet, they aren't moving around searching for food, they usually are active but since dad did the first treatment about 7 days ago, they have been quiet.

I have two questions I suppose. If the BNC are infected with the parasite from main tank, how do we treat them? and how well do they recover from having had Para-cide (Trichlorfon) put into their water?

We have two females and one male. They are about 3 inches long now, had them since they were tiny.

Thanks,
Cate.

half dose for twice the treatment time.

Hi Doug,

thanks for the info re dosage. I saw your ebook and purchased it for dad. He is a very keen aquarium hobbyist and all 3 books will help him I think.

The BNC don't look like they are showing any of the signes of the trouble mentioned in your ebook, but one thing is that they aren't interested in food and are very quiet, and they have been like this since the first treatment went into the tank. Is this a normal response to medication? and if it is, how long before they recover and get interested in eating again? They dont look like they are starving yet, they have always been good eaters and were forever going over the tank from top to bottom and eating a good peice of zucchini a day between them all. So Im just not sure what I should be looking for in recovery time for them.

So with them like this at the moment, should we hold off on putting more para-cide in their water? Is there something else they would do better with?

THanks,
Cate.

Hi,May i ask what the problem with them was before you came to the conclusion that it was parasites? What signs and problems did your fish have.


Bristlenoses

Are you thinking internal or external parasites? I have treated my community tanks with BNs with Terra's lifeguard at full dose. No fish suffered but you definitely have to remove inverts.

Also, is there wood, plants, and decorations in their quarantine tank? I not they may be inactive because they are frightened with no cover.

Good luck and keep us posted.

And welcome to the forum !

Cloudy eye is what appeared in the fish, first the Bala sharks, then the Guarmi's. The Guarmi's and the flying fox just before they died had red in their fins and looked like they had bled along their stomach at death. At first I thought it might have been stress that caused this, as the tank was a bit crowded with mollies, but we have rehomed all the mollies now, and its still affecting them whatever it is.

We have lost all the Guarmi's (1 big one and two small ones), two guppies, two black widows, one flying fox, and one ghost knife fish just yesterday.

There is no sign of itch, no glancing or flicking. The most comon sign is cloudy eye. Dad treated first with Mulicure a couple of times, but the fish still kept dying. We gave the tank a clean as per usual routine (every fortnight) and still the fish kept dying. I did some research and thougth possibly the only other thing that seemed to match symptoms was parasite infection. So we talked to the specialist aquarium shop and decided to treat with a parasite treatment. Dad took a chance the catfish and snails would be ok, but they reacted imediately, and so we changed the water to reduce the medicine effect. But still the fish kept getting sick.

The large bala shark had a couple of sores on its side, now hard to say if that was caused by injury or infection, but they have healed. The eyes of the large bala shark were cloudy, one has cleared up the the other hasn't. The pearl guarmi looked like it had white stuff in its eyes too before it died.

The flying foxes (2 of them) are sitting at the bottom of the tank, have a cloudy film on their body. Since the treatment went in yesterday they have started to move a bit more today. The other fish are moving around ok, seem to be better than yesterday.

The catfish and snails are in a seperate tank together as they reacted badly to the parasite medicine that went in last week. The snails are happy in the tank and are moving around. The catfish were active up until dad put the medicine in the big tank last week. Since that first treatment they don't move around the tank like they used to, and even now in the little tank they are still. The water in the little tank is very good, dad checks it everyday to keep an eye on them all. So I just don't know what we should do for the catfish. I was hoping that being in clean clear water free of all the medicines etc would revive them. But they are very quiet.

The only thing that went into the tank new was some plants, and then the trouble started.

The size tank is 140 liter tank, with a bio filer system. All the water parameters are good and have been thru out the whole drama.

As the fish seem to be recovering, Im hoping the catfish will come good. WE havent put any medicine into their little tank yet. Wanted to wait and see what you all thought.

Thanks,
Cate

sorry, also need to add, that the small tank has their peice of wood in their with them, and the tank is partially covered up to give them some cover.

Hmm I am not exactly sure this is indicative of parasites. Sounds a lot like it could be bacterial or possible fungal. I have successfully treated bacterial infections with maracyn and mela fix. Fungal infections an red streaking I treat with Pima fix. If your current medications aren't yielding good results I'd try changing it up and trying something new.

Have you increased the temp at all? Some illnesses can be treated with a gradual increase to high temperatures alone.

Good luck and keep us updated.

The multi cure being used, is by PETS in Australia. Its active ingrediants are Methylene Blue, Acriflavine & Malachite Green.
It treats things like: white spot, fungal diseases, fin & tail rot, velvet diseases.
Will just have to keep using what we have until the stores open again Tuesday. Being easter basically everything is shut except food stores.

Good news I hope - dad reports one of the catfish is going hard cleaning the side of the little tank - sign of recovery I hope.

Some good news I hope - the flying foxes that had bottomed out and wouldn't move, are up and moving around the tank today and looks like the filmy cloud I saw around the body of one of them has gone. They are not fully active like they used to be, but certainly more movement that we have seen for the past 4 days, and no more clamping of the fins to be seen.

Ive been doing some more research and possible that it might be eye fluke being one of the problems also. Our big golden guarmi and our pearl guarmi (both died), both had white squiggly lines in their eyes that when I first saw it thought it looked like a worm in their eyes. I didn't know about eye fluke then. And the large bala shark has got cloudy eye, and the little bala shark has become quieter now and I can see a white spot right in the centre of one of its eyes. So we are keeping a regular check on them all the time to see how things progress.

From research I think if we keep our snails and catfish isolated and change the water regularly we will cycle out anything that might have harboured with them. We plan to keep them seperate for 2-3 weeks. As to fluke treatment, will chat with the local specialty shop and see what they think, but really all the aquarium shops here do the same thing as I am, google it until we find a possible answer.

One thing for certain, we are keeping a seperate quaratine tank set up for any new plants and fish we bring in. They will go thru treatment and such before they go into the tank. Not one of the aquarium shops here where we live have been free of something, always we have ended up wtih some problem. this lot of trouble started after putting some reed looking like plants in.