Sick Severum!

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by yunachin »

It looks like it could be a roundworm. Can you get him into quarantine?
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by Pufferpunk »

I guess I don't need to tell you that tank is grossly overstocked (kising gouramis grow to a foot, fopr starters) & that there aren't large enough of often enough WC going on on there? My sig says it all! Healthy fish live in clean water. The fish in there will continue to get sick, as long as this persists.

BTW, that pimple looks like the beginnings of Hole-in-the-head disease.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by t1gerbee »

and hole in the head is caused by stress... bad water conditions.... or maybe territory arguements could lead to this...

the only way to prevent more fish getting ill is to split the tank inhabitants into two or more tanks... or take some to the LFS....

Don't you keep puffs? How do you manage without a test kit?
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by groovitudedude »

No idea. And yes, I did tell my mom that KGs and severums get huge, but she STILL wanted to get them. Anybody know how to treat roundworms/hole in the head/cysts? Thanks for all the advice, everybody!
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by Pufferpunk »

Do a search, that's what I would do. Tons of info out on that disease. Won't get better in their present tank conditions though. She's just going to continue getting sick fish, until she loses everything.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by t1gerbee »

oscars are quite prone to hole in the head...

if it is that, and you want to research it have a look on oscar forums... it has some good methods to reverse the decline of the fish, although i don't think it ever heals back up.

Not sure about the others....

how long has the fish been in there... is it new? Has there been any new fish recently...

just trying to establish if something has brought it into the tank, or if it has developed from nowhere.. so to speak...
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suvattii
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by Pufferpunk »

It's actually a parasite called, Hexamita, I believe. Not sure about the spelling. Brought out by stress & poor water quality, prominant in large cichlids.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by yunachin »

Hexamita is a flagellated protozoan that can be found in the intestine of healthy and sick fish. It is of particular importance in angel fish and discus. It can also cause problems in oscars and African cichlids, and other fish. Stress, particularly caused by poor water quality or inadequate nutrition, seems to be associated with increases in the number of flagellates in the gut and development of clinical disease. Elimination of stress and correction of husbandry will help correct an outbreak of hexamitiasis. Metronidazole provided as a medicated feed or a bath is an effective treatment and even severely affected fish often respond to therapy.

Listen to PP! ;)
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by groovitudedude »

Well, thanks for all the help, guys, but she won't listen to me. Sorry.
Last edited by groovitudedude on Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by yunachin »

People have to learn lessons one way or another. It's good you tried to help though Groove.
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by groovitudedude »

Yeah, well, I'm a bajillion times as stubborn as her :(
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by Pufferpunk »

LOL, her 1" pink kissers are adults? Ask her to look up the adult sizes of her fish & tank requirements of each. What does she mean square inch of fish? Is she going by the ridiculous 1"/g rule? You said there are 50 fish in there & it's only a 55g tank.
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by groovitudedude »

Wasn't there a 1 square inch of fish rule for beginners? Again, sorry guys.
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DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by Pufferpunk »

It's a ridiculous rule for any fish over 1-2". It's for fish like 1" neons--you could keep 10 of them in a 10g tank or 5 2" guppies in there. You certainly wouldn't keep a 10" Oscar in a 10g!
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Re: Sick Severum!

Post by groovitudedude »

I thought I read it somewhere on TPF a long time ago. Yes, it is ridiculous, but it is a bit smarter than the 1 inch per gallon rule. A 10 inch oscar would be about, say, 4 inches high, and two inches thick. That adds up to 80 Gallons for that big boy! Well, yeah, it is ridiculous, but it's much better than the first rule.
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