Disaster!!! Please help!!!

[Jayha24]

So I am new to apistos and have been keeping 4 juvenile borellis and a pair of cacatoides. My end goal was to breed both types as its always been something I've wanted to do, but have never had the time or budget to devote to it. Until this last week everything has been going great. However over the past 4 days my cac. female mysteriously died, and now one of my borelli females is becoming lethargic, and isn't interested in eating this evening.
The cac female had been completely healthy. She was eating good, got along mostly with the other fish, and generally looked to have plenty of energy. However over the span of two days she quite suddenly started hiding, and on the night before she died she was breathing very rapidly. When I fished her out of the tank I saw that there was absolutely no outward sign of distress at all on her body.
Just to be sure I've been monitoring my water chemistry. This entire time it's had a constant ph of 6.5, and 0ppm of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I use RO water in my weekly water changes so the hardest is next to nothing.
My borelli female is in great health too, but tonight she wasn't interested in food, she seems lethargic, and I notice a very small white spec on her nose.
The only conclusion I could think of was that I had bought two plecos from my LFS to work on some of the algae that has built up in the tank, and they may have brought ich or some other disease with them. Either way I really want to try, and save this female, and protect my other fish if I can. Are there any suggestions for how I can treat whatever is killing them before it claims anymore?

Thanks in advance

 

[tjudy]

Sorry to hear that you are having problems.

When fish drop off one at a time, or the numbers that die increase over time (one, then two, then four,...), the cause is most often a pathogen. If there are no or very few physical signs of distress, other than lethargy and/or rapid breathing, then the organism is most likely attacking the fishes' gills. This results in lethargy in the same basic way that asthma affects a human's activity.

The most likely culprits for gill problems in dwarf cichlids are gill flukes... treat with praziquantel. There are some products on the market (in the USA) that work well. The easiest to find is PraziPro.

Another possible culprit are protozoan parasites. Treat with metronidazole.

Anytime you are medicating you should increase aeration. Especially if the problem is affecting the gills. Increasing temperature is probably not a god idea, since warmer water holds less oxygen. I would treat the whole tank, since the pathogen has already been transmitted from one fish to another.

As far as where the disease came from... it is possible that it came in with new fish. Quarantine, quarantine, quarantine... It is also possible that the pathogen came in with the first fish that died, and it took a long time for it to manifest.

 

[gerald]

I second everything Ted said, and add one other consideration: Sometimes pathogens (flukes, protozoa, etc) can be living harmoniously with your fish for months or years at low numbers (like they do in the wild) until a new fish (weakened immunity) is added -- then the bugs multiply on the new guy and everybody gets sick, new and old. It's tempting to blame the new fish as the source, but that's not always the truth. Quarantine will still be helpful because the new fish can recover and adapt to your water (and disease bugs) before he's exposed to your older fish.

 

[wethumbs]

Always remember to treat fish that are being attacked by protozoa with antibiotics in addition to Prazi, as the wounds left behind by the parasites can get infected. Is like if you get a leech on you, after removing the leech, you still have to treat the open wound or it can get infected. Fish is no difference.

Quarantine is a practice that everyone knows but rarely practice until it is too late. I normally quarantine all new fish for 4 weeks before introducing them to others.

 

[Jayha24]

Thank you for all the great advice! I'll try to treat as best as I can, and start a new tank cycling for quarantine only purposes. Again thank you for your suggestions!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
I hope you get it sorted, but seeing the fake plants in your tanks and your water parameters I wonder whether this is at least partially a water quality issue. You definitely won't have 0ppm NO3, and you can't really rely on the test results from any kits.

I know they are not to every-ones taste but growing plants make water quality management much, much easier, and I'm not that I could keep any fish in non-planted tanks long term.

cheers Darrel