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Fish epilepsy??

R-S

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
20
Location
Washington State, USA
I have a lovely male cacatoides in a hospital tank right now for a hole in his head. He has been in there for about 6 weeks being treated with light salt and vitamins and miconazole and was finally doing well so I had just finished a week of slowly bringing the water back to the parameters of his regular tank so I could return him to it. Yesterday morning when we turned on the kitchen lights, he started rolling over and over in the water, with a bit of a bend to his body. Totally freaked me out! And, the hole in his head was back. It looked like he was having seizures. I treated the water with Quick Cure thinking that he was dying and I could make one last ditch attempt (hadn't used the Quick Cure before). Within 1 minute, the rolling stopped and he righted himself and though he seemed a little shaky, his color was back and he ate and swam around! Now this morning I come in and he's doing it again! Second dose of QC, covered the tank with black fabric. Now he's stopped and "resting" in the cave. What in the world could this be? Can fish develop epilepsy-like response to the sudden flourescent lighting in the a.m. in my kitchen??
 

Neil

New Member
Messages
1,583
Location
Sacramento, Ca.
Although I have not seen that one before, it is possible. Cichlids are fairly complex fish and can suffer from a wide array of physical and behavioral abnormalities.
If your kitchen tank receives a reasonable of ambiant light from your windows, I would cut the lights off for several days to see what effect that has on the situation. Keep us posted.
Neil
 

R-S

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
20
Location
Washington State, USA
My poor little guy died today. :(

This morning his gills were extraordinarily swollen and he was breathing hard and fins fully extended to try to hold still in the water, so I did a water change to remove the meds and just had him in clear aged water with a little salt to help his gill functions (also added extra aeration). I was planning to let him rest without meds today until I could make a better diagnosis and use the appropriate treatment. When I got home from work he was dead. After reading more about this whole thing I'm wondering if it was gill flukes or some other parasite (though I never saw any wormy things) or a secondary infection after the bout with the hole in his head.

I have one growing-out spawn from this great guy so I am hoping I get a good male or two from his line. Youngsters are too small to sex yet...either that or I have all females and what would be the odds of that?
 

Randall

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,164
Location
New Jersey, USA
Fish Mortality

Dear R-S,

So sorry to read about your fish.

Sometimes despite our very best efforts, our fish don't always make it. Fish are suseptable to a myriad of genetic and pathological disorders, some of which we don't even understand. We have but simple means of treating viruses, for example. Most are not treatable at all.

It sounds like you did what you could. Metronidazole is the recommended medication for Heximita and intestinal protazoa. Your little guy may have had other things wrong with him that were not apparent.

Good luck to you.

Randall Kohn
 

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