Fish getting wiped one by one!! HELP! (with pics)

[LargeAngels]

Make sure you have gotten ALL the Formulin out (Water changes and carbon) as it will react with Cupramine and that may have caused problems for the wrasse. Also, ich and velvet attack the gills and that you won't see.

[ryanuuy]

I just did another water change in the QT to make sure that ammonia doesnt build up. There arent very many fishes left though. My female hawaiian flame wrasse died this morning of whatever it was killing all my other fishes. Still no visible outward symptoms aside from the redness near the fins. I was also observing the tank yesterday and i did notice the fish twitching.. He wasnt scraping on anything. He was just twitching. I dont know if that has anything to do with it though. His scales were free from anything white and he wasnt slimy when i was taking him out of the tank. No cloudiness of the eyes as well.

[sjwitt]

Really sorry to hear you're going through this. I had something wipe out my small tank about 3 years ago ... it's a hard thing to go through. I know this is probably too late, but here's a link to a fish disease identification website (for future reference).

http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/diseases.html

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by LargeAngels

I'd bet it is velvet. Velvet is really nasty and can spread fast. A very good test is to do a FW dip and see if anyting falls off. Velvet will fall off in a FW dip and looks like fine white spots/powder. If not then I would think it might be brook. If it is velvet then to only real treatment is copper (like Cupramine) in a seperate QT.

Oodinium is my bet. Remove all fish from the main aquarium, give them a freshwater dip. Prepare a freshwater dip. For this dip, adjust pH (so as reduce more osmotic stress than need be) and add Methylene Blue (at double in tank strength), use a specific gravity of 1.001 for the saltwater fish. This dip should be no less than 3 minutes and no more than 5 minutes to be effective. This is very effective in removing Oodinium directly from the fish (including gills). Do not be alarmed if the fish ‘lays down’ and acts dead, this is a common initial reaction and the fish will usually perk up a minute or two into the dip. How this works is that the cell membrane of the Oodinium cyst cannot withstand the change in osmotic pressure as well as the fish and will burst, that is why the minimum three minutes is a must. This dip is more effective for Oodinium than Cryptocaryon even though this is recommended for both due to the fact that the Oodinium Cyst does not imbed nearly as deep as the Cryptocaryon cyst does, allowing for a much more likely rupture of the cell membrane due to osmotic pressure.

Following a fresh water dip use a formalin bath, and then place them into a QT with vigorous aeration provided. To address complications from secondary infections, also treat the fish with an appropriate antibiotic or anti-bacterial medication. Continue treating the fish in the QT until the oodinium appears to be gone, and then keep treating for another week after that.

While copper can work, it is difficult to maintain proper levels for most people.

[snorvich]

By the way, Mitratus butterfly fish and their kin are very likely to be carrying something. QT is essential for these fish.

[ryanuuy]

I too likely think that it is velvet and not brook. But is it possible that velvet kills only a few fish a day? Shouldn't everything have gotten wiped within 2 or 3 days or at least that the deaths should stop in the hospital tank?

Also i have noticed that my male hawaiian flame wrasse seems to be twitching? Hes not discolored or anything although it would be hard to see any redness of any sort since he is also colored a deep red and yellow. The twitching does concern me though.

Here are the pictures of the other deceased fishes.

First up is my royal gramma. The damage to him is the most obvious i would think since he has dark colors. The skin is obviously discolored and the area near the fins has a redness. The fins are also frayed.





Next up is my mystery wrasse. He lacks the obvious discoloration of the gramma but he still has the redness near the fins and the frayed edges of the fins. That being the only obvious outward symptom.



Lastly my female hawaiian flame wrasse. Once again the only visible symptom is the frayed fins and the redness near the fins area.





Im still treating them with cupramine in the hospital tank and im trying to hit the .5 range recommended by the bottle. Im getting .25 with the API test kit though so ill wait a few more hours and maybe up the dose till it reaches .5?

[duncantse]

Did you check your ammonia?

[ryanuuy]

Yes and its at 0. I change 25% of the water every other day since they are all in QT.