Intestinal problems?????

[andypython]

I am having a huge problem with my Bolivian Rams and now my Kribs.
I have lost 5 Bolivians to what appears to be the same affliction. They appear to lose or blowout the last bit of thier intestine so that their anal opening is enlarged and somewhat red, looking like a wound. It almost appears as if some one took a bite out of thier bellies if you know what I mean. after this is visible the fish slowly waste away, taking food into thier mouths then spitting it out. The Bolivians lasted about 2-3 weeks like this and the krib (most recent case) still seems to be eating. All of these fish were housed in the same aquarium, but at different times.

I cannot seem to find reference to this in any of my books. Coud this be some sort of parasite? or maybe a diet issue. I feed (or fed....) them alot of frozen foods that might not be defrosted completely before they eat them, could this be a cause? Any ideas, treatments or experiences with this sort of thing would be greatly appreciated,

andy

 

[tjudy]

That sounds like an intestinal bacterial infection. I would increase the temperature a bit and treat with a wide spectrum antibiotic. Someone with more experience will likely post a specific one to use. With intestinal infections, I have always treated longer that I would for external infections. I never had much success with medicated foods...

 

[Zapisto]

As wide spectrum antibiotic , i use Discomed

it is not hard like other , so he will probably fail if the fish is too much infected, but at the beginning and as prevention he do the job.

there are probably lot of other wide spectrum antibiotic more harder.

one things to remember : Take Care with any medication.

 

[andypython]

should I treat all the tanks that the infected fish have been in? My 50gl planted tank is the one that all the fish were housed in between trips to breeding tanks etc and I am assuming is where the fish contracted this disease, but I havent had any cichlids in that tank for about 3 weeks now and none of my other fish seem to be at all affected by this.
How long can these sort of disease live with out a host? that is probably one of those questions that is impossible to answer...

The biggest problem of all is that I have just finally managed to get my hands on a pair of nan. Transvestitus, but I dont feel that I have any "safe" tanks to house them. ahh bad timing! How long should I have to treat a tank before it might be considered safe, I know another tough one? any ideas where this might have come from, prior to the out break I had a stable group of Bolivians that had been with me for about 4-5 months, with no new additions?

thank you all for your advice and suggestions!
andy

 

[andypython]

Well my Krib seems to be getting worse. But I have noticed a behavior that I forot had also occured with the Bolivians. The sick fish will expose their wounded belly to thier partner who then bites at the wound. When I first saw this i thought that maybe this was what was causing the problem in the first place, but it only seems to happen when the wound is already open. Could this be a sort attepmt to clean the wound? Do you think the other fish could contract what ever this is from doing this? I cannot really seperate the two kribs as they are in a breeding tank and i am reluctant to return the currently healthy male to the main tank, or any other inhabited tank for fear of spreading this further.
Would it be agood idea to add soething like melafix to maybe prevent infection of the wound or would that be a waste of time?

 

[andypython]

Camallanus????

I have searched around and this seems like a possible culprite. the LFS says to destroy the fish and clean then treat the tank. they suggested that the male was in fact going to infect himself by eating the worms from the female and that in fact that is how she became infected in the first place by finding a juvenille worm in the gravel from my Bolivians infection I guess. they also said to remove all invertibrates as they could be carriers of the disease. Does this sound right to anyone ? I am just looking for a second opinion before i do away with my krib, I really liked her alot and feel pretty bad giving up on her while she is still kicking, but I dont want to have her infect my male, if she hasnt already....

 

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Camallanus, if that what it is, is very treatable. It is, however,
quite contagious and is easily spread to other tanks via fishnet etc.

I've treated successfully with Levimisole. Seach on the forum,
you should be able to find a lot of information.