# Mystery disease



## Jerms (Feb 18, 2005)

Hello,

I've had my 90 gal. set up for years now and started having some problems after adding 20 Demasoni approximately 6 months ago. I'm assuming one or more of them brought in some disease with them. They were kept in a hospital tank for 2 weeks before adding to the main tank and I bought them from 3 different sources. Other fish were moved to my 75 gal. so the tank was not overcrowded to make room for the demasoni.

The disease has only one symptom that I can see; the fish appears to look like they are starving, like they haven't eaten in weeks. They continue to eat and everything else looks healthy. Once they start looking like they are starving they are dead within 7 days or so, the last 2 spent resting on the bottom. Here's what I have:

90 gal. set up for 3 years
Magnum 350/Fluval 4 in-tank

1 Acei
2 Yellow Labs
20 Mel. Johannii
5 Lab. Hongi
4 Demasoni
1 Albino pleco

Well water
Ph 8.2
No2 0
No3 20
Ammonia 0

Almost all of the demasoni died off followed by 3 yellow labs and 1 hongi.
Any ideas? :?

Appreciate your time,
Jerms


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Hi,

Its either Skinny Disease, which is a bacterial infection, or bloat. Usually with bloat one of the first symptoms is loss of appetite so I'm more inclined to think this is Skinny Disease. The major symptom with Skinny Disease is that the fish becomes incredibly imaciated looking but continues to eat. 
The treatment for Skinny Disease is Erythromycin. Look for Maracyn at the fish store. Do a large partial water change prior to treatment. This disease is contagious but fish who are otherwise healthy probably won't get it. With the cost of Maracyn you might want to treat in a separate tank.

Please post back with any additional questions and good luck with the rest of your fish.

Robin


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## Jerms (Feb 18, 2005)

Robin,

Thanks for the suggestion! I moved them all to a 40 gal. long and am treating them now. The instructions are pretty vague; treat on days 1,3,5 and continue filtration, etc. I have a regular "floss" filter going (no carbon) and elevated the temp to 83. Should any water changes be done or not?

This gives me some time to strip down my 90 and change some things in the tank that were bothering me. I'm also going to switch out the gravel to sand and clean my rocks really good. I'll keep you posted on anything...

Thanks,
Jerms


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

Skinny Disease can be caused by bacteria, worms, or protozoans. If the course of antibiotics doesn't work for you, its probably not bacteria. This problem can be very frustrating because you basically have to guess what is causing it.

I found this medicated food from Angel's plus. http://www.angelsplus.com/FlakeMedicated.htm
Medication in food is the best way to treat if your fish will eat it. I keep the Medi-Pack in my fridge just in case I should need it.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Jerms said:


> Robin,
> 
> Thanks for the suggestion! I moved them all to a 40 gal. long and am treating them now. The instructions are pretty vague; treat on days 1,3,5 and continue filtration, etc. I have a regular "floss" filter going (no carbon) and elevated the temp to 83. Should any water changes be done or not?
> 
> ...


Jerms, I think I'd keep the temp closer to 80--some bacterias grow faster at higher temps. 
On the Maracyn--start off with a water change--do the five day treatment, then another water change and then you should probably do a second five day treatment.



> Skinny Disease can be caused by bacteria, worms, or protozoans. If the course of antibiotics doesn't work for you, its probably not bacteria. This problem can be very frustrating because you basically have to guess what is causing it.


I haven't found any info that says definitively what causes Skinny Disease--much like Bloat we're much better at knowing how to treat it rather than how to define it. And again, like Bloat, it may be more of a term that is used to describe a group of symptoms rather than an actual disease. 
Most of what I've read recommends to go after it with anti-biotics first, but I totally agree with you *lotsofish*--if that doesn't succeed then switch to a med that targets internal parasites. The truth is when we're diagnosing and treating a fish over the internet we're almost always guessing. I would say we're pretty good guessers but the problem is that so many fish ailments share the same symptoms that it's often impossible to know what a fish has without looking at a sample under a microscope.

Robin


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