# Female in serious trouble...what can I do?



## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

I have a Metriaclima estherae female who had been holding for 15 days when I stripped her because the bullying was getting pretty bad. I tried to reintroduce her immediately after, but she didn't seem have enough strength to defend herself, so I isolated her in a nursery 2 days ago.

Here is a picture of her from last night :










And here is one from tonight :










Obviously, her tail is getting worse pretty fast and for now, all I did was dose some melafix, but i'm afraid she won't make it... So what's happening to her tail and is there anything I can do to save her?


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

This could be columnaris. You'll need to act fast if it is. 
I've had this in my tank once - one fish died but I saved two others. I treated with an antibiotic containing erythromycin.

See this article


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

I don't know if it is columnaris, but at this point, I have nothing to lose... I didn't have time to make a salt dip this morning, but I put 3 tablespoon of sea salt in the 10g hospital tank. If she gets through the day, i'll try a couple salt dips tonight. The only meds I have are Metro, Clout and Melafix... so salt looks like my best option at this point.

In the mean time, i'll monitor the main tank closely for signs of illness in any other fish...but so far, I haven't noticed anything.

I'm kind of pissed, because since she was holding, most of her lethargic movements and refusal to eat were normal. I didn't notice she was in deep trouble until after i had her spit  No matter what happens, she is a hero for the 15 little offsprings that she managed to keep healthy through it all!!


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

TheJ0kerrr said:


> No matter what happens, she is a hero for the 15 little offsprings that she managed to keep healthy through it all!!


Truth


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

Just got home... she is still alive, but the situation has evolved yet again... there's some whitish transparent stuff growing all around her wounds. Kinda hard to describe, so I'll just post a picture. It's looks like a thin slimy bubble...


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

Well, that white stuff almost all came off when she tried to get away from me when I gave her a salt bath.

She won't eat NLS but she did gobble down an algae wafer that I dropped on top of her...

I don't have experience with this kind of illness, but looking at that tail melting away, chances aren't good for her


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Kanamycin (Seachem Kanaplex) and nitrofurazone (API Furan 2) are what I'd recommend, double dose for a 30 min bath twice a day with same salt concentration as the hospital tank, regular dosage of meds in the hospital tank.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

You think she has any chance to recover? LFS here aren't allowed to sell meds anymore...I think they'll even lose Melafix and Pimafix soon, so I don't think I can get my hands on those meds before next week unless I find someone local who has them.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Nothing at Petsmart? They usually carry API products. Otherwise, order from Big Al's.
Dose Pimafix/Melafix if you have them for now.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

We don't have Petsmart here... and I went to our only "serious LFS" last night and they didn't have any real meds...I think there's a law in Quebec that won't allow them to sell them in pet stores. Would Methylen blue be any good here? Been giving her 2 to 3 salt dips everyday and the situation seems to have stabilized...but still not looking good long term IMO... She's more active now, eating a little and the degradation seems to have stopped. But there isn't much left back there for her if her tail grows back from the state it is now, i'll be very surprised. Anyways, a picture speaks a thousand words... from last night, what do you think?


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## smitty814 (Sep 27, 2012)

I think I would have ended it's life.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Agreed, I think it's time to euthanize unfortunately.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

The infection has stopped and she is back to being more active and eating whatever I give her... I'll give her another week and see if there's any hope the tail will grow back. I don't think she is suffering anymore, so there's not much to lose. Obviously, she can never go back to the main tank in that state, so if no progress is made, I'll have to euthanize. Thanks for the advice guys, really appreciate it!


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## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

So, what was the final consensus...? What does this fish have? ...keeping my fingers crossed for her...


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Columnaris would be my guess due to how quickly the infection progressed.


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## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

...how is your fish doing?


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

She is doing pretty good for a fish without a tail... not seeing much progress as far as her tail growing back, but things have been stable for some days now. I'm keeping up with water changes and in a few days, I should know for sure if her tail is ever gonna grow back.

Meanwhile, I just put about 5 tablespoon of salt in my 55g as a precautionary move. I've been watching closely another female estherae that is hanging by the heater for longer than i usually see in this tank. I don't see her getting harrassed much and she is eating well, but she has a small odd spot on her tail fin that sort of looks like how it started for the other one. If it gets any worse, I'll try to catch her and give her some bath salts which worked pretty good with the other one even though I started them too late.


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## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

I'm absolutely amazed she is still alive! very happy for her... I'm betting it will grow back... that fish didn't come this far for no reason...


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

I had a 1.25" fish that lost it's tail due to a larger fish biting it - the tail did grow back, but it took about 3 months. In an older fish expect it to take even longer (if it grows back at all).


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

You might think about ordering some antibiotics - just in case. If there is an outbreak - it's much easier to treat than giving 10 or more fish salt treatments.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

Yeah, I'll definetly order some. At least i'll have them handy for whatever happens next. That other female's state hasn't deteriorated and I don't see her as often by the heater...although she still goes there regularly. Could be that since they are now only 3 females for 1 male, she has become the reject...


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

Quick update... the tail isn't growing very fast, but it is looking better I think... never really had this situation before, so it's hard for me to tell if there is progress, but here she is tonight after a quick snack 










Also, in the main tank, things are back to normal, my female estherae is no longer hiding behind the heater, so everything looks good again!


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## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

from the photo, it looks like the tail growing back, and the end of the dorsal fin is definitely growing back! ONE TOUGH FISH!


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## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

How is your fish?


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## miDnIghtEr20C (Aug 13, 2013)

Could the skin of just fallen off from being dead? Getting bit and hit and nipped so much. Looked like that whole area was dead and then just like you've seen, things begin to start to get better. Always gets worse before it gets better. Fish has a great story. Keep her in her own tank now. She's special.


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

She is still alive and well, although still isolated in her own tank and I don't think the tail will ever grow back. I haven't seen any growth in a few weeks now. I had another female estherae get the same kind of thing, but I caught her earlier. Treated her to salt baths and methyciline blue and her tail is now growing back nicely. So nice that I thought she was ready for the main tank, so I freed her (she was in a breeder box). This morning, 3 days later, I decided to pick her back up as she was getting harrassed too much and they started nipping at her tail again. So i'll have to find another strategy for her.

As for the first one, I'm not sure what to do... I want to keep her, but keeping a tank just for her is kind of a pain. I guess I could use one of my 20L and make a decent aquascape out of it...she deserves more than an almost empty hospital tank! I wonder if she would tolerate a couple of playties I have that I'm not sure what to do with anymore...hehe.

What I realise, is that Metriaclima estheraes probably do get too big and aggressive for a 55g tank...


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## TheJ0kerrr (Aug 14, 2012)

Alright, I've received a few messages about this fish in the past 2 years, so i figured I should post a little update almost 2 and half years later... Well, here she is, still 100% healthy! She was never reintroduced in the main tank for obvious reasons, but she's had the company of a few different fish during that time. Now with just 2 red jewels in a 20g long. They've spawned several times and she ate all the babies everytime, haha! They got nothing on her


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