# Wasting disease



## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

Hey guys,

Need a little help here... lost 4 fish in 2 months time. 2 demasoni and 2 rustys

Symptoms are always the same. They just stop eating and start wasting away. They breath heavilly and try to cough up something. As soon as i touch them with metro or antibiotics they start to lets say chocke on their cough and die. Treated the tank with metro for 1 week and an antibiotic to go with it.

The treatment just doesnt do the trick. Im starting to think im dealing with something else... tuberculosis?

Any one have some fresh insight for me?

And yes my parameters etc etc are fine.

Thanks.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Have you tried treating the whole tank with metronidazole so the fish are healthier when medication is given and not yet coughing?

I've never heard of a reaction like that to metronidazole.

I would not use an antibiotic.

And I use a pretty heavy metro dose...larger than recommended.


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## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

Yup treated the entire tank with metro.


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## Steve C (Oct 9, 2011)

Mysterious deaths suck, been there myself. Have you added any new fish at all before the others started having issues? Any sunken bellies at all? What's the tank size/stock/filtration & parameters? Demasoni are pretty aggressive and Rusties are pretty calm so just wondering if it could perhaps be stress related?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You treated the tank but 4 fish died. So some lived after the metronidazole/antibiotic treatment?

Any clear/white thread/long feces?

I might try the metronidazole again without the antibiotic.


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

Metro is only active for 8 hours in the tank. Whenever I have used metro to treat Tropheus, I have treated 1/4 tsp per 40 gallons, every eight hours, for one week.
If you are using the metro properly and it isn't working for you, maybe you could try Kanaplex.


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## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

Well it seems to have stopped.

Yes I treated every 8 hours  kanaplex isnt available to me.... I treated with nifurpirinol

I removed all the sick ones. caught one coughing up white mucus so that was new.... lost 6 fish. Luckily I havent removed the fry so they will be replaced 

No more sick ones at the moment.


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## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

Well i happened again. Rusty stopped eating breathing heavily. And as soon as I touched her with meds she died.... it seems like everytime there is something stuck in the fish its throat. Cant see anything though. It breaths heavily tries to expell something and just seems to chocke on it.

If I dont do anything the fish just gets thinner and thinner.

Its seems like bloat although *** never seen a fish chocke on it.


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## Aaron S (Apr 4, 2015)

This sounds kind of like what my issue is right now too. I wish it were more obvious so I could be confident about a course of treatment.


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## wortel87 (Apr 15, 2014)

Strange isnt it 

It does seem to strike the weaker fish though. Mostly females.

Although had a polit female costantly beeing bullied by the male... she didnt get the disease. Its always the ones swimming normally in the crowd just not the dominant ones. And always velonging to a specific species. Yellows rustys or demasoni.

It really seems like they just suffocate even with airstones present. No strange itching though. so flukes seem out of the question? Also couldnt find any under the microscope.

I think I will cut the next one open.


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