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The Loach Forum Archives (1)
Re: HELP HELP Im a worried mama.. SOME CLARITY
Posted By: chad <gard@indy.net> In Response To: Re: HELP HELP Im a worried mama.. SOME CLARITY (Anne Webel)
Date: Friday, 24 September 1999, at 3:17 p.m.
I'm also baffled as to what would be wrong with your poor fish. But, I wouldn't rule out ich.
My thinking is thus: Ich is usually noticed because of white spots on the fish, but it can infect just the gills, which means you would not notice. Ich has a 21 day life cycle, and you've had the fish for 3 weeks. So, if we presume that most if not all fish and tanks do have some ich organisims in it, and there would have been a bit of transport stress, weakening his immune system and making him more susceptible to the disease. Because they likely would not yet have reached the free-swimming stage when they could infect other fish, it wouldn't be surprising that the infection had not spread. In addition, the others should have a "normal" healthy immune system.
It's a long shot, to be sure, but a possibility. If you have a quarantine tank, I would try to move him there. I never like to add medications to my main tank - too much chance of doing more harm than good. Plus you can use a smaller tank and therefore less medication. Once there, I would suggest treating with Maracide and Maracyn-two. Maracide is an anti-protazoan that is good at treating lots of common parasites, and Maracyn-two is an antibiotic that can be absorbed through the gills so he doesn't have to eat. Both are from Mardel Laboratories and are widely available. It also leaves nitrifying bacteria alone, which I like. both suggest a 5-day treatement cycle. I suggest following recomended dosages with the anti-biotic, and 80% dosages with the Maracide. I've found that the 80% dose is just as effective, and there's no sense in causing more stress with additional chemicals. Also, a sad but important note - should you start this treatment and he dies (probably likely from the sound of things), do finish the 5 day anti-biotic treatment. Much like with human anti-biotics, we must be careful not to breed resistant strains of bacteria, and one of the main ways this happens is by not finishing a treatment regimine.
Good luck.
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