Help Please Diagnose

zeebo

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Jun 11, 2010
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My L 128, saw this red on tummy, was told to treat with Voogle. Started two days ago but wonder if metronidazole would be better, and would i need to put it in the food? How dire is this? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Georgie
 

Lornek8

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Do you have any more information on Voogle? Never heard of it before. Looked it up but there is no mention of ingredients.

Doesn't look like something metronidzole would necessarily be used for. Metro is a bit hard to use & at least in my expereince marginally effective. It doesn't look all that bad to me but its a bit difficult to tell the full extent from the shadowing. Was anything changed recently? Water? Decor? How long has it been like that? Might try to go with something like mela/pimafix first then if required maybe an antibiotic.
 

zeebo

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thanks

thanks for the responses. first of all voogle is an immune booster made in holland and seems to be getting rave reviews from the aqaurium stores. thats all i know also, its made by easy-life. second its not a scrape, it looks like its internal. i have been changing the subsraight. but have removed little of the original blue. slowly transitioning to black. so i have been using the metro med i mentioned by putting it in their food, but they dont seem to be eating it. so i wonder if i should change the meds to the fix twins as you say?- sorry i didnt check in sooner. thanks georgie.
 

Brengun

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Ahhhh I would say, they have been picking thru the old blue gravel that was left and gotten onto some old stuff hidden away before but now has been turned over.

Its an internal bacterial infection. Not sure what you have on hand over there to treat it with as Australia would have something completely different.

Try feeding more like vegetable roughage foods to push the nasties out and give that left over gravel a good vac before you remove it next time.

Watch the new gravel's not going through a little mini cycle. I would add some prime or stability to the water just to be safe.
 

zeebo

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L128's not eating

have been using garvic vitamin, and i only feed them vegatables. But they still havent eaten. Tried the twins and the other meds. But yesterday I put up the Temp 2 degrees. I cant see their tummies and dont want to stress them by catching them. But wondering if i should to get a better look? They come out but they arent eating, any idea's to get them to eat???

About the gravel change, i did it very slowly and I'm still not quite finished, and have about an eigth of blue in there, but do a gravel vac on fridays. But gunk could be possible who knows. Could it be more stress related? So i need help with ideas to get them to eat...do you suggest I try to check their bellies or leave them alone.
Thanks Georgie
 

D-MAC

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Do you have any other plecos in with them? I find that having some Bristlenose in the aquarium gives the shy to eat fish encouragement to join in...Have you wormed the fish at all? as this is something that I would try...I'm not sure what's available to you, but maybe Lornek8 will be able to assist on that one.
 

foti

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it didn't look good in the pic its been 2 week now i would say best you take a look but only if you have not been stressing them out in the mean time !

-no more changing of gravel till problem is fixed!-
check water quality
do water changes every 5 days 20%
add salt


it didnt look like worms? more an external isue? could it be burns? amonia?
i suggest catching the fish if you need to, to get the right idea what is the problem !

as trying to treat something its not will do more bad than good !
everyones advise till now has been great on the money but only if its that what they think it could be from that picture

i hope it all works out for you but you need to correctly id the problem

"maybe before you catch the fish you add carbon do 1 or 2 small WCs of 10-15% over 3 days. should get all chemicals out and have water tip top be for you to catch him as he might feel better? just a thought "
 

D-MAC

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Worming the fish wouldn't do any harm at all and it is something ruled out...She has already said that it didn't look to be external so my instinct is its something internal...If she was in the UK i would be going with Interpet No 9 but she has access to more powerful meds like antibiotics which may be the way to go...I fear the longer the fish goes without eating, the outcome will not be good.

Is the fish new to you or have you had it a while? and was it eating ok, then developed the problem?
 

zeebo

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Still Freaked out, L128's wont eat!!!

thanks everyone ive been very worried, there are only two L128 and a dither fish in the tank. I do have a BN in the 20 gal but the blue phantoms beat him up in the 54 Gal tank, so i had to move him to the 20 gal. I do beilieve the prob is internal. I still have 2 more days of the "fix twins". then i was thinking of doing a water change and charcol for a day, and remove charcol and do another cycle of the "fix twins". The antibiotics, metro....that i tried in the begining didnt seem to be working. As brentgun said maybe its fungal, but it seems to me to be bactirial.
They were de wormed when i purchased them, and have had one for over 3 years, and the other almost 2 years. And have always eaten regularly with a variety of veggies, and even with the garlic squirt on the food they arent eating now. So i guess I had better try to get a look at their tummies while causing the least stress as possible. any other suggestions id HIGHLY appreciate.
Because i brought the temp up i brought the water level down 5 inches, 2 HLB's, 2 5" air stones, and 2 hydra filiters. So theres plenty of oxygen. The dither fish and farlowlla are all doing excellent. Im also keeping the lights low and most of the time off during the medication. Any help or advice to get them to eat would be appreciated. Will check in again tonight, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP SO FAR!!!
ps. NI zero, ph 6.8, and NA 10
Thanks Georgie
 

Lornek8

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Metro isn't one of the usual broad-spectrum bacterial treatments. Typically more for internal parasites & hole-in-the-head treatment. I'd personally go with Mardel Maracyn & Maracyn II used in combination. I've used it a lot for stubborn infections. One is for gram+ bacteria & the other gram- bacteria. I don't believe what I read on the labels as to what to use them for as I've used what was recommended by the label & it ended up being the other that worked. That's why I use both in combo. Had a GN once that turned completely yellow before. Tried a bunch of stuff, finally took this combo to get it back to normal.
 
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zeebo

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still hanging in there crossed fingers

gonna make some phone calls to make sure it doesnt kill good bacteria. Today i did the 25 percent WC and added a bed of charcol. Was gonna start second dose of the "fix twins" tomorrow, but let me check on these two meds recommended. Either way i havent removed this fish because I dont want to cause it anymore stress. So hes still in the main tank. Someone ate something last night because there was some green bell pepper eaten. But cant be sure who??? Thanks for all the responses, Im trying real hard to keep everyone alive, and will check back in the 19th. Thanks alot, Georgie
 

Lornek8

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Why the temp increase? Temp increases are used for issues like ich as ich can be susceptible to higher temps so it aids in the treatment. For bacterial & fungal infections, especially ones you're having difficulty treating, the higher temps can actually speed up the development of the diseases. In my opinion better to simply leave the temp as it was.

Maracyn/Maracyn II can affect the filter bacteria but its a bit of a trade-off. Either you treat with what I've found to be very effective and risks your filters, remove and treat in QT or continue on with what you've been doing that hasn't yet worked. At this point though, as its in a community tank, everything has already been exposed & if you don't treat the whole tank you could get it back later. Any antibiotic you use might risk the filter, but it can be the most effective. I like Maracyn/Maracyn II combo as they pretty much cover the gamut of bacterial diseases. You could use other antibiotics but may have to use a few different ones to get the same coverage. Also, I've found many antibiotics to have limited effectiveness. Using Maracyn/Maracyn II I haven't found that they will completely kill the filter. It may reduce the performance a bit but, honestly, i've never noticed.
 

Jacqueline

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I wonder if there is anything wrong with the fish :-/
Is it showing any signs of illness? Does it lie in the open, breed rapidly, refuse foods or acts sluggish? If not and the fish is acting normal, I wouldn't do anything.

The red belly indicates an irritation. You said you are changing the gravel, or am I mistaken? I think this fish is displaying a reaction to the gravel change. Maybe you had some rotten gravel... Have you washed the new gravel?

And certainly don't increase the temperature. Bacterial infections will spiral out of control.
 

zeebo

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update

:wb: Hi everyone 8 and jacquiline:wb: I increased the Temp thinking it would stimulate them to eat. However, I have brought it back to normal. And once i stopped the Fix twins, they started eating again immdiately. Its been two days and they have been eating very well. I have removed the meds with warter changes and charcol. im conserned about the maracyn and my filters. So im trying another antibiotic, 100 percent natural called microb-lift, artemiss. And today is day 1 of 10 day treatment. Thanks for the heads up on the Temp making things worse.
Yes, I did wash the gravel. And during the change i did find some un eaten food that was fuzzy, kinda freaked me out, i do a good vaccum on fridays. Apparently i missed something. So im trying this new med now, crossing my fingers, temp back to normal, and hoping the fish will eat during this medication. Thanks for all the help so far! REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE IT! Ive also added another air stone, so now i have thee air stones and 2 hydro sponges, and two HLB, and dropped the water level about 4 inches so theres plenty of oxygen. Not sleeping at night so i'll have my eye on things, night owl anway. thanks and will check in, back in a few days. Crossing fingers!
thanks, georgie