JanS

Good points, and once you have them in a q-tank, the time goes pretty fast, so it's not like it's an extra burden. I alway have a q-tank ready and running, and I don't buy fish all that often, so to me it's just part of the routine.

I wish I had been smart enough to set up an extra saltwater tank for quarantine when I got started in that too so I wouldn't be taunted by a darn Mantis shrimp every waking moment of my life now....

littleguy

Well that's good to hear. Corroborating responses from several experienced veterans, what more can I ask for . Thanks much guiac, jans, sksuser, and diana.

Thanks for slapping me upside the head guiac, I needed that . I was hoping I might get that response from someone, to keep me from going off the deep end.

Thanks very much Diana for answering each and every one of my questions . I really really appreciate such thorough responses.

Maybe it would be good if we could give an analogy to MB in human terms... The ebola analogy is good at describing what it is not; what is one that describes what it is? Off the top of my head I can't think of a low-virulent human disease that many people are carriers for but rarely die from.

ANGLS186@MSN.COM

A couple years back I was hit hard with worms and loss a 1/4 of my fish before I figured out what the had. Once I did figure it out I treated with Levamisole, there was not that much info on dosage. Levamisole will also boost the fishes immune system. But know there is more info about it out there here is the most recent site with info about nematode infestations and levamisole treatment.
http://www.loaches.com/disease-treat...ydrochloride-1
I now treat all new additions with levamisole and have down so for two years now. here is the link to buy levam.
http://www.petsupplies4less.com/i_01...+20.17+gm.html.
Hope this is of some help if not now maybe later.
Angel

dwalstad

[quote=JanS;283295]I alway have a q-tank ready and running, and I don't buy fish all that often, so to me it's just part of the routine.
QUOTE]

Here's some excellent advice folks! It may explain why JanS has been continuously successful with her fish.

I've had Rainbowfish and cichlids for 10-15 years. They're my precious pets now. Many hobbyists have never had the pleasant experience of keeping undiseased fish. I would like to change the inaccuate perception that fish are disposable and "die anyway"-- no matter what you do.

My 26 Rainbowfish are precious. I expect every one of them to do well for many years.

rs79

Mycobacteria is present in virtually all petshop and all natural water systems. It's only whenfish are subject to environmental stress that can no longer fight it off and develop symptoms.

You should NEVER use antibiotics unless under a vets direction, in an aquarium. Without being too dramatic, you rlife may depend on it. One aquarist has already died.

Please read these:

http://aquaria.net/articles/meds/antibiotics/
http://aquaria.net/articles/meds/ant...arning/wright/
http://aquaria.net/articles/meds/ant...warning/phage/
http://aquaria.net/articles/meds/

"Not only are antibiotics dangerous to our future health if we create ``super-bugs'' by careless use but misdiagnosis may cause us to kill fish by treatments that have no hope of working."
- James Langhammer,
past Curator of Fishes at the Belle Isle Aquarium in Detroit.

"The greatest possibility of evil in self-medication is the use of too-small doses, so that instead of clearing up infection the microbes are educated to resist penicillin..."
- Sir Alexander Fleming,
Discoverer of penicillin, interview with the New York Times in 1945

Endler Guy

My Endlers must have fish TB. I suppose I should order a uv sterilizer immediately and hope their offspring are more resistant. My community aquarium was left with survivors of a mystery illness. Only one fish exhibited any symptoms and it was a male molly who just kept getting thinner and thinner and hung on that way for a while before he died. Everyone else in that tank seemed healthy and still do. They must be resistant.

I got my Endlers from a reputable breeder but put them in the community tank then later moved the original inhabitants to another tank. I had a male and a female Endler die with no symptoms whatsoever. Two females died after looking so gravid with skinny tails that they looked like tadpoles. I watched one die and did a c-section but the babies appeared dead and too premature. It was then, at close examination, that I noticed she had inconspicuous lumps under her skin.

There have been three births and all babies have survived so far. What am I going to do with them all? I suppose I could separate the males and females and let them live out their lives.

Would it be a good idea to euthanize them if they become symptomatic?

What a dreadful disease!

dwalstad

[quote=Endler Guy;329079]My Endlers must have fish TB. I suppose I should order a uv sterilizer immediately and hope their offspring are more resistant.

There have been three births and all babies have survived so far. What am I going to do with them all? I suppose I could separate the males and females and let them live out their lives.

Would it be a good idea to euthanize them if they become symptomatic?
QUOTE]

Sorry to hear about your Endlers. I wouldn't give up on the babies. I've frequently bred healthy livebearers from parents that died soon after purchase and were probably diseased.

Also, scientists have shown that the TB transmission in mild cases doesn't infect all exposed fish.

It sounds like you really want to save your Endlers. I would put all your Endlers without symptoms into a separate tank with a UV filter. Yes, you can euthanize them if they develop symptoms. But be prepared for the fact that they may not. Many science labs breeding 1000s of Zebrafish have successfully dealt with TB outbreaks by removing symtomatic fish and using UV sterilizing systems.

Diseased female livebearers (in contrast to egglayers) can transmit TB to her live young while inside her. When I was breeding guppies, I unwittingly got around this problem. I bred a beautiful male from one diseased strain to a female from an undiseased strain (I doubt that the bacteria that cause TB infect sperm.) I developed a healthy strain from the babies and had no further problems.

Endler Guy

[quote=dwalstad;331251]Thanks Diana,

I've seen your guppies in your book and they are exceptionally beautiful!

I've had no more deaths or symptoms, probably because of the UV filter. Thanks!!! I've decided not to separate the males from the females. I posted a link in your forum about a study where guppies control their own population (only when in a species tank) I'm going to keep a close eye on the water parameters and see if they start curbing their reproduction and start eating their babies. I'll let you know how it goes. As it is though, I've started weighing what I feed them and it was about half of what you feed your 50 gallon tank. So, I've been feeding a little over a gram a day and I've only seen a trace of left-over food on the bottom the next day. If they don't control their own population, I'll get a predator. I have some mollies and mosquito fish in a 10 gallon and have never seen a single fry. There are females, both molly and gambusia, who've obviously given birth but the mosquito fish eat them all - leaving no trace that there was ever a birth...except for the huge female that regained her girlish figure overnight!

I had left two molly fry in the Endler tank, which is mostly a natural planted tank. They outgrew their siblings in the non-planted tank, which gets a 50% water change once a week. I don't know what's at work here but that's another subject.

Sorry, I've gotten off topic. I will remove any symptomatic endlers but am increasingly optimistic every day.

rs79

Scheel ("Rivulins of the old world, TFH Press, 1968") has a good write up of Mycobacteria. The authos makes two main points: 1) it's in ALL fish, period. Only when they're under bad conditions does it go anywhere. 2) Hard alkaline water keeps it at bay. It begins to be a real issue in soft acid water.

I recenly saw on the net a fish vet site that claimed Kanamyacin and vitamin B6 would cure it. This is news to me, Even Untergasser ("Handbook of fish Diseases, TFH Press) claims there is no known cure.

As for Endlers, although they've recenlty been described as a separate species there is still some consensus that they're just a population of guppies. The jury's still out on this one.

dwalstad

[quote=Endler Guy;332215]Thanks for writing with the good news. I am so happy for you!