Really sick Dojo Loach!!! Anyone know what it is?

[profitina]

My Dojo Loach that I had for about 5 years randomly got a few small dots on his barbells & eventually on his back in July. I had read somewhere that they shed occasionally and assumed this was part of that process since the spots came and went and he otherwise acted normally. However, a few weeks ago I noticed he wasn't coming out at feeding time (VERY rare for him!!) and when he came out of hiding a few days later, he had two small bubble/blister appearing things on his side & abdomen & was thin. I tried using Rid Ich+ & Melafix to no avail. I looked through dozens of fish disease websites trying to figure out what it was, but he was always missing one of the main symptoms or a few of HIS main symptoms were lacking in the prognosis.

Based on the information I found, I've been debating whether he had Fish Tuberculosis or a tumor; however, his symptoms didn’t completely match Tuberculosis & were much more severe than a tumor.

I took several pictures over the last week to show his symptoms & hopefully find out what it was & possibly save him. Unfortunately, friday night one of my Barbs was trying to eat him alive & I had to humanly eutanize him. So now my main concern is what the disease was so I'll be prepared if it appears again, and if it is contagious to my other fish.


He had the one bubble on his left side, his coloration became paler, & his skin was abnormal.


He had trouble swimming so he'd try to attach himself somewhere and then just flop there. I can't tell you how many times I swore he was dead because that flee reflex was almost completely gone only to go to catch him with the net and have him magically awaken.


This photo shows the bubble on his stomach well. Ive also debated whether he had an internal worm of some sort on his tail on the upper left side because it was slightly protruding in a kind of tubular shape.


close up of his tail- and possible worm?


Left side of his face showing the bubble & skin deformities


Right side of his head showing skin deformities & if you look real close about where his arm pit would be, what looks like a cyst


This picture shows his massive wasting & weight loss


I know its not the best footage in the world, but here are some clips of his swimming behavior. He could get to the surface, and get around, he just had trouble & lacked his normal reflexes unless there was a very strong stimulus. If he was taking a nap though, he ignored everything


This is the only photo I took when he got the spots originally. I took it to one of the fish stores & they told me to get rid ich plus. I knew it wasn't ich though because they were too big & came & went. Sorry the image is so bad!!

This is what he looked like when he was younger (I couldn't find a really good pic of him from when he grew up!) for comparison.

[grizzlyone]

I'd venture to guess that this is probably CWS or "skinny disease" and you need to immediately treat for parasites and also for opportunistic bacterial infections.

We could go into it again or you could just do the search and see whats available in your area to treat. I use a commercial "pig dewormer" and then follow up with a general antibiotic after.

You need to quarantine a fish showing symptoms, but you'll probably have to treat your entire tank. Its not as bad as ick, but there is a point of "no return" if you don't act swiftly for the fish. Even if he is eating, the parasite is getting most of the nutrients feeding off your fish.

Kevin

[shari2]

I've never seen anything like this, myself.

what was sharing his tank? did you see any symptoms on any of the other fish?

Sorry you had to euthanize him. how long did you have him/her?

[profitina]

He very rarely ate or stopped eating altogether during his last two weeks. I've seen a few fish flicking to itch themselves and a couple have small white spots. The fish that are flicking seem to be fatter than usual & a couple have small white spots similar to how my Dojo loaches started out. His spots looked similar to how our skin appears when glue dries on it, whereas my other fishes spots look like they're part of their skin. But maybe it is the same thing he had starting in them just appearing differently because of the way Dojo's skins are. My Clown loaches have a grey irredescance to their skin just above their head and on their back just past the dorsal fin. It's different from the greying out they do during feeding time, so it might just be excess slime production. All my (surviving) fish are still actively eating.

Here are pics of the symptoms my other fish are having:

My cory has a spot about where her tail connects to her body, and another one in a similar place by her dorsal fin. On the opposite side, she has one or two other spots in that same general area of that fin. I saw her flicking alot before a couple more spots appeared, but she hasn't been doing it as much lately.


My knife fish getting pestered by one of my Yoyo loaches. She's gotten really chubby recently- does that mean her abdommen or other internal organs are swollen or is she just fat? She also has those two white spots by her head. Here's a close up of her.


I've had most of my fish 4-6years, with a couple new additions now & then.

[Ardillakilla]

Your other fish may be dealing with something else but for the deceased one, I'm going with mycobacterium.