Advice- Hillies (Gastromyzon ctenocephalus) may be ill?

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Finney
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:49 pm

Advice- Hillies (Gastromyzon ctenocephalus) may be ill?

Post by Finney » Wed Jan 27, 2016 2:20 pm

Does anyone have experience with Hillstream loaches? I am new to them since May.

[https://textyserver.appspot.com/media?f ... ormat=.mp4]

lethargic, weak, doesn't appear to be eating, keeping closer to bottom of tank not moving much.
Tipped over belly up a couple times and was slow to get righted.
Did move up to top of tank trying to avoid me catching her/him.
color looks normal to slightly dark-not patchy at all.
no visible signs of injury or illness.

I put him into a container in tank to isolate him and give him a chance to eat without competition.
blanched zuchini, alagae rocks & a little flake food to give options, just sitting on bottom w/little movement.
air stone at top of container for flow
added 1 ml of stress guard to container

[https://textyserver.appspot.com/media?f ... ormat=.mp4]Video Placeholder
Tank:
Established 3 or more yrs ( I have owned it since May of this yr bought it established)
lots of algae
29 gal
planted/eco complete
Filter #1 Aqua-Tech 20-30
Filter #2 Aqua-Tech 30-60
Plus an air stone-Not a river tank but lots of movement for them

Tank mates;
5 Cardinal tetras
6 ruby red barbs
4 SAE's
3 Otos
1 Kuhli loach
3 Hillies (1 of the hillies came w/the tank and is healthy)
1 Amano shrimp

Water Today;
1/27/16 29 gal PH 7.00
1/27/16 29 gal KH 30.00
1/27/16 29 gal GH 300.00-have wonder shell in tank
1/27/16 29 gal Nitrite 0.00
1/27/16 29 gal NitrAte 20.00
1/27/16 29 gal ammonia 0.00
1/27/16 29 gal temp 74.60


1/25 WC-debris clean up, rinsed filter & media #2 completely (in tank water) & added new purigen pkg
also added 1/4 tsp of alk buffer to raise KH

Added Lk Superior rocks-these are new but doesn't seemed to have changed water tests I have performed


Before water change 2 days ago was;
1/25/16 29 gal PH 7.00
1/25/16 29 gal KH 0.00
1/25/16 29 gal GH 300.00
1/25/16 29 gal Nitrite 0.00
1/25/16 29 gal NitrAte 40.00-This is high for this tank-that's why I rinsed one filter & added purigen packet
1/25/16 29 gal ammonia 0.00
1/25/16 29 gal temp 74.60


12/29 added new Hillie-all has been fine since


Fish Deaths;
12/8 last fish death was an oto not noted to be ill beforehand.
10/15/15 1 Hillie died-reason unknown, thought he looked a little thinner then he was dead no other signs of illness noted

Since May have gradually lost 4 amano shrimp & total of 4 otos reasons unknown-still have 3 healthy otos and 1 amano


Sorry for the novel,was anticipating questions ::)
Thoughts anyone?

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atmichaels
Posts: 144
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 9:31 pm
Location: Detroit, Michigan USA

Re: Advice- Hillies (Gastromyzon ctenocephalus) may be ill?

Post by atmichaels » Wed Jan 27, 2016 6:33 pm

I find with gastromyzon the two most important things are pristine water (very low nitrates) and high dissolved oxygen. This behavior could be because of low DO, especially if he's hanging out in a low flow area. Do you have a qt tank you could move him to?

To encourage eating, I would try live/frozen foods like brine shrimp or blood worms. Mine go nuts for them.

One other thought, do you know if he was ever treated for worms? Very common in wild hillies.

Austen
Currently keeping: gastromyzon spp., hypergastromyzon humilis, pseudogastromyzon sp., sewellia spp., ambastaia sidthimunki, homaloptera spp., serpenticobitis octozona, Yaoshania pachychilus. As well as various catfish, loricarids, livebearers and tetras.

Finney
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:49 pm

Re: Advice- Hillies (Gastromyzon ctenocephalus) may be ill?

Post by Finney » Wed Jan 27, 2016 7:21 pm

I don't know if he was treated for worms, I have not treated him myself & I got him at a Petsmart
I have had him for 8 mos and he's been fine till now.

the nitrates are at 20 the highest they've ever been is 40

my quarantine tank is in use for a breeding pair of GBR's so I have him in a container hanging inside the tank with an airstone in it

I gave him just a methylene blue bath for 20 mins then tried to release him back into the tank, I thought he had been acting better in the container and would be better off in his normal surroundings.
But when I let him go he just sort of floated like a leaf upside down, one of the SAE bit at him like he was a piece of food, he just floated to the bottom and laid on his side partially into a little cave.
I couldn't just leave him there like that so I have put him back into the container on the side of the tank.

What are your thoughts on medications?

I have Kanamycin
I only have Metronidazole in General Cure-so mixed with praziquantel

Other meds I have on hand are;
Furan-2
Maracyn/erythromycin 200mg pkts
Maracyn two/Minocycline 10 mg pkts

How would you recommend I proceed? It is not looking to hopeful for the little guy :(

I will give him some frozen brine shrimp w/spirolina

Finney
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:49 pm

Re: Advice- Hillies (Gastromyzon ctenocephalus) may be ill?

Post by Finney » Wed Jan 27, 2016 7:28 pm

[quote]I find with gastromyzon the two most important things are pristine water (very low nitrates) and high dissolved oxygen. This behavior could be because of low DO, especially if he's hanging out in a low flow area.

There are 2 other Hillies doing fine, I keep good filtration going
Filter #1 Aqua-Tech 20-30
Filter #2 Aqua-Tech 30-60
Plus an air stone-Not a river tank but lots of movement for them

User avatar
atmichaels
Posts: 144
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 9:31 pm
Location: Detroit, Michigan USA

Re: Advice- Hillies (Gastromyzon ctenocephalus) may be ill?

Post by atmichaels » Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:26 pm

Nitrates of 20 are still pretty high, I'd do a 20% water change every other day or so until they're down to <5.

The other unexplained fish deaths without obvious cause are also concerning. This could be internal parasites or slow moving/ low-level bacterial infection, hard to tell without a lab. Have you noticed any stringy feces? That could indicate parasites. With hillies I always do a prophylactic course of levamisole to treat for worms.

Without knowing what the cause is, I can't suggest a course of medication. Although the metro/prazi probably wouldn't hurt and it covers a range of parasites. I'd hesitate to use any of the antibiotics without evidence of bacterial infection. My initial course of action with a sick hillstream is isolation and constant, clean water.

Austen
Currently keeping: gastromyzon spp., hypergastromyzon humilis, pseudogastromyzon sp., sewellia spp., ambastaia sidthimunki, homaloptera spp., serpenticobitis octozona, Yaoshania pachychilus. As well as various catfish, loricarids, livebearers and tetras.

Finney
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:49 pm

Re: Advice- Hillies (Gastromyzon ctenocephalus) may be ill?

Post by Finney » Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:59 pm

Thanks for your help Austen,

But he died while I was setting up a quarentine tank to treat him in :(

I will work on bringing the nitrates down further.
One thought I had recently started using Flourish Excel a few days a week to boost the plant growth. Would that have caused him a problem?

User avatar
atmichaels
Posts: 144
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2013 9:31 pm
Location: Detroit, Michigan USA

Re: Advice- Hillies (Gastromyzon ctenocephalus) may be ill?

Post by atmichaels » Thu Jan 28, 2016 8:20 pm

Well that's sad. I'm sorry.

I don't have any experience with ferts but I can't imagine that could be the root cause. How's the rest of the tank looking? Keep a close eye as it could still be a bacterial issue or parasites.

Austen
Currently keeping: gastromyzon spp., hypergastromyzon humilis, pseudogastromyzon sp., sewellia spp., ambastaia sidthimunki, homaloptera spp., serpenticobitis octozona, Yaoshania pachychilus. As well as various catfish, loricarids, livebearers and tetras.

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