Emergency problem with dojo loach

[Shakou]

I'm very relieved to of found a forum like this, though I wish I had found it on better circumstances. My dojo loach is very sick, and it seems like no one out there knows what they are talking about or is willing to give me the time of day.

Approximately 3 days ago, I noticed small dark holes on my loach's stomach, near his fins...at first, they just looked like dark spots, but I knew from that point that something was wrong. I immediately separated him from my other fish and put him in a hospital tank I have. I asked some people at my local pet store what it could be and how I can treat it, and I got a bunch of answers, but nothing definite.

Earliar tonight, I noticed that the holes seem to have gotten bigger, and now he's sitting at the bottom of the tank, just not moving (he's always been a pretty active fish).




I took this picture last night. After shining a flashlight on the holes, I discovered that they go really deep into him...I almost think that they might be worms...

Please someone help me identify this and tell me how to treat it...I really like this loach and don't want to lose him.

[starsplitter7]

I am so sorry you find LOL under such difficult circumstances.

I am not able to help you, but someone who can will come along quickly. The experts on this forum are usually quick to respond.

What I would do is lower the water a little to let it splash to increase the oxygen to help your Dojo breath in such a stressful situation.

Also let us know where you live, because that helps determine what medications are available if you need to treat. Do you have any meds on hand?

Tell us about his regular tank. Temp? Tank size? What are your Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate readings, how long has he been in the tank, who are his tank mates, anyone new (when?), recent water change? What conditioner do you use?

Those answers should help the members of LOL to help you.

Good luck! I love my Dojos. Tanja.

[KLKelly]

Yes answer all the questions about the water and tank please and what medication you have on hand. Clean happy water will be a must for him to heal.

Do you think he could have gotten burned by the heater? On another forum there was a heater burn and the aquatic vet that they took the fish to - most of the damage was on the inside. It didn't look as bad on the outside until they cleaned out the wound.

I hope he pulls through. I love dojos as well.

[Shakou]

It's definitely not a heater burn. These are holes that go in very deep and look like they veer off into his body, as if something is eating into him. I'm positive it's a parasite of some kind.

Currently for medications on hand, I have Quickfix, aquarium salt, and melaflex. Someone recommended the table salt remedy, though that sounds like it would be extremely painful.

[Diana]

Google Aeremonas. It is a disease that shows as holes in the body of the fish like you are describing.

Salt is not painful to fish. Here is how it works.
Fish normally live in balance with their water. The water has a certain level of minerals and salts in it, and the fish has a certain amount of minerals and salts in their cells. In freshwater fish the water in the tank has less minerals etc in it, and 'tries' to enter the fish cells. (Google Osmosis and semi-permeable membrane for more info)
In a healthy fish the fish's system can flush out the excess water. They are built to do this.

In an injured fish there are more cells exposed to the water at the site of the injury, and these cells are not protected by slime coat so even more water gets into the fish's system. Plus, the sick fish is not functioning to his full ability, and has a hard time removing the excess water.

Adding something to the tank water that adds minerals and salt to it makes it less 'willing' to enter the fish's cells, so the fish does not have to work so hard to remove the excess water.

Salt (Sodium Chloride) is one such material. Another is Epsom salt. Another is almost any of the minerals sold as plant fertilizers that may contain potassium, calcium, magnesium (Epsom salt has magnesium) and other minerals that dissolve readily in the water.

Whether this will actually kill bacteria or parasites varies with the organism. It will not affect anything inside the fish. Antibiotic food or antiparasite food will kill diseases and parasites that are internal, and many antibiotics will pass through the gills and enter the fish's system.

[Shakou]

Google Aeremonas. It is a disease that shows as holes in the body of the fish like you are describing.

Salt is not painful to fish. Here is how it works.
Fish normally live in balance with their water. The water has a certain level of minerals and salts in it, and the fish has a certain amount of minerals and salts in their cells. In freshwater fish the water in the tank has less minerals etc in it, and 'tries' to enter the fish cells. (Google Osmosis and semi-permeable membrane for more info)
In a healthy fish the fish's system can flush out the excess water. They are built to do this.

In an injured fish there are more cells exposed to the water at the site of the injury, and these cells are not protected by slime coat so even more water gets into the fish's system. Plus, the sick fish is not functioning to his full ability, and has a hard time removing the excess water.

Adding something to the tank water that adds minerals and salt to it makes it less 'willing' to enter the fish's cells, so the fish does not have to work so hard to remove the excess water.

Salt (Sodium Chloride) is one such material. Another is Epsom salt. Another is almost any of the minerals sold as plant fertilizers that may contain potassium, calcium, magnesium (Epsom salt has magnesium) and other minerals that dissolve readily in the water.

Whether this will actually kill bacteria or parasites varies with the organism. It will not affect anything inside the fish. Antibiotic food or antiparasite food will kill diseases and parasites that are internal, and many antibiotics will pass through the gills and enter the fish's system.

Finally someone who knows what they are talking about (not that the others who commented here weren't appreciated)!! I looked up pictures of this on google search, and sure enough that is what he has.

So currently this is what I have for medicine: Maracyn-TC, Melafix, aquarium salt, Stress Zyme, stress coat, and quickcure. I started treating him with the table salt remedy, but is there a specific cure/treatment I can give him?

[Diana]

Kanamycin is effective in treating Aeremonas and related diseases. If you can find food with Kanamycin in it this would probably be best. It is also possible to make your own medicated fish food. Kanamycin will enter the fish though the water, so that is also a viable treatment choice.

Here at this site are some really good recipes for making your own fish food. To make a medicated food you would separate out enough food to feed the fish the proper dose of the medicine (for example if the medicine is used for 10 days you could feed the fish 20 meals with medicine)

Label that bag of medicated food very clearly so you know immediately to feed the one tank with just this food.

Here is a link to a site that sells Kanamycin and has a recipe to add it to food.
http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/products2.html