Wasting away fish?

[washefuzzy]

Why do I keep loosing fish to what i would call wasting desease. They just get really thin and die. sigh. Salt water seems to revive them if I catch them in time. I'm really bad and don't have any test kits they are so expensive  I change the water 30% once a week or more if I think something is out of sorts. But this has mostly been my endlers and now one of my platies. Well the platy is going into quarantine today see if I can save the little guy and it's clean tanks day to. sigh

[babblefish1960]

Not to discourage you at all, but it sounds as though they are starving themselves, not by choice, rather by some infection or infestation, I would lean towards either a parasite that is  interfering with their digestive process and discouraging them from eating, or they could have some bacterial issue going on with the same net effect.

Sadly, when we first see the evidence of such things, it is often late by then, I would start off by observing their behaviour during feeding time and their behaviour throughout the day.

This is of course making an assumption that all other things are within reasonable limits such as temperature, water parameters and regularity in controls. Good luck with your mystery.

[dan2x38]

washefuzzy - a LFS will usually test your water for you

babblefish1960- would malafix possibly help them?

if so wahefuzzy I can give you some

[babblefish1960]

Parasitically and bacteriologically, Melafix would do nothing, and quite frankly treating fish with anything without proof or facts is the single largest reason fish die in this hobby. Moreover, water testing will answer neither of these questions, the issue is with the fish itself, and requires diligent observation and to see if one is on the right path, corroboration of observed results with plenty of research.

[KLKelly]

I'd look for symptoms - not eating probably means something internal.  Could be bacterial, parasitic, viral or environment related.  I wonder if one of the experts would know what salt would be more effective on - parasite (I assume) or bacteria and go with a medicated food proactively.

Jungle antiparasite and Jungle antibacterial are available locally.

How much salt were you adding?

On a side note - probably won't help with your fishes specific issue but you really should get test kits even if you buy them one test at a time. Like Dan said the LFSs test water for free.  I would get them to test for ph, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, kh and gh.  I would bring a sample of the water out of your tap and test for ph and kh also.  Might be on for 50% off at some superpets.

[dan2x38]

keep us posted sure hope the little guys pull through...! 

[squeeker]

To me, this sounds like flukes.  Try some Prazi Pro, it's one of the more expensive meds but it's one of the few that actually works.  It can be purchased at SP.

[KLKelly]

Would prazi work on parasites internally?

[Glouglou]

When you change water, Do you take it from a well or this is water from a water treatment plan. If it come for a water treatment plan they probably give you the composition of the water and at the same time you can know if they had anything with ammoniac or other crap that can kill your fishies...

Start with that...

[KLKelly]

How are they today?  Any new symptoms?

[squeeker]

Would prazi work on parasites internally?

I believe it does, yes 

[Melody]

Usually when the fish is still eating and losing weight, its internal parasites.  Parasites don't want to kill their host, so they hang on and on and on.  However, they aren't being properly nourished and that results in secondary illnesses.  Prazipro treats internal parasites, but they can be stubborn.  Its the best bet off the shelves though, in my opinion.  You can also soak food in it, which I have found to be more effective.  If you see red worms hanging from the anus, Prazipro won't work.  For those you'll need Levamisole.

Garlic is awesome for treatment and prevention, plus it is very beneficial for immunity and as an antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral... its pretty much anti-all-nasties...lol...including anti-parasite.  There are two articles in this thread, covering garlic and its most active ingredient, Allicin.

Good luck!

[washefuzzy]

Usually when the fish is still eating and losing weight, its internal parasites.  Parasites don't want to kill their host, so they hang on and on and on.  However, they aren't being properly nourished and that results in secondary illnesses.  Prazipro treats internal parasites, but they can be stubborn.  Its the best bet off the shelves though, in my opinion.  You can also soak food in it, which I have found to be more effective.  If you see red worms hanging from the anus, Prazipro won't work.  For those you'll need Levamisole.

Garlic is awesome for treatment and prevention, plus it is very beneficial for immunity and as an antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral... its pretty much anti-all-nasties...lol...including anti-parasite.  There are two articles in this thread, covering garlic and its most active ingredient, Allicin.

Good luck!

Is Prazipro safe for snails, cories, catfishes etc. I seem to have all my tanks full of this parasite  slowly killing one fish at a time. Therefore maybe I should treat the tanks not just the one fish. On the other hand garlic dipped food sounds good. I could make garlic oil by soaking crushed garlic in a little bit a olive oil. Would garlic be safe for cories and catfish.

[Melody]

Sorry for the delay - it has been a killer week!

Yes, Prazipro is safe for snails and Cory's - I've used it with both in the tank.  I've fed garlic to a wide range of fish and its heavily used in the marine crowd too, just make sure you don't feed them so much of it that it irritates the mucus membranes.  You'd have to feed copious amounts of it for it to be a problem, I suspect, but its always good to be cautious.

I would love to hear about how it works for you, best of luck!

[washefuzzy]

Thanks for getting back to me much appreciated. I've soaked a  clove of crushed garlic in 1/8th cup of oil and I'll use this to soak the food I feed the fish. As soon as I get over this flue I may go out and buy the medicine stuff if I don't have any luck with the garlic. But I'm a strong believer in garlic so I'll give it atry.
Thanks again Melody