Just got back from my holidays, gave everyone a water change, and today I noticed one tank is having a problem.
Not happy as one Zebra is dead.
Of 8, 1 is dead and about 3 left have a lesser degree of affliction.
The one that died had very ragged, split fins and a red, bloody body. Looks like it was SHEDDING its skin. There were pieces of its skin lifting off and some of it was on the bottom of the tank. (Horrors!)
It was a bit out in the open, which is how I discovered it.
I knew it was going to die.
As for the others, 3 more have very frayed fins but that is the extent of the damage at this point.
The other 4 seem unaffected.
They are not breathing hard, no other signs of stress.
Water pH 6. Temp 86. No time to check other parameters, but they just had a water change and only had one very small meal while I was gone for 5 days. (A friend came by once and dropped in pre-measured and ready-made dose of food for the tanks.)
This does not look like an Ammonia/Nitrate problem anyway.
I did take pics, but I am cursed with just a film camera.
I treated the tank with a small dose of salt and Melafix.
They look ok at this time, but it is too early to tell.
Has anyone seen this before? Is it a form of fungus?
Biggest sympton is VERY frayed fins.
Looks like it progresses to systemic as the deceased had blood in the fin rays.
Does anyone think this could be a pH swing? As this did seem to happen after a water change.
Thanks.
Zebra dead!
Geez this is weird.
I had treated them at 8am this morning. (With the salt and Melafix) and I did about a 10% water change with my regular tap (as my RO water was not ready and I mix it with my tap in a garbage can.)
Went to bed because I'm a shift worker. Woke up around 4pm, pulled out the dead one at 4:30pm when I checked them, wrote the post in this forum, and as of right now, I do not see ANY sign of frayed fins.
Is this not weird? I looked over all the Zebras I could see and I could not see anymore bad fins. Is it possible that the frayed part broke or came off with the medication and the fins are ok now? The only evidence of any problem is that there are pieces of "skin" from the dead Zebra still on the bottom. All the others seem just fine.
Yes, this is a good thing.
The only time I ever saw "fin rot" get "cured" immediately is one time I had a Betta with the edges of its fins black. I added Melafix and the black stuff fell off immediately and just good fin was left. I wonder if this is the same effect?
The white, frayed stuff on the edged of the Zebra fins are gone.
I just want to know if anyone else has seen this.
I think I'm out of the woods.
No one is getting fed tonight till I am sure there are no more problems.
I had treated them at 8am this morning. (With the salt and Melafix) and I did about a 10% water change with my regular tap (as my RO water was not ready and I mix it with my tap in a garbage can.)
Went to bed because I'm a shift worker. Woke up around 4pm, pulled out the dead one at 4:30pm when I checked them, wrote the post in this forum, and as of right now, I do not see ANY sign of frayed fins.
Is this not weird? I looked over all the Zebras I could see and I could not see anymore bad fins. Is it possible that the frayed part broke or came off with the medication and the fins are ok now? The only evidence of any problem is that there are pieces of "skin" from the dead Zebra still on the bottom. All the others seem just fine.
Yes, this is a good thing.
The only time I ever saw "fin rot" get "cured" immediately is one time I had a Betta with the edges of its fins black. I added Melafix and the black stuff fell off immediately and just good fin was left. I wonder if this is the same effect?
The white, frayed stuff on the edged of the Zebra fins are gone.
I just want to know if anyone else has seen this.
I think I'm out of the woods.
No one is getting fed tonight till I am sure there are no more problems.
wandj,
it sounds like two possible things:
# 1 hight levels of ammonia/nitrite or nitrate will all affect fish in a deteremental way and problems with fins and skin are just some of them. By doing a waterchange you lowered the levels and the fish healed up - keep up the waterchanges and do a few 30% ones for the next 3-4 days. If you can - check the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
# 2 territorial fighting - I have lost one zebra in about 4 years and fighting was the cause (I'm 99% sure) as ragged fins and tears and leasions on the skin were present. This seems to be one of the main ailments or causes of problem for zebra owners. These fish usually stay heathy and hardy once acclimated. Territorial disputes with no escape from the tank by the weaker one often end badly.
Glad you got things under control though and I don't think you have a major problem on your hands but I would check the levels of NH3/4, NO2 and NO3 just to be safe as sometimes a buildup of waste somewhere in the tank may lead to toxic levels and it could be under the substrate.
it sounds like two possible things:
# 1 hight levels of ammonia/nitrite or nitrate will all affect fish in a deteremental way and problems with fins and skin are just some of them. By doing a waterchange you lowered the levels and the fish healed up - keep up the waterchanges and do a few 30% ones for the next 3-4 days. If you can - check the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
# 2 territorial fighting - I have lost one zebra in about 4 years and fighting was the cause (I'm 99% sure) as ragged fins and tears and leasions on the skin were present. This seems to be one of the main ailments or causes of problem for zebra owners. These fish usually stay heathy and hardy once acclimated. Territorial disputes with no escape from the tank by the weaker one often end badly.
Glad you got things under control though and I don't think you have a major problem on your hands but I would check the levels of NH3/4, NO2 and NO3 just to be safe as sometimes a buildup of waste somewhere in the tank may lead to toxic levels and it could be under the substrate.
It actually sounds to me like your pH crashed in the tank. I lost 8 of them to a crash a few years ago in a tank that I hadn't argued quite loudly enough about not using straight RO water in. If it IS the case, I would definitely continue doing 10% changes daily until you've replaced some of the buffering capacity of your water in your tank. It sounds like you caught it before it was too far out of hand though, thank goodness. Keep us updated!
Barbie
Barbie
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Hi Wandj,
I hope that your zebras are doing ok now. I would say that you had a mild case of acidosis caused by the PH in your tank dipping below 6.00, luckily you caught it in time. The excessive production of mucous is a tell tale sign of this, prolonged exposure to a low PH would have eventually led to errosion of the gill filaments and death by asphyxiation.
I suspect that in your absense the carbonate hardness in the tank was used up by the bilogical process of the filters, normally this wouldn't be a problem as carbonate hardness would be replenished through water changes. To safeguard against this happening I will gradually harden my water over a number of days before going away so as to safeguard against a PH crash.
Adam
I hope that your zebras are doing ok now. I would say that you had a mild case of acidosis caused by the PH in your tank dipping below 6.00, luckily you caught it in time. The excessive production of mucous is a tell tale sign of this, prolonged exposure to a low PH would have eventually led to errosion of the gill filaments and death by asphyxiation.
I suspect that in your absense the carbonate hardness in the tank was used up by the bilogical process of the filters, normally this wouldn't be a problem as carbonate hardness would be replenished through water changes. To safeguard against this happening I will gradually harden my water over a number of days before going away so as to safeguard against a PH crash.
Adam
