Re: Problems

[steev ward <steevward@mac.com>]

Colin
     If you have fish with gills that are "covered" with ciliates (or anything else) I would consider that the primary pathogen. I wouldn't expect any luck against ciliates using Metronidiazole (effective on some flagellates) or Sterazin (it works mostly on flukes, etc.).
     The proper treatment for ciliate protozoans would be the same as you would use for Ich (which is a ciliate). The salt treatment you mentioned would be a good start.
     This is assuming that the fish hadn't decayed much before you examined the gills because there ARE many ciliates that will feed on dead fish but are harmless to live ones.
      There is a species of Tetrahymena that could cause the problem you described, but there are other Tetrahymena which enter the picture after the fish has died.
Steev



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