Re: Tropheus Duboisi dying

[steev ward <steevward@mac.com>]

Trish-
It does sound like an external parasite, but not definitely. See if you get 
some good results (lessening of
symptoms) with the water changes and another round of Quick-Cure.
It wouldn't be wise to completely rule out the bloat possibility (as Barbie 
mentioned) because there are a
couple different causes for that and Tropheus are so prone to that syndrome.
Also we can't be 100% sure that there isn't a problem with the foods, because 
you've only had them a short time
as far as feeding goes. This is probably not the problem, but you can't be sure 
yet.

Do they tend at all to keep their fins a bit closed (slightly clamped)? Do they 
swim in one place with
exaggerated lateral body movements (shimmy)? Is there any change for the WORSE 
in the days following a water
change?

What type of sea salt did you use? Brand name?
If you are using just aquarium salt I think you should add some Epsom Salt too, 
like a teaspoon per five
gallons, because they might be low on magnesium and that could easily be adding 
to their problems.

An experiment that you really should try is to remove the next fish that seems 
to be showing symptoms and place
it in a different tank. Occassionally when I do this I find that the fish 
begins to recover, and of course that
is a VERY useful thing to know, because it means that the problem is in the 
tank, not the fish. You could
likewise try a different food on one of the ailing fish. Long shots but well 
worth trying.

You might also pick up a new jar of the Spirulina flakes (maybe a different 
brand even) and see if the fish
respond to it. While you're at the LFS you might as well also pick up some 
Metronidazole (or Clout as Barbie
mentioned- I'm just not that crazy about Clout) because  it's good to have some 
Metronidazole around when you
have the kind of fish you have.

Of course there is always the possibilty that the parasite (if there is one) is 
a skin fluke, in which case the
Quick-Cure would help but not cure it and you'd have to use something else like 
Fluke Tabs (or some of Susan's
Praziquantel). But we'll worry about that later.

If you saved any of the dead ones in the freezer I'd be happy to take a look at 
it, next time we get together.

Steev


Susan Welenofsky wrote:

> Trish:
>
> I use Seachem Lake Malawi Cichlid salts and Seachem Taganikya buffer. I don't 
> add any sodium chloride (salt).
>
> Susan

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