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I have five sphaerichthys vaillanti, and one of them is probably sick. It scratches and doesn’t eat, while the others eat and swim actively. It seems to make a coughing motion sometimes, and is sluggish and usually hiding.
I wonder if the healthy fish are in danger if the sick fish remains in the tank and gets worse. I would think that being shipped and acclimated were too much for this one fish, and maybe whatever disease it probably has is something that the other fish were already exposed to and already resisted. I don’t know if the worsening of the sick fish’s symptoms will make it more contagious and if it is likely or not that the other fish which seem fine will eventually catch whatever the sick fish has.
I was thinking of turning a 5 gallon into a hospital tank but I don’t know what to medicate with.
Is it common for one fish to show sickness while others don’t, right after stressful events?
Hopefully it is a case of one fish being susceptible and not a dangerous situation for all of them.Your question cannot be answered with certainty. There could be different causes and consequences. Let me tell you one that is likely.
The scratching could well be caused by Oodinium. Then, all fish are highly dangered. For a success by separation it is probably too late.
A very effective medicine is called “2-amino-5-nitrothiazole”. It is widely used by veterinary doctors as a desinfection means. A yellow powder. It must be stored in the refrigirator, otherwise it will turn brown in some months and get useless.Seems like the fifth fish is alright today, I put in frozen bloodworms and they all swam around, the fifth one wasn’t as much a part of the group and going after the food like the other four but still looks healthy compared to yesterday. Pretty active, seemingly trying to nip at things and not as slow and didn’t scratch itself though I only watched for ten minutes.
Is scratching and the other symptoms possibly a sign of stress (maybe from being bullied) that may not indicate a disease, or is it some disease that comes and goes and eventually gets much worse? Of course there’s no way for you to know the answer but it is strange that the fish seems much better today. Not sure it actually got any frozen bloodworms, will see what happens later today when I put in bbs. The body and fins look ok, so far.
The medicine you mentioned, I couldn’t find it for sale, I wonder if it’s in any common fish medicines here and if there are some other things to get just in case, to make sure I’m ready for whatever this situation turns out to be.Scratching certainly indicates stress and not necessarily a disease. But in case of Oodinium, it is usually the first symptom to be observed, long before you see any sign of that fine “white powder” on the fish’s skin.
I am not surprised that you did not find the medicine I mentioned. In Germany, it is very difficult to buy it. But there are some brands of fish-medicine which consist of that stuff entirely. One is “Hexa-Ex” by TETRA, another “Spirohexol” by JBL. In the description Oodinium is not mentioned at all, but we Parosphromenus-friends have a lot of experience with it as the best means against that disease.The problem fish seemed fine, then was clearly socially excluded from the four other fish and stopped eating. It’s now by itself in a 5 gallon and doesn’t seem to be eating after a few days alone. Saw it scratch once but mostly it seems shy and it looks like it has stress coloration.
Based on this behavior what medicine is worth trying, I assume the stress made it sick since it’s not eating.Dear Jacob, I don’t know who else could possibly help, but I was entirely unable to conclude from your rather general descriptions what special disease is involved in that case (and you asked for a special diagnosis and medicine). Therefore I would have suggested a rather traditional way of treatment: normal salt from the kitchen and a moderate rise of temperature (about three degrees F. higher than normal). I wouldn’t have used such a parasite treatment with several ingrediants since it is rather heavy a weapon that could kill the fish. So, good luck.
I was told it was a treatment used on fish from similar habitats. It sounded like situations similar to the one I’m having with this fish were solved with the medicine I got.
Fortunately the fish hasn’t seemed to get worse from the medicine, though it is still not eating. So I will clean the tank and out and try the salt and heat treatment. How much salt for a 5 gallon aquarium?Having no idea of what to do, with the fish not eating, it was too tempting to try something that seemed like a cure all. Should have waited for some advice here but didn’t, which was not smart.
The idea of a treatment that would affect many problems since I have very few symptoms other than not eating, is exactly what salt and heat seems to make sense for, but I thought the medicine I got was following that same idea.
A bad mistake and hopefully not a disaster for this fish.It seems like getting 5 fish was a huge mistake, I was told to get six but didn’t realize that vaillantis are apparently really pair oriented. That seems why the extra fish is sick, being bullied and stressed because it had no place in the hierarchy the four fish have.
The two weaker fish are chased sometimes, but aren’t scared to go after food and it seems like they all coexist and only start to chase and act territorial after I’ve disturbed them and they anticipate food.
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