Desperate: injecting 750mg of erythromycin antibiotic into each of 3 gravely ill RTCs 9yo 3ft-4ft

[@paulstingray]

Hope it helps!

[@juanriverajr5183]

I’m so sorry your going through this . Your trying to do a good thing by having a rescue and it’s just a run of bad events . Don’t be discouraged, as a fish keeper I appreciate what your trying to do

[@tracycarter1185]

I second that! We appreciate you taking us along with you through this process. I’m praying the fish get better 🙏. You’re doing a great job.

[@Fish-Story]

We are grateful for your kindness. Thank you. We are mighty far from perfect fish rescuers or even fish keepers. Hope to learn.

[@MAGINAROLKENNELPH07]

Hoping fot their msafe recovery...

[@JuiceInThePocket]

Sending you and the fish positive thoughts.

[@shawtyshort2648]

All the best, so sad to see such big beautiful fish in distress. Keep up the good work victor

[@oscardean6351]

Nice job Vic 🤞

[@cichlidwhisperer4198]

Keep up the good work. As fish keepers we do our research and learn on the fly. Each time we run into issues we get a little better at the job.

[@Fish-Story]

Thank you. That's the silver lining.

[@Mark-ff9en]

Well I hope there is some improvement.

[@Achilles]

So sad to see the iconic ripped tail alpha in such critical conditions. Really hope this cures everything, hoping for the best.

[@robg915]

It's frustrating not knowing what is ailing a fish. Keeping discus I've encountered my share of problems. Love you channel keep up 5he good work brother.

[@Fish-Story]

Thank you much. Never had discus. People say they can be touchy.

[@GoodLifeAquatics]

I’m really sorry you’re having to deal with this. What you’re doing is great though and I hope you aren’t too discouraged by this. You’re an inspiration and what you do is a great undertaking and admirable. Wishing you well with the rescue and I hope the antibiotics help the rtc’s.

[@Fish-Story]

We appreciate the good vibe and kind words. Thank you. Having been losing 50-100 fish a year for 5 years to this bug, we had to grow a thicker skin but we must finally try to ID what it is.

[@ultimatejay]

Sorry to see this. Do you have an idea what caused this?

[@Fish-Story]

The hypothesis for 5 years has been that it is an internal bacterial affliction, perhaps a columnaris strain. It's been killing 50-100 fish a year since 2018. The RTCs are just the latest victims. We are determined to try to ID it now with pathologist help, if we can afford it.

[@crazypufferfish7780]

I wish i could help you give the injections, looks like a two person job. What about the smaller cat in the first tank. He looks in rough shape too. I hope it helps.good luck.

[@Fish-Story]

Much appreciated the thought. ... That's a vulture catfish female. Same sickness, judging from same symptoms.

[@themarkedman72]

fascinating to see the procedure undertaken. I am not very knowledgable in these areas so I have to ask, do you need to treat the water to stop infection in the other inhabitants? I am guessing once you have that you will have a really strict quarantine in future?

[@Fish-Story]

Thank you. In short, we have had this bug kill 50-100 fish every year for 5 years, so it is probably everywhere by now, including inside every fish. We priced out a UV sanitation system and just for one 26,000 gal sump+tanks system it would cost $10,000+, which we cannot afford. So in a way, instead we decided to buy RO membranes regularly to keep our water changes at the peak, 100% in 3-5 days. ... The problems I must overcome with QT are QT in itself does not reveal if a fish has latent illness or carries dangerous pathogens if it has them under control. So it needs to be treated for both external and internal pathogens with wide spectrum both external and internal anti-biotics and anti-parasitics. That's at least 4 different treatments, but could be 6. With different drugs. Second big obstacle is the size of the fish we get and the number / frequency, in worst cases, require to set up a 5000 gal QT tank and a few 500s and 240s separately just for that. These two hurdles keep me back. Plus, I know EXACTLY when and how this pathogen made it into our water systems - in 2018 with fish from the wild which were cleansed well externally but nothing was done to cleanse internally. That's where it came from, form their internal bacterial fauna.

[@gsxawd981]

If you keep getting sick fishes I’d add salt to the tank a dilute from there. Antibiotics have never worked for me. Just a thought.

[@Fish-Story]

Thank you. Internal bacterial fauna would not be affected by external salt treatment.

[@twasbrillig33]

I assume you've tested your water parameters? Perhaps something has affected your water supply? I've noticed the water seems a bit cloudier than it has in the past. Is it the plexiglass that's cloudy or is the water slightly cloudy lately? If it is NOT the plexiglass...then what is causing the cloudiness in the water?

[@Fish-Story]

Thank you for thinking with me. Water parameters are all good and usual. Of course this is the hottest time of year. ... Great eye on the clarity, since I removed 3 of 5 shademesh rolls (300ft x 12ft each) from the 15K sump, I noted water never got as clear as before in the 4500s and the 1800. This is because the catchment and sediment became less efficient. We have no dedicated mechanical filtration, biomedia doubles as mechanical too. ... On the problem: we have had this problem with this infection for 5 years killing 50-100 fish each year. There is no correlation with anything recent and no need to look for one. Nothing's changed, not water, not diet, not aeration, etc. The RTCs are just the latest victims. At the same time one vulture catfish and one gulper catfish have been sick with the same exact symptoms for the last month+. We lost another gulper, flowerhorn, koi, bullhead, etc. in the recent weeks to the same bug, based on the same or very similar symptoms.

[@twasbrillig33]

​@@Fish-Story ok .that is extremely frustrating. What about your temperature? "lowering the aquarium temperature to 75 °F (24 °C) is a must, since columnaris is much more virulent at higher temperatures, especially 85-90" (wikipeadia) This also makes me wonder if the black devil cat died due to this same issue.

[@leighsheltonnoseypottercom]

i feel for you my friend