Injury or Disease?

Karackle · 02-14-2008, 01:14 PM

I'm at work and I was feeding the fish here (I work in a zebrafish research lab) and I noticed one of the fish has red along both his sides. It looks like he got injured, maybe got stuck in the mating grass, but I thought I'd post here and see if anyone's heard of a disease that matches this description.

I realize the decription is all but useless without a picture, so I'm charging hte camera (I tried to get a pic with the last of the battery but it wouldn't open the lense for me, i'm hoping that's just because it was low on batteries) So i'll post a pic as soon as I can get it, but i figured, for now, i'd see if anyone's seen anything that sounds similar.

Thanks!

Karackle · 02-14-2008, 03:46 PM

Well, the camera isn't working....it's doing a bizarre thing where it records only sound...so i'll have to bring in my own camera tomorrow and post a picture then. For now he's isolated, we'll see what happens.

Karackle · 02-15-2008, 01:20 PM

Ok, I finally got a chance to take a picture, they're not great but i did get a decent one of each side. You can see the reddish discoloration...i think it's an injury, but has anyone seen a disease/infection that looks like this?

Left Side:

Right Side:

Thanks!

cichlidgirl · 02-15-2008, 10:18 PM

It could be a injury but bacterial infections can also show red sores. Septesemia also has red sores and red "streaking" that looks like blood vessles.

If it is an injury it should start to heal in a day or two . If it does not get better by then or starts to look worse then i would begin treatment for a bacterial infection. make sure that you read the packaging on the meds, some of them will damage the good bacteria present in the tank. I know that melafix says it does not and i have used it when i had a fish injured to prevent secondary infection on the wound, it did not change my tank. Make sure you follow dosing instructions like with any med. Its sister product pimafix also says it will treat redding of the body or fins . There are many other meds to choose from too, as i said just read the labels good to make sure they are safe for the good bacteria in your tank. Avoid the tetracycline and other antibiotic capsuls unless you have a quarteen tank that is not attatched to any other tanks. I mentioned that because you said this fish is at a research lab(antibiotic capsuls are usually not safe for the good bacteria)

Here is a link to a thread i responded to that talks about some bacterial treatments that dont cause damage to good bacteria. incase you need to use some(hope you dont)

http://www.fishtankforums.com/26-fre...ital-tank.html (Hospital Tank?)

Tommy Gun · 02-15-2008, 11:25 PM

Hey karackle,

With all due respect, I think the assessment on the "safety" of those antibiotic products is premature and would politely urge everyone to research them further before coming to any strong conclusions. Additionally, I emplore you to assume that they will harm your biological filtration even if the product describes itself as being completely safe. If you want to explore what antibiotic/product might be the best, let us know. Based upon your pictures, I does seem to look like an infection...possibly an infected injury. There were no other fish in the tank when you first noticed this problem?

Loman · 02-15-2008, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Based upon your pictures, I does seem to look like an infection...possibly an infected injury.

I would agree compeltely except for the spot on the right side. That looks more like an injury to me. It is hard to be sure with pictures. Mayvbe Tommy is right it could be an injury that is now infected.

Let me also share my personal view. I think people are way to quick to dump chemicals into the tank with limited idea of waht they do. It is not a chemistry set

. I also think the improper use of antibiotics is really widespread and casues very serious secondary problems. I lean toward the use of a Qt tank (explained in the other thread) for several reasons even if you can does something in the display tank.

Ultimately everyone has to decide for themselves which path to follow

Karackle · 02-17-2008, 03:37 PM

Thanks for the responses everyone! Yeah he's separated in a QT tank that's not part of the rack system at all. He seems to be getting better, so I'm thinking it was an injury or an injury with a secondary infection.

Thanks again for the input!

-Kara