Help me save my tank OG. Sick rainbow shark!

[Bittyfishy23]

Have you tested your water?

Yes

If yes, what is your ammonia?

0

If yes, what is your nitrite?

0

If yes, what is your nitrate?

0

If I did not test my water...

...I recognize that I will likely be asked to do a test, and that water tests are critical for solving freshwater health problems.

Do you do water changes?

Yes

What percentage of water do you change?

31-40%

How frequently do you change your water?

Every month

If I do not change my water...

...I recognize that I will likely be recommended to do a water change, and water changes are critical for preventing future freshwater health problems.

tank details:
I have a 65 gallon tank. Ph 7.0, ammonia and nitrates 0.

2 balla sharks (4-5in long) (1 year old)
2 rainbow sharks (2 years, 8 months)
2 cherry barbs (4 months)
2 angel fish (1 year old)
1 panda cory (2 years)
1 pleco (2 years)

filter- 110gal with biome and carbon
Tank was fully reset 1 month ago when we moved houses

The problem:

I had a strange bacteria bloom in my tank. Cloudy/milky water but my parameters held steady. I tried to wait it out but after a week I noticed my rainbow shark (ralph) hiding under plants. When I got a good look at him it looked like he had saddle back fungus but I wasn’t confident. Everyone else looked fine.
I purchased lifeguard all in one treatment.

I did a 30% water change, pulled the carbon bag out of the filter and started dose 1. Tank water cleared within 8 hours. Clear water allowed we to see that one angel, one barb, and one Bala was also infected on a much smaller scale. Just started day 3 dose. Not spreading on other fish but still there. Ralph looks worse. Am I treating for the right thing? Am I going to lose this fish? He’s my tank OG and I’ll be super bummed to lose him.

Photos from day 1.

 

[koltsixx]

A bacterial bloom as far as I know is representative of an imbalance in the aquarium so I'm not sure why you're getting all 0 readings. I mean it is possible to have 0 nitrates in a planted aquarium but based on your stocking, tank size, water change schedule and the bacterial bloom it would seem to me unlikely. Can I ask what are you using to test the parameters? Have you made sure they haven't expired? I ask because while treatment is important removing the underlying issue is at least as important in my humble opinion.

As far as being the only fish sick, that is generally the case in all things one individual gets sick first. Saddleback disease like most diseases happen take hold when the immune system is put in a weakened/compromised state usually by stress caused by water quality(the most common reason), stress from aggression or the introduction of infected fish, food, decor, etc. Saddleback as far as I know is usually caused by gram-negative bacteria which feed on decaying organic matter(left over food,etc) which would also explain the bacterial bloom. I know Lifeguard is supposed to be all in one but I've never used it so I'm not sure how effective it is or not. The first thing I'd try to address is making sure the water parameters are okay as any treatment will probably fail if the underlying cause impedes the healing process.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I will chime in. As I'm not good at all with advice on diseases.

 

[Deadeye]

How long since you started treatment? It can take a few days for meds to start working.
If this is in fact saddleback disease, that means it’s a columnaris infection, which is notoriously difficult to treat. I had luck treating suspected columnaris with seachem polyguard - it may help you too.

For the future, I would start thinking about the long term future for these fishes. Like mentioned, your current water change schedule is not going to be enough for these fish. Furthermore, there are a number of schooling fish that should be in greater numbers than they are to be comfortable (Cory, barb). Also, rainbow sharks hate each other, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day they stop getting along and you find only one (they also will go after the similar looking balas imo) - an injury from the other shark could even have sparked the infection. Lastly, those balas are only a third full grown - they need a much, much bigger tank for a shot at survival.

 

[Bittyfishy23]

How long since you started treatment? It can take a few days for meds to start working.
If this is in fact saddleback disease, that means it’s a columnaris infection, which is notoriously difficult to treat. I had luck treating suspected columnaris with seachem polyguard - it may help you too.

For the future, I would start thinking about the long term future for these fishes. Like mentioned, your current water change schedule is not going to be enough for these fish. Furthermore, there are a number of schooling fish that should be in greater numbers than they are to be comfortable (Cory, barb). Also, rainbow sharks hate each other, I wouldn’t be surprised if one day they stop getting along and you find only one (they also will go after the similar looking balas imo) - an injury from the other shark could even have sparked the infection. Lastly, those balas are only a third full grown - they need a much, much bigger tank for a shot at survival.

Thanks so much for your reply. To give you some context my husband bought my now 4 year old a 30 gallon tank 2 years ago. Neither of us knew anything about fish and so I took it over. I upgraded us to the 65 gallon when we had 3 Balas and I became aware of their size needs. (One jumped moving to the new tank). We’ve discussed rehoming them but the pet store says they are too large to take back and no interest on Craigslist from anyone who can actually care of these fish

As for the Cory- he/she is strangely aggressive. He was part of a group of 5. And it appeared that he would bully the others and group with my pleco. 4 died I wasn’t sure why. After we moved to the larger tank I added 5 more. The same situation. Any advice here would be welcome.

the barbs were 5 but 3 didn’t make it within the first 24 hours. The plan was to add more barbs once we moved and the tank was settled but now this.

as for the sharks.. there has been no aggression between any of them that I’ve seen. The two rainbows don’t hang out together but have their own large hiding spots. The balas chase each other around the tank sometimes.

I can definitely increase my water changes. I decreased it because I read that it stressed out the angel fish.

As for treatment we are 12 hours into the 3rd dose.

 

[Deadeye]

Thanks so much for your reply. To give you some context my husband bought my now 4 year old a 30 gallon tank 2 years ago. Neither of us knew anything about fish and so I took it over. I upgraded us to the 65 gallon when we had 3 Balas and I became aware of their size needs. (One jumped moving to the new tank). We’ve discussed rehoming them but the pet store says they are too large to take back and no interest on Craigslist from anyone who can actually care of these fish

As for the Cory- he/she is strangely aggressive. He was part of a group of 5. And it appeared that he would bully the others and group with my pleco. 4 died I wasn’t sure why. After we moved to the larger tank I added 5 more. The same situation. Any advice here would be welcome.

the barbs were 5 but 3 didn’t make it within the first 24 hours. The plan was to add more barbs once we moved and the tank was settled but now this.

as for the sharks.. there has been no aggression between any of them that I’ve seen. The two rainbows don’t hang out together but have their own large hiding spots. The balas chase each other around the tank sometimes.

I can definitely increase my water changes. I decreased it because I read that it stressed out the angel fish.

As for treatment we are 12 hours into the 3rd dose.

I haven’t had great luck with cories, so I haven’t done them in a while. It could just be a bad supply. If it doesn’t get along with others I wouldn’t force it.
There aren’t any fish that should be negatively affected by increasing water changes. In the wild they receive 100% water changes every minute. The key is to keep it frequent enough where your source water is basically the same as the tank water.

 

[Chet E.]

Stop feeding the fish. It may seem harsh, yet may be the best thing for the moment. Not feeding will cause less waste in the aquarium, cause the bacteria to starve, allow the filtration to keep the water cleaner, and help the medicine to work more effectively. Continue starving the aquarium a few days after the symptoms are gone then resume feeding with small portions for another week until you are sure the fish are better.