Quartet of Hoplias lacerdae, green wolf fish, "Argentina"

[thebiggerthebetter]

The size of the tank is immaterial in that you just need to buy more medication (by kilo from Fishman Chemical) or a correctly formulated for quantity medication to treat ponds - usually comes in gallon jugs or such and treats tens or hundreds of thousand of gallons.

I am not sure that columnaris killed these wolves but it's as good as any other guess.

Josh @lamanuts from Ohio Fish Rescue says he treats with kanamyacin sulfate the columnaris and septicemia. It is water soluble and the fish will absorb it through skin. It will kill BB's too though if memory serves.

Right now I am treating our koi with erythromyacine through feed as everyone feeds vigorously. But the symptoms some koi bear that may appear consistent with columnaris (swelling around the head, large lesions on the body) aren't going away. So, I am striking out this time.

 

[kendragon]

Don't mean to derail but have you considered a UV system? Especially if all your tank water is on a community system.

 

[nzafi]

The size of the tank is immaterial in that you just need to buy more medication (by kilo from Fishman Chemical) or a correctly formulated for quantity medication to treat ponds - usually comes in gallon jugs or such and treats tens or hundreds of thousand of gallons.

I am not sure that columnaris killed these wolves but it's as good as any other guess.

Josh @lamanuts from Ohio Fish Rescue says he treats with kanamyacin sulfate the columnaris and septicemia. It is water soluble and the fish will absorb it through skin. It will kill BB's too though if memory serves.

Right now I am treating our koi with erythromyacine through feed as everyone feeds vigorously. But the symptoms some koi bear that may appear consistent with columnaris (swelling around the head, large lesions on the body) aren't going away. So, I am striking out this time.

When my guy had columnaris I used kanaplex (kanamyacin) and furan-2 (nitrofurazone) together. Worked like a charge but I had to lots of water changes and then I was monitoring my ammonia because the treatment killed the BB.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Don't mean to derail but have you considered a UV system? Especially if all your tank water is on a community system.

Good idea. I have had a large pond UV light laying around for 7 years. I have currently 5 filters - one for the koi pond -it's a wet/dry, and four sumps for the other 12 tanks. I used the UV before to kill algae in a outdoor koi pond. Never used them on my fish tanks. Are they worth the effort and money? Honestly wondering, having no first hand experience.

When my guy had columnaris I used kanaplex (kanamyacin) and furan-2 (nitrofurazone) together. Worked like a charge but I had to lots of water changes and then I was monitoring my ammonia because the treatment killed the BB.

Gotcha. Thank you bro. Appreciate the tip. So you must have treated through bath, not feed? Where do you describe it?

 

[nzafi]

Good idea. I have had a large pond UV light laying around for 7 years. I have currently 5 filters - one for the koi pond -it's a wet/dry, and four sumps for the other 12 tanks. I used the UV before to kill algae in a outdoor koi pond. Never used them on my fish tanks. Are they worth the effort and money? Honestly wondering, having no first hand experience.



Gotcha. Thank you bro. Appreciate the tip. So you must have treated through bath, not feed? Where do you describe it?

I created the below thread about it. You can probably start on page 8. Initially I thought it was HITH, which was probably wrong and noted the cause was voltage leakage. Page 8 and forward is where I talk diagnosis and have pics. He seems to be doing better these days but does have really bad scarring which as he grows, it also "grows" because he just has no scales in that area essentially.

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/what-is-this.687035/page-8

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

For two years our 4 green wolffish Hoplias lacerdae lived peacefully and grew together with the rulers of their 4500 gal tank - two VATF vitattus African tigerfish Hydrocynus vittatus (ironically Hydrocynus means, Greek, hydr = water + Greek, kyon = dog; vittatus means striped longitudinally). Currently the wolves are 1.5 foot, the VATF are close to 2 feet. Then, one day out of the blue one got attacked, despite the heavy feeding the tigers receive twice daily, that is until they can't feed anymore... Thence, I doubt a predatory attack. Something else set them off.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

A fitting exchange from YouTube comments:

Javier Perez2 days ago
Sorry to see an awesome fish like that wolffish in that condition, but I really don't believe the tigers to be the culprit. I've kept many tigerfish (Goliath and Vittatus) in the past. In my experience, they always inflicted deep clean laceration wounds/cuts. Looked like someone cut the fish with a knife, not scaling or mouth biting. I would really look at others in the tank, like the bowfin or a large, aggressive cichlid.


Fish Story Aquarium & Rescue1 day ago
I am glad to encounter someone with a personal experience so close or surpassing mine. I totally agree with all you say in regards to the typical damage ATF business end leaves behind ... and hence was my hesitation to ascribe it to ATF but there simply isn't anyone else eligible based on the damage to the wolf and to the rest of their tank mates. If the damage was only to the back in front of the dorsal, that'd be one thing but the wolf has a very bad damage to the snout and teeth - I assume it must have answered back some and the only fish in the tank that have a bit of damage are the ATF. Hence the strawman conclusion. Bowfin and cichlids, the other wolf, ARTC, etc. all look virgin, not a wound.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

The injured wolf hasn't made it. It was gone in a couple of days. I agree with Moe that from the injuries alone, it should have survived.

But as I stated, when I removed it from the 4500 gal it was too late, it was floating right side up and swimming a bit but it didn't put up any fight whatsoever. That is usually a real bad sign that the stress levels had got into the red zone.

Not surprisingly, such stress has done it in. It could be hard to see, but it has lots of bite marks all over its body.

So we are down to one last wolf from 4. Ironically, it's the one-eyed one. Still in the same 4500 gal. Still doing quite well. But next time I drain the tank and get inside, I will have to take it out. I hope it lives to see this day.

The third was the largest of the initial quartet and checked out at 19".

I still can't believe ATF had done it but for now I have no other explanation.

 

[moe214]

I really wonder what species these are. I feel like they're the only ones I've seen with dorsals so far back on their body. Sucks he didn't make it.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I really wonder what species these are. I feel like they're the only ones I've seen with dorsals so far back on their body. Sucks he didn't make it.

Are you saying these may be not lacerdae in your opinion?

The ID is by the vendor, Wesley Wong, and stated in the thread title.