Yesterday i saw something that i didn´t enjoy at all.
In one of my tanks one of my biggest L128 had somethingon his head, as i looked closer i saw this.
One of his eyes had almost popped out.
The tank he was in was a discus bb tank with a clay cave large enough for him to fit in.
29 degrees celsius,ph 6.5 and 200 microsiemens.
He has been in it for half a year without any worries untill now.
Anybody got any tips what to do ?
His in a own tank now with only slightly higher microsiemens up to 450 but the ph and temp. is the same as before.
I put a teespoon of salt in the new tank his in.
The tank is 100 litres.
Do you think i can use medication used for discusfish ?
I do have Huey Hung´s Bacteria Killer and Superkiller and also another brand of medicin called AquaCare´s Bacteria Treatment nr.1
// mattias
Last edited by drd on 10 Sep 2007, 12:37, edited 1 time in total.
I keep zebras,L200´s,L183´s,L333´s and many more,lots of corys and some cichlids from south america
Yes, I think that's fine, but read the fine-print - some medications have special instructions & restrictions for use on "Catfish" or "Scaleless fish" - the latter included catfish.
The various bacterial infections that can cause the "popeye" problem are notoriously difficult to treat.
In no small part because it is difficult to determine the species or at least the genus of bacteria that are infecting the fish. It takes the right antibiotic to kill a particular bacteria. Also popeye is a symptom of an overall internal infection that manifests itself in the latter stages of the infection when treatment is least likely to work.
There is a possibility of spreading the disease to the discus so the diseased fish should be removed if you have not already done so.
Since regulations vary from country to country I don't know what the regulations are in Sweden regarding the drug, chloramphenicol, but if there is any chance of a cure this would be my drug of choice.
Dosage rate: I would use 500 mg of the capsule form per 50 liters. Dissolve the contents of the capsule in a little hot water.
It is not allowed to be sold to individuals in the USA any more, even for veterinary use, due to this high risk of aplastic aenemia associated with its use. About 1:10,000 patients will die of it and that is way too high for the USA Food and Drug Administration.
It is available in Third World Countries because $5.00
worth of chloramphenicol can cure bacterial Meningitis. It crosses the blood/brain barrier more easily than many drugs. This is also partly why it works well with bacterial fish diseases as it can be absorbed more easily and reach internal therapeutic level. The other reason is that it has a very broad spectrum of effectiveness.
I have a great deal of experience with this drug and fish diseases which I acquired before it became so restricted about 30 years ago. I know of no other drug that is truly effective against the organisms that can case this and related diseases like dropsy.
Maybe putting Melafix and Pimafix together with any other med you are using or will use will help...Especially if the fish manages to make two more days,i think that the progression of this thing will be stopped...
The bacteria that can cause "popeye" and dropsy which are end stage manifestations of massive infections can not be cured with herbal medicines, dyes or most antibiotics. Even the cure rate with one of the most likely antibiotic to be effective, chloramphenicol, there is a low percentage of a cure.
Aeromonas and Pseudomonas are implicated. By the time the outward symptoms are observed the liver has been devastated. The safest thing to do is to destroy infected fish to lower the chances of it infecting others. The disease organisms permeate every part of the infected fish.
At the very least, isolate the infected fish and use care with equipment and wet hands transmitting the contagion. These organisms can wipe out entire populations of fish. This is just one of many diseases that are best stopped by elimination of the infected fish.
I said it may help...Of course it wont do much if used alone but with other meds taking care the vital parts of fish,this one could help with the eye problem and maybe with the internal to some extend...
What is important is to act fast!!!
Thanx for all response but unfortunately so did my beautiful catfish pass on to the other side yesterday evening.
I have no idea what could have killed it so fast, maybe my try to ease it´s problems with discusmedicin killed it faster rather than helping it to get well.
I keep zebras,L200´s,L183´s,L333´s and many more,lots of corys and some cichlids from south america
I don't think you did anything wrong - it's just like Larry (apistomaster) says, that internal bacterial infections are very hard to "fix" when you can see them. If you catch it very early on, there is a chance. Your fish looks like it was quite far gone, so not much chance. It's definitely one of the harder diseases that you can try to cure.
As i´m writing now i heard of a group of 5 large L128´s that i hope i can get to sweden and then i am going to place them in a 540 litre tank of their own.
Lots of caves and mangrove roots and plenty of filtration.
They are 15-18 cm´s so they should be as big as my blue that died.
Hopefully they will not get sick ;)
I keep zebras,L200´s,L183´s,L333´s and many more,lots of corys and some cichlids from south america
I hope you can make it
Good luck with them This time even if anyone does get sick,you will know it i think earlier... But just to let you know,what happened isnt something common for L128s...They have the same or less chane to get this than any other pleco...
This time even if anyone does get sick,you will know it i think earlier... 
