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RE: plague


Hi Folks,


I have seen this infection first hand.  I suggested this illness because the
fish were eviscerated while still alive. This is consistent with my
experience. I also discounted the pleco. Plecos will feed on dead fish. They
will also suck on large slow fish like discus or oscars that have
insufficient space to escape. The tank in question should allow relatively
agile killifish plenty of room to escape. Also when a pleco sucks onto a
small fish it tends to skin the whole thing rather than just rip open the
stomach cavity.

I saw the disease over a year ago now. So I am working from my best
recollection. Antibiotics were helpful in slowing the progression of the
disease. But the inevitable did not seem to be preventable.

Deaths occur over time. First one at a time then in groups. Some fish seem
to survive for a while without apparent symptoms. But eventually you can
count on 100% mortality as far as certain killies go. Maybe there is a cure
out there. If I had access to chloramphenichol HCL (sp?) I would have tried
it. Years back when it was available it seemed to work on almost every
oddball bacterial fish illness.

I have good cause to believe that this disease is making the rounds in the
killifish hobby. I recommend that anyone who acquires new fish maintain
careful quarantine. It may not exactly be a plague yet, but with its long
incubation time, and its total mortality rate it has the potential for
becoming one.


Peace,

~RJ~


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