General Care Discussion :: One of my fish...

[Tenodera]

One of my fish is sick. Her eyes are very swollen and slightly red. COuld she be saved?

Also, could this disease? be transmitted to my turtle?

[DavidY]

You may want to move her to a separate "quarantine" tank if you can set one up. DrsFoster&Smith have some good articles on fish health and medication you could look up. It sounds like a bacterial infection ("popeye") so you would need to treat the quarantine tank with antibiotics. Most likely the bacteria will not affect your turtle but the treatment should be done in a separate smaller aquarium. If you could pick up a 5 or 10 gallon tank and a sponge filter or something cheap and temporary that would work. And since you'll be dosing antibiotics you will not be able to establish any biological filtration so you should also pick up some ammonia remover (zeolite or amquel) and do regular water changes. Make sure to follow the directions on the medication closely.

I hope he gets better.

[Tenodera]

Thanks David, but...there is no WAY my mom is going to let me buy another tank, filter, AND medicine! She's probably say, Oh just flush it away. or net it up and I'll cook it for you......She never takes me seriously

[DavidY]

Hmm, I wonder if you could just treat him in a separate container like a plastic food container with an airstone. Or if you could put him in a cup with medicine for like 20 minutes or something, and do that a couple of times a day.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Not even a small betta type tank with a cheap filter? those things are small and cheap, and medicine for fish aint that expensive, right david? I dont know about you, but I wouldnt feel safe having a sick fish hanging around with my turtle, what if serra decides to eat it? I cant say if it will affect her in any way, but I would quarantine that fish. But if you cant do that you might want to do euthanize the poor little guy Dont flush him though! I euthanize my feeders by putting them in a bag with water, then filling it back up with hot water, it kills them instantly. After that you can bury the little guy.

[DavidY]

Yea I'd get that fish out of Serra's tank just in case since she's still a very young turtle.

[Tenodera]

The fish is gone!!
I looked all over her tank and it's gone!!!

I think it might have jumped out...It was all jumpy and nervous because the other fish were harassing her... I don't think Serra ate her since there are no signs

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Check inside the filter, the floor around your tank, behind the deco in your tank, and if it's not there, then serra ate it. Just keep an eye on her, and watch her poop for any parasites, etc.

[DavidY]

Yea, she'll probably be fine. Sorry to hear about your fish.