# Help with Uaru



## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

I noticed late last week that my uaru had what looked like a wound or scrape on his side but thought very little of it becouse he has scrapes on his head and body on a pretty regular basis becouse he thinks he is a lot tougher then he actually is and is constantly trying to push around the severum and nicaraguan he hangs out with.
Normally they go away after a few days but this one started to get bigger, and he seems to have lost appitite.
I moved him to a quarantine tank and put in Maracyn Plus last night incase its a bacteria thats the cause, but I dont really know..
I am really worried about him becouse he is one of my favorite fish and it would be terrible to lose him.


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## darb (Apr 21, 2010)

It is difficult to tell anything from the photo.

It should only be either bacterial or fungal or a combination so you are probably off to a good start.

Try and insert a better photo or use something like sharesend.com to upload the original and provide the link in a post.


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

also the bottom part appears fuzzy kind of like a cotton ball. this really sucks.


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## `GhostDogg´ (Apr 22, 2010)

Kind of looks like a heater burn.
If it's growing it might be some sort of ulcer.
Do you have any "suckers" that might be latching on him in the night?
CAE,Pleco?


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## bigfry (Apr 21, 2010)

Good call by Ghostdogg and better reply than mine.

I was also thinking of a heater burn.



`GhostDogg´ said:


> Kind of looks like a heater burn.
> If it's growing it might be some sort of ulcer.
> Do you have any "suckers" that might be latching on him in the night?
> CAE,Pleco?


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## darb (Apr 21, 2010)

Well it looks like you have caught it in it's early stages, so don't stress out too bad.

Cottony fuzz would be a description of fungus. You can either medicate with drugs or try salt. If you chose to medicate, just go to your LFS and tell them the problem and they will reccomened a product to you. It is also a good idea to continue with the antibiotics to prevent any secondary infection.

If you chose to go with salt, first make sure that the fish will tolerate salt, certain species can't. Also, try and use iodine free salt such as aquarium salt. Though, the good old RTR states:



> Sodium chloride is the familiar white crystalline material in just about every kitchen. Table salt as purchased at the local supermarket in this country also contains iodide and anti-caking compounds.
> Iodine is a halogen, and is required for vertebrates in its ionic form. Iodine is the element; iodide is the ionic form. Do not confuse either of those with "tincture of iodine" which is a topical antiseptic and quite toxic. Iodide is necessary for our metabolism as an essential part of thyroid hormone, which is our metabolic pacemaker. Soils in wide areas of this country are deficient in iodine, and this lack can result in goiter (hypertrophy of the thyroid gland, effectively from insufficient iodide intake). Thus the practice arose of adding iodide to salt intended for human consumption. This was the safest (the levels of iodide are minute) and surest way of protecting the population from this deficiency as salt is ubiquitous (all but universal) in food processing and preparation. The levels of iodide added to table salt are so small that any water-living vertebrate or invertebrate would be pickled in brine well before toxic concentrations of iodide could be reached, so that particular urban myth is without foundation. In fact, a number of our tank inhabitants need iodide- most crustaceans have a significant demand for the material, and a number of fish can develop goiter in captivity from the lack of iodine - African Rift Lake fish seem especially prone to this. The often-discussed toxicity of iodide could be considered urban myth #1.
> 
> under myth #1: http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/The_Salt_of_the_Earth


As for salt dosage, see the table here and also at the bottom here.

Plus you may want to try and figure where the wound came from, as mentioned it doesn't look like a fight wound.


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

`GhostDogg´ said:


> Kind of looks like a heater burn.
> If it's growing it might be some sort of ulcer.
> Do you have any "suckers" that might be latching on him in the night?
> CAE,Pleco?


I have one farowella but I honestly doubt he did it becouse he barely moves from his spot under the log, anything is possible though.. and however it happened its become alot worse in a day or two, he is in a quarantine tank atm with maracyn and salt and he is just sorta laying on the bottom, not even trying to swim.


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

ok so the sore/wound is now all the way from his lateral line to the bottom of his stomach, it has spread by about 25% since yesterday and the white cottony fungus has doubled WTF, how long should I keep the Maracyn+ and salt up before trying something else? its been 3 days and he is steadily getting worse..
I really dont think he will last the full cycle of maracyn the way things are looking


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

This sucks.


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## `GhostDogg´ (Apr 22, 2010)

If you net him try to put pimafix or melafix directly on the wound with a q-tip/cotton swab.

I'd repeat this daily until the wound stops spreading.
The fish might not like the feeling but this will stop the fugus from growing on the wound.
Fungus makes everything worse.

I've tried Maracyn, but mela & pimafix seem to work better for me.


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

thanks Ghostdogg I will be trying that tommorrow.


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## darb (Apr 21, 2010)

moneysink said:


> ok so the sore/wound is now all the way from his lateral line to the bottom of his stomach, it has spread by about 25% since yesterday and the white cottony fungus has doubled WTF, how long should I keep the Maracyn+ and salt up before trying something else? its been 3 days and he is steadily getting worse..
> I really dont think he will last the full cycle of maracyn the way things are looking


Assuming that it is a heater burn it could just be further damaged tissue dieing off. If the fungus is spreading you could consider increasing the salt content (what are you at now?) or probably a safer route would be to go with a fungicide. Personally I am not a fan of the melafix/primafix combination, it is essentially a herbal extract and is a nice "first try" but if the condition is worsening I would personally go with the pharmaceutical medications. The maracyn will prevent/eliminate any secondary infection. It doesn't look infected, but hard to tell from the photos. Maybe try and post an updated high res photo.


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## anessa (Apr 26, 2010)

I'm so sorry! It is terrible to have something like that happening. Usually clean water and salt can take care of most wounds but this seems quite agressive. Have you done searches through Google to identify what it might be? There are several sites that have fish illness descriptions and pictures. Also, be very careful to protect yourself. You should be wearing gloves or at least be sure that you have no open sores and that you wash your hands well.


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

hey guys, im almost certain at this point that its _Flexibacter columnaris_, the area around the open wound looks exactly like the "saddleback" that apears in the pictures when I google it. What really sucks is all the conflicting information I have read, every site says somthing differant, some say maracyn works others say it does nothing, some say raise the heat some say lower the heat, etc.


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

darb said:


> If the fungus is spreading you could consider increasing the salt content (what are you at now?).


I am at 1 tbsp per 5 gallons of water right now I have also started using_API liquid fungus cure_ also tried putting a salt paste directly to the wound this morning, so far nothing and the "saddleback" portion of the infection has spread further since last night. My Uaru is about 4-5 inches tall and the infected area is going from his stomach almost to his dorsal fin now, I will get a picture tonight if I can, the API turned the tank green so its kinda hard to take a pic.


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

Btw thanks for all the help guys.


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## darb (Apr 21, 2010)

yes, that fits.

You may need to change antibiotics also Mardel recommends Maracyn, others reccommend sulfa drugs. This guy seems to have it well covered.


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

ya well That guy says maracyn works...NOPE, and its hard to feed the fish food laced with antibiotics when one of the side affects of the fish being so sick is it dosnt eat.
So I picked up some _triple sulfa_ and am throwing that in to the mix, somthing has to work.


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## darb (Apr 21, 2010)

There is a difference between Maracyn+ and Maracyn.

Essentially there are two types of bacteria, gram positive bacteria and gram negative bacteria.

Some antibiotics work better on gram positive bacteria while others are more effective on gram negative bacteria. It is actually somewhat common to run both Maracyn and Maracyn-2 at the same time to ensure that both bases are covered. Other approaches are to use broad spectrum antibiotics such as Furan2 and Triple Sulfa.

On a positive note, it looks like you have a solid diagnosis which can be half the battle in itself and you will be well versed to recognise the problem in the future.


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

my bad darb, thanks for the info, hopefully this triple sulfa works, meds are getting expensive lol.


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

Update: so im now using triple sulfa and furan-2 along with salt and and I have twice taken him out and swabbed him with Hydrogen peroxide. the cotton like fungus is mostly gone on the wound but the infected area is continuing to grow.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

I don't know anything about the condition, but I hope that he gets better.


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## darb (Apr 21, 2010)

If you are making progress then hopefully it should just be a mater of time, but sometimes it is slow. Hopefully your hospital is small because you are going to have to run the Triple Sulfa for longer than the recommended 4 days on the box, probably 10 days.

I have no idea how salt tolerant the fish is, but I would personally be looking at bumping up the salt level. Handling the fish and treating it may or may not be counter productive; the added stress weakens it and it's immune system.

there are a few more points to consider here:



> My Fish has Columnaris! Help!
> http://network.bestfriends.org/grou...06/23/preventing-and-treating-columnaris.aspx
> 
> Below is my own personal treatment protocol, with which I have had immense sucess. It is based on suggestions from several reputable websites, as well as my own experience and knowledge. I can not guarentee that it will cure your fish, but it may give him or her a fighting chance!
> ...


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

hey darb, ya he is dead/dying. I have tried everything, I read that article you posted above about 3 days ago, thanks tho.
I have done everything that there is to do and he just keeps wasting away, really really sucks. he is just laying on his side on the bottom now, dosnt try to swim. The disease is still spreading, nothing has worked.
Thanks for all the help though.


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## moneysink (Apr 25, 2010)

He died this morning.


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## `GhostDogg´ (Apr 22, 2010)

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I only mentioned my method because it looked like it was getting worse.
I only net my fish when I find the other meds didn't work.
I know what it feels like buying all these expensive meds that don't seem to work.
Clean water & salt is usually the best way.
I try to go the natural route since I don't want to create a super bug that may be resistant to antibiotics.


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