Lymphocystis Bites Back!

Evening all!

I have noticed that my female phantom and one of the males have the same lumps as the ones I recently bought from MA, who turned out to have lymphocystis.

I had a funny feeling that it might have spread to the big tank as I remember having a sudden panic attack in the middle of the night not long after the three infected fish had been returned to the shop, because I had used a piece of equipment or something that had been in the quarantine tank with the sick fish, in the main tank.

Anyway, the female has it in her mouth and keeps opening and closing her mouth and around her fins and in the  base of her tail (where it joins her body) but The male just has it around his tail and fins.

My question is, do I bother quarantining them and treating them? Do I just euthanise them or do I wait and see what happens?

Both seem quite bright and are still interested in food and as there have been no new additions to the tank since my last encounter with the virus I'm guessing everyone in there has been exposed to it already.

Not sure what to do.  Any suggestions?

FC76

Thanks Sue,

I'll put them in QT.  I now have separate QT equipment!!!!

Fingers crossed!

FC76

Yes I found it quite interesting too because according to my research Black Phantoms are not one of the species commonly affected by Lymphocytis. I suppose the only way I'll know for sure is to get one tested but I'm not sure I could afford that or even where to start!!!!!

One of males has died, not because of the illness but because of the stress of being caught and moved to a different tank.

EDIT: he's not dead!!! He had gone into freeze mode!!! I went to remove him from the tank and he's swimming about!!! Thank goodness!!

I do hate it when they get ill, sometimes I think it would be better to let nature run it's course than to try to help. I feel like I've made things worse.

Anyway, I've treated the QT with eSHa 2000 just to be safe.  Now we wait!

FC76

Option 4 would likely be very expensive 

I would not choose option 3 because there is a good chance that the other fish aren't infected yet, especially as it seems to be only black phantoms that are affected.

That leaves options 1 and 2, and only you can decide which to do, I'm afraid.


Fishy portal suggests that is usually fish from the genera Anabas, Colisa and Trichopsis which are normally affected by papillomatosis ie climbing perches, honey gouramis and sparkling/croaking gouramis. But that doesn't mean that black phantoms can't be infected.

Are these the only black phantoms you have? If you have more, I think I'd put them in with the quarantined ones just in case. Then whether you choose option 1 or 2, don't get any more or any related species. In other words, avoid all Hyphessobrycons. Being a worrier, I would be concerned that it is something that affects just these fish.

There is far less known about fish disease than about human disease. Diagnosing your own problem from looking up your symptoms on the internet is fraught with dangers (though many people are foolish enough to do so).

I agree that in human medicine this is a valid comment, (although it was not until I presented my doctor with a page printed form the Fibromyalgia website that they began to investigate my symptoms and diagnosed me with M.E!) but with regard to fish health, all I would say is that in some cases you have to start somewhere! As you rightly point out in my ' vets that will treat fish' post, most fish are not worth enough on a financial basis to warrant seeking veterinary treatment and the extra costs involved, but if you do not know if a disease is treatable, do you euthanase anyway or do you at least try to find out if your fishes lives can be saved?

There is no way for me to tell if my Phantoms are in fact infected with Lymphocystis but out of concern for their welfare and also due to a desire to learn about such things I consulted the internet, as well as the many informed and experienced people on this Forum.

As it turns out, I spoke to the shop I bought the fish from today and they still have all of that batch of Phantoms in permanent isolation 'out the back' and there they will stay.  As for my own, they are deteriorating and I will most likely euthanase them.

I will still use the internet to research possible illness in my fish as I believe there is a place for it in diagnosing treatable illnesses and therefore allowing me to treat my fish and saving a lot of unnecessary euthanasia.

FC76

That is interesting!!!!

I wonder if MA have a dodgy supplier? What area are you in?

I had to euthanase my three. They were very unhappy in the QT tank so I bit the bullet and made the decision.

I hope yours are ok and go the distance. It's a funny disease as it doesn't actually worry them unless it invades their gills or mouth and effects breathing and eating.

Best of luck and do keep us posted if anything changes with yours.

FC76