H2O Fish Post - Warning for Discus Buyers!

[rodclement]

There is an outbrake of the Discus Plague in our area so please be areful if you plan or have recently purchased Discus.

The infected fish come from Fishking USA and were sold to several people in the area, including me. I have lost over 20 fish and some people have lost their business!

There is no cure for the "plague", it starts as a bacterial infecttion and develops into many other issues leading almost always to death. As with any bacteria,some fish may appear to be "cured" but will be carriers for life infecting any other fish it comes in contact with, the disease is also airborne so can skip from tank to tank.

Please be aware of this since some less ethical people are trying to "unload" these fish in the open market instead of culling them.

Any questions or concerns regarding this issues, please contact me via PM as there is a lawyer involved at this point.

Rod

 

[Edwardw771]

Holy crap that sucks dude.

 

[Phyl]

Oh no. So sorry to hear about your fish and this terrible plague.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I know these guys are fresh, but is there a chance Dr. Jim might have a cure/treatment?

 

[rodclement]

fish have been sent to a lab in California for analysis. The main problem is that the bacteria weakens the fish so ohter secondary infections take over so the lab analysis can never be 100% accurate. Two fish came back with different results!

The most important issue is that infected fish need to be culled so they don't spread the infection to other discus.

Rod

 

[Phyl]

By the sounds of it, all exposed fish need to be culled, regardless of being symptomatic. That's pretty terrible. Should an asymptomatic fish be sent in for analysis (maybe 2 or 3)? I wonder if that would yeild better results?

 

[Brian]

That's terrible! It's scary that it's an airborne disease...what the heck? I NEVER thought that could happen.

 

[rodclement]

back in 2006 a breeder called Cary Strong imported fish from Malasya and not only he had to cull and sterilize all his fish and tanks, he found out that the strain he had could be transmited to humans, he had his home quarentined and steriled...with all the control we have with imports, no one tests fish when they come into the country...


There have been seeral fish sent to the lab, from the original importer and from customers in California.

My one tank affected was in my bedroom since I always quarentine new fish, that is what saved the rest of my fish, I was lucky...my losses talied $460 bucks, some people lost thousands...

rod

 

[ReeferNets]

Rod, one of ladies in my office is a freshy like you and shes been covering your thread on the freshy site.

I told her this morning since she bought 5 blue discus.

that is some sick stuff.

 

[shipwrecked]

Rod, Thanks for the post and sorry to hear about yr loss.Kinda makes ya wonder on the future of fish keeping.Sounds like something movies are made from..

 

[rodclement]

reefernets, the whole saga is documented here:

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showthread.php?t=75710

so far the thread is 11 pages long and has replies from people from all over the world, also the number one forum for Discus if your friend is in to them.

Rod