Angelfish/Discus Plague
TYNK 7
PetsMart stores in IL. Joliet, Bolingbrook, and Darien Illinois.
There is no mistake either about it being something else, and not the Angelfish
virus, aka Angel Aids, Discus Plague, etc. It may have several different names,
but the symptoms are the same.
I can only give the symptoms for Angelfish, as I haven't had Discus.
I lived through this virus when in hit in IL, back in the late 80's.
I had all young, Black Veils and it was always 100%fatal.
I have come to learn that age has a lot to do with the death rate of this
virus.
Having only had young Angels back then, I never knew that larger ones were able
to fight it off, as long as you protected them secondary bacterial infections.
I have read the deathrate for larger Angels is 80%.
I just recently (April 5th, 02), unknowingly exposed my 3 breeder size Angels
to the virus by a male Betta that I had purchased at the Joliet, IL PetsMart.
Around 4 days after he was purchased, put into quarantine 3 rooms away from the
Angelfish tank, they had come down with classic symptoms of the virus.
Heads up to the surface, body jerks, heavy slime coat, huddling together either
at the back corner or bottom, and sporadic swimming....as if their body's would
just take off on them and they had no control.
Young usually die within 3-4 days.
I started mine on several small feedings of Tetra's Antibiotic Flake
(Tetracycaline) for about 15 days or so.
Every one them came so close to death at least 3 times. They were healthy,
primed and ready to pair off, so I think their good health was a huge plus in
their being able to live through it.
I was lucky enough to know what I was dealing with. Too many folks don't even
know of this virus' existance.
It's highly contagious, can be spread by ANY fish yet only affcts Angelfish and
Discus, and can live in a tank for ?? (nobody really knows how long, but I've
heard it won't ever leave).Fish that are non related species, but were exposed
to it are carriers. They can infect healthy Angels and Discus. The virus is so
contagious that it's thought to be airborne.
It was so bad in the late 80's that it became an epidemic nationwide.
I have called the PetsMart Coporation a bunch of times and each times was
dismissed.
I was told by their Corporation customer help person, Jillian Ashley, that the
virus never existed in the United States and that there was something like it
in the late 80's in Singapore. I was also told be her that the fish were
checked in the stores that I had mentioned and were found to be healthy.
I have gone at least 2 times a week since April. I check new arrivals and then
in about 3-4 days I check them again if they looked good apon arrival.
EVERY time young Angels were all gone (I can only assume most died or sold ones
were now dying in their new tanks), and the larger ones were now symptomatic.
Some employees have noticed a problem with their Angels, others don't even know
they're sick at all.
I have gotten nowhere with the PetsMart Company. I just keep getting told
there's no such virus and that ALL their animals in all their stores are in
pertfect health.
(I have saved the email where she(Ms. Jillian Ashley--PetsMart customer service
help) has told me this.
All I wanted the PetsMart Coporation to do was hang up a small sign by the
Angels saying that they were UNKNOWINGLY sold fish exposed to the
Angelfish/Discus virus. I wanted their employees educated in the virus, that
way when a customer wants to know about it they can honestly answer them.
If a customer is stupid enough not to research it, then that's their own fault.
It would also show good faith from PetsMart to it's customers in doing so.
Instead, they chose to deny the virus all together, and deny that their fish
are sick.
All anyone has to do is go into a PetsMart store 4 days after they get their
fish in, and check the Angels.
So far it's been in 3 IL stores. I have word from PA that it's there and
Nebraska too.
I personally would love to know how many states it's in now.
PetsMart gets their from from 2 sources. They serve the stores nationwide.
I fear the virus has already gone across the states.
Only time will tell though.
Cichlid Chic
another month or two so I'll keep my eyes open. I do frequent the Petsmart
here in Tulsa, Oklahoma all the time and have been watching the Angels for
probably a month. I haven't found them to be very appealing and have
checked a couple of small LFS to see what they have on a regular basis. I
had already decided that if I buy fish from Petsmart, it will be on Thursday
mornings when their fresh shipment comes in......but that won't work if the
fish are coming in afflicted with something. I'm assuming this plague will
kill the Angels within the 2 week warranty period that Petsmart offers? In
that case, it would be prudent to quarantine the Angels for 2-3 weeks before
adding them to the main tank.
Thanks again for the info.........I'll be cautious when the time comes to
purchase Angels....
--
Cichlid Chic
remove "NOFISHING" to cast me a line
"TYNK 7" <ty...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020527120408...@mb-fx.aol.com...
TYNK 7
>kill the Angels within the 2 week warranty period that Petsmart offers?
Small Angels will die within 4 days of becoming infected.
Larger ones can fight it off, but the odds are not in their favor for doing so.
>In
>that case, it would be prudent to quarantine the Angels for 2-3 weeks before
>adding them to the main tank.
Quarantining won't help anything.
If you had healthy Angels at home.
Bought a Corydora cat at a PetsMart that has the virus in their tanks.
You bring home the Cory and quarantine it in another room for 2wweks.
Add it to the Angel tank after that and within 4 days they will become
symptomatic of the virus!
I wouldn't suggest buying Angels from their at all.
I also strongly urge anyone with either Angelfish or Discus at home that they
don't purchase ANY fish from their stores.
This is because the disease is so contagious, all PetsMart's tanks run on the
same filter (one fish is sick, all fish are sick), once it's in the tanks, it's
in for good unless all infected fish and carriers are removed (euthanasia is
highly recommended) and the entire system is bleached.
The coporation would never take such a loss, so they deny it being there.
Kind of like a little kid putting their hand over their eyes and saying...you
can't see me now.
Marksfish
about to hammer the Asian breeders. I don't doubt that discus from different
continents have different tolerances to different diseases in much the same
way as humans. Tell me, if you were to leave the secure vaccinated continent
of Europe/ America and travelled to (for arguments sake) the African jungle
without taking your malaria jab, what do you think the possibility of your
contracting it would be? Because your immune system isn't up to speed you
would probably become pretty sick. In the same way, some fish are raised out
of doors and are exposed to other illnesses/ viruses which their immune
systems overcome. When introduced to fished raised in a "sterile, indoors"
environment they can affect can become affected. A proper importer would
quarantine these fish, as the effects wear off after a while in the aquarium
environment, unfortunately this costs money. I have successfully overcome
these problems in the past by raising the temperature to 90F and keeping the
pH low, about 5.5- 6.0. There are some articles on my page about this
phenomenon on my page, my personal experience, an article by Mary Bailey (a
respected cichlid expert) and a possible "cure" from S. Africa.
Regards
Cichlid Chic
before purchasing it on line, and stopped to look at the Angels while I was
there. They had about 7 in their Angel tank today and all 7 looked like
they had fin rot. I've bought healthy fish from them, and I have bought
fish that died or were ill and that I had to save. I think it's just the
luck of the draw......
TYNK 7
>about to hammer the Asian breeders
OK. If it's a bunch of fiction brought about to hammer asian breeders, then
what the heck wiped out most Angelfish in the 80's that were in pet shops..and
infected ones that were bought and put into quarantine tanks, infected healthy
Angels rooms away? What was all of that then?
What is it now?
Too many breeders and hobbyists have gone through this virus, and know that it
is in NO WAY a bunch of fiction! That's for sure.
TYNK 7
>they had fin rot.
> I've bought healthy fish from them, and I have bought
>fish that died
>I think it's just the
>luck of the draw......
>
Buying a fish that has Fin Rot VS. buying one harboring a highly contagious
virus is quite different.
There is a cure for Fin Rot, however, there isn't one for the Angelfish virus.
FYI, bacterial Fin Rot is the most common secondary infection they'll get along
with the virus.
Marksfish
something which the "sterile environment" fish are not immune to, but it is
not a plague.
TYNK 7
>not a plague.
It was named Discus Plague, and Angelfish Plague, etc because it spread to
epidemic proportions.
I'm sorry that you were told it was something else, however, it is very much an
infectious virus that can become a plague in no time.
Please take the time to research before you put your neck on the chopping
block.
= )
guy tedesco
> I was in Petsmart today buying dog food and getting a close look at a filter
> before purchasing it on line, and stopped to look at the Angels while I was
> there. They had about 7 in their Angel tank today and all 7 looked like
> they had fin rot. I've bought healthy fish from them, and I have bought
> fish that died or were ill and that I had to save. I think it's just the
> luck of the draw......
i just keep discus. i have never had any disease thank god. i buy only
from reputable specialists in the discus trade. there are none in my
area so i do mail order. it's expensive yes but it saves me in the
long run. personally i don't trust local fish stores. it's been my
experience they are generally unethical and don't really have proper
education in tropical fish care. i certainly would not buy from a mega
mart store such as you describe. guy from long island
Nothing
on him, but also he swims with his head up and hides under driftwood. Does
this sound right?
He is only small and I was wondering if anyone has suggests on treatment, I
know moving him to a quarantine tank won't help, but I am going to do it
anyway.
-Sol
TYNK 7
>I think my angelfish has this disease
> He looks like he has fungus growing
>on him, but also he swims with his head up and hides under driftwood.
Is this stuff you're calling "fungus" look like fuzzy white cotton, or does it
look like white, drippy snot on his side?
Big difference here, and that's the only way I can describe the difference
between a heavy slime coat and a fungal attack.
>Does
>this sound right?
Tell me this:
Does the Angel swim head up at the surface a lot, and just jerk in place every
once in a while?
Does the Angelfish hide, either top or bottom, with body jerks, and even
sporadic swimming...where it seems like it'
s body just takes off on it?
Does he have "drippy snot" on his sides?
Does it hold it's Dorsal and anal fins closed, like a c?
Or........
Does it have fuzzy cotton on it's side and is gulping at the water's surface,
like it's gulping air?