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Hi Ned,
There's been some talk in the Boston Aquarium Society about a nasty bug going around in mbuna tanks - we've been calling it mbuna plague since like the "discus plague" it seems to defy treatment...

I was recently talking with someone who was calling it flesh eating bacteria, which seemed more descriptive, and they said you had the med for it - and that the treatment was serious mojo.

They also said you had some theories on the disease.

I'm looking for any thoughts, what meds you think will work best, what fishes you've seen get it (in all the cases I've heard about it affected mbuna, although I suspect utaka would also be susceptable, and I just saw a Victorian fish that had the same problem...)

I figure if we can work up a good protocol for this, we can refer people thru the BAS to you for the meds, etc.

Thanks,
Red

Malawi flesh eating bacteria

It's going around because PetCo started selling Malawi cichlids.
I also know the name of the farm it originated at,
but I won't say because it doesn't seem fair.

I don't know the name of the disease,
but I do know the cure.
You need Oxylinic Acid.
It is an expensive powder.
Treat at 0.25 teaspoons per 40 gallons.
No UV sterlizer. No ozone.
No carbon. NO FOAMS EVEN, in the filter.
Keep filters running.
Change water about every 2 days and redose 3 or 4 times.
We have the oxylinic acid here at Uncle Ned's.
I costs about $200 a jar but fortunately you don't need much to work. It can also be sprayed on food.
Oxylinic acid is the ONLY med that works on this rare bacteria.
It can kill 90% of your fish in days.
I have it in bulk....by the way...I need a "Reefer" (wink, wink)
with a gram scale
so I can know how much to sell it for.

By the way,
for this disease or any disease,
please let me or your other fish dealer know as soon as you SUSPECT
ANYTHING wrong.
We're pretty good, but we can't bring a fish back from the dead.

fish that get it

Supposedly it is native to Malawi.
I have ONLY seen it on EAST AFRICAN cichlids.

For instance,
if you have
Mbuna, Malawi Haps, Victorian Haps, Lamprologus,
Jack Dempseys, catfish & loaches,
all in the same tank,
for some reason only the first 4 types above will get sick.
Wierd.

Could the author or Ned post any more information about the "plague"? How does it present? I'm not an african cichlid keeper myself, but I was recently talking to friend (the type of "friend" who probably frequents the big chain shops) who is/was battling what sounded like a bacterial infection. He couldn't give me near enough information for me to recommend a course of action. He did mention that at about the same time that the fish’s "fins started rotting off," three fish developed bulging eyes. I know "popeye", etc. is a symptom of many different conditions, but has this been mentioned in accounts of the "plague"?

On a side note, has there been any recommendation of using oxolinic acid as top-coating on pellets? That is, coating pellets with a measured portion of powder based on fish weight and then coating in fish oil? Oxolinic acid is particularly effective given orally, but knowing/judging the fish weight… I work with atlantic salmon in a hatchery setting and we use oxolinic acid to treat furunculosis, however, we administer via parenteral injection and generally think of quinolone antibiotics as not effectively water soluble. On the contrary, I did a quick net search and saw several references to O.A. building up in tissues when administered as a prolonged bath, that is, the aquarist must use short treatment periods (3 days max) and follow with a complete w/c. This information makes me wonder if it isn’t used at the hatchery because it’s impractical in a large volume of water. Just some food for thought. Has there been any mention of the culprit bacteria? In the hatchery literature oxolinic treatment is generally associated with gram negs, particularly Aeromonas (i.e. furunculosis causing A. salmonicida) and Pseudomonas. Any luck with furan-type drugs?

more information about the "plague"
How does it present? Malawi plague (the bacteria has a name...I just can't remember it) will usually first show up as "mouth fungus". This is an early diagnosis problem because it is normal for cichlids to "mouth-fight" tearing up the skin around the lips...it's normal to see damaged mouths. Usually the next damaged area is the mid-dorsal area, then the tail area, (this is all happening in about 2-3 DAYS), then it starts to eat the sides, then finally into a vital organ, killing the fish sometimes in less than 5 days. The appearance is sort of a whitish fungus first, then physically eating into the flesh leaving bloody missing areas of course.

I'm not an african cichlid keeper myself, but I was recently talking to friend (the type of "friend" who probably frequents the big chain shops) who is/was battling what sounded like a bacterial infection. He couldn't give me near enough information for me to recommend a course of action. He did mention that at about the same time that the fish’s "fins started rotting off," three fish developed bulging eyes. I know "popeye", etc. is a symptom of many different conditions, but has this been mentioned in accounts of the "plague"? I have not seen popeye along with this plague.

On a side note, has there been any recommendation of using oxolinic acid as top-coating on pellets? That is, coating pellets with a measured portion of powder based on fish weight and then coating in fish oil? The recommendation for adding oxylinic to food is to disolve it in distilled water, use a spray bottle to spritz it on the food, then dry the food with a fan.
Oxolinic acid is particularly effective given orally, but knowing/judging the fish weight… I work with atlantic salmon in a hatchery setting and we use oxolinic acid to treat furunculosis, however, we administer via parenteral injection and generally think of quinolone antibiotics as not effectively water soluble. This is probably why I need to take the foams out of the filters while treating, the cell particles of the powdered oxylinic is so large it sticks to the filter foams, unlike erythromycin, which totally dissolves and becomes one with the water. I think what I'm doing is practically powdering the fish. On the contrary, I did a quick net search and saw several references to O.A. building up in tissues when administered as a prolonged bath, that is, the aquarist must use short treatment periods (3 days max) and follow with a complete w/c. I doubt the oxylinic acid is toxic, but I wouldn't want to leave any drug in the water for a very long time. This information makes me wonder if it isn’t used at the hatchery because it’s impractical in a large volume of water. It's wicked expensive. Just some food for thought. Has there been any mention of the culprit bacteria? Yes, but I forgot the name. In the hatchery literature oxolinic treatment is generally associated with gram negs, particularly Aeromonas (i.e. furunculosis causing A. salmonicida) and Pseudomonas.
Any luck with furan-type drugs? No, ONLY oxylinic works in my experience.
2 other notes:
this disease is incredibly contagious. Even one drop of contaminated water will infect a new tank.
Also, when cichlids get sick they normally stop eating, with this plague they continue to feed relatively normally.

I may have been the one telling people about it. And at the time, I DID go to Petco to inform them that it was there that I got the infected fish. I used some of Ned's oxylinic acid, and guess what...it went away...but not before wiping out a good percentage of my cichlids. Mbuna species and my Macs were most affected. It didn't touch my catfish or my tanganyikans. The symptoms were exactly as Ned described them.

On a side note, I now WORK at said Petco, and I'll do my best to make sure that affected fish are NOT sold. I'll be the 6'3" guy who doesn't shave much and has a receding hairline at 25 years old. Damn.

I saw a goldfish this summer with the same symptom. It started as white fuzz that looked like fungus along the side of the fish. Then the fungus eat a whole directly into the side of the fish. The whole time the fish continued to eat and behave naturally. I had never seen anything like it before. Also, no bug-eyes. The fish died with 3 round gaping wounds along the side that were blood red in the center with very raised white edges.
Is there a similar pathogen that affects goldfish? Could this same pathongen infect goldfish? Since many farms raise both african cichlids and goldfish, and koi, there should have been plenty of exposure. This occured in august and I figured it was mostly stress due to warm temps, early morning oxygen depletion, pH swings, and higher bacterial loads. The pond was treated by flushing water and some pond strength melafix. This treatment was very inefective. The other fish in the pond appeared to be unaffected and it was the largest fish in the pond that became infected. I do not know if there is still a problem in the pond, I assume no because my friend has not informed me of any other sick fish.
Is this the same or a similar illness? Is this common among pond fish?

not the same exact bacteria causing the problem..however
the same anti biotic might work...

no,
goldfish farmers seldom also farm african cichlids

by the way
oxylinic acid works great on neon tetra and cardinal tetra disease
where you also get a fungus-looking goo in the middle top back of the fish

if it's going to work you'll notice improvement in 3 days....

in my experience
Melafix is an OK preventative
but a not a very good cure
for most problems
....I can say with confidence Melafix will do no harm

just cutting and pasting
a short piece I just did for MFK's board

hope I never see this disease again

-------------

rare Malawi cichlid disease

Please don't panic,
this disease is truly rare.

I call it "Malawi plague"
I forget the real name.

Shows up every 3 years or so...
a nasty flesh-eating bacteria.
Allegedly the bacteria is endemic to Lake Malawi,
but virtually never shows up on wild fish.
I know of at least one Florida fish farm that has had it,
and frankly I suspect some Asian fish farms have it.

Only affects Malawi cichlids,
maybe sometimes Tanganyikans.
Never affects South or Central American Cichlids or non-cichlids.
But it is highly contagious, water born, so a wet net or anything can transfer it,
including another cichlid or any fish going from tank to tank.

It is so scary, I always warn the staff
and we all wash our hands with the hottest water possible and soap
after working with water suspected of containing the rare bacteria.
I also throw away hoses, nets and other equipment used in working with a suspect tank.
Fortunately I haven't seen it here in four years.
Got it from a Florida fish farm I won't name because they have since eradicated the problem (hopefully).
The disease was going around New England PetCos about 3 years ago.

Starts out looking like ordinary mouth-fungus
(which would not be too unusual for Malawis because they mouth fight.)
Next the fungus shows up on the dorsal and back.
Next the fungus attacks the center of the body,
this (and the mouth/face) damages is what causes death.
In as little as 3 days!

The rapid spread over the body,
and the almost totally predictable effected body areas in succession,
is what is different with Malawi Plague from regular "fin & tail rot".
Fin & Tail Rot appears anywhere on the body at random,
and progresses slowly (7 to 14 days usually.)
Regular Fin & Tail Rot is normally treatable with ordinary Tetracycline, clean water and good food.

This disease is so nasty it will kill every Malawi cichlid in your tank.
No amount of water changes
(the normal solution with Malawi or any fish tank with problems)
Maracyn, Clout, Quick Cure, Metronidazole, salt, or heat (my usual favorites)
will help at all.

The good news is
Oxylinic Acid
(an unusual antibacterial powder)
destroys the Malawi Plague bacteria in as little as one dose.
I usually give it 3 doses, just to be sure.

Usually when using antibiotics,
I leave the filter foams, but remove the carbon.
In the case of Oxylinic Acid,
I find that removing even the sponges is more effective,
because the powder is almost non-dissolving
and would be caught in the filter foams.
You are virtually "dusting" the fish.

We always keep Oxylinic Acid in stock.
It happens to be good on other flesh eating bacterias,
such as "Neon Tetra disease".

So
nothing to panic about...
just something to be aware of.