plz. help, v. worried re:h. rasboras

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cali

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 17, 2007
Messages
15
Yesterday we traveled two hrs to get 3 h. rasboras because the store here where we were going to get our tetras had ich and started selling again while there was still ich in the tanks. The new store said that they had ahd these rasboras for 2 months so I thought that was good, they hadn't been recently stressed by a move. We got them, kept them in darkness while travelling back. Took 2 1/2 hrs to dribble water from my tank into the bag, put in 2 filters from an established tank, kept the lights off until this am.

Now I think I may see a spot of ich on the bottom tip of the tail fins of two of them. I'm freaking out. This is what happened with our tetra disaster a month ago. Within 12 hrs of bringing them home they were showing signs of ich. They died 2days later. I can't bear to loose these fish too (nor can my 6 yr old to whom they belong). They also seem to be a bit shivery. This may be normal, I don't know. But when they are against the glass or swimming in place they seem to shiver. When they are just swimming around they look okay (but maybe there are scooting around more than should be?). They are not flashing. What is normal for rasboras?

I have no other fish just rocks a plant, a fake plant and a castle. The ammonia and nitrates are at 0. Couldn't find a nitrate kit anywhere but I assume that's at 0 too since I'm just starting.

I don't want to start medicating (I do have some Jungle ick care) if it isn't ich. But I have read that you need to act fast. My heater won't take the temp above 82 so that's not an option either. Do I medicate? 1/2 strength? They are pretty small.

I see people buy fish and throw them in dishes with no filter or anything and those fish live despite everything. I've been working like crazy to make sure things are right and I can't keep them alive.
 
Sorry you're having problems. If this is ich, the easiest way to treat it is to get the temp up to 86-87 slowly, and treat with aquarium salt (just follow the directions on the package). Since your heater will not bring the temp up high enough, I would recommend buying a second heater if it is within your budget. Plus, it's nice to have an extra one around in case your first heater stops working for some reason. If you treat with this method, you will need to continue with the heat and salt for 2 weeks AFTER you see that the spots are gone.

I'd be wary of using any medications in the tank, after courtnee's experience with that. It really wreaked havoc on her bio filter and was very stressful for her fish. That thread's around here somewhere.

You say you are just starting... did you cycle the tank before adding fish?
 
I didn't cycle because I could find no pure ammonia and have a serious shrimp allergy. I was very careful to put in two filters from an established tank tho. Everyone seemed to think that would be okay. I'm already more than $200 dollars (these last three fish alone were 20) into this 10 gallon tank and don't want to spend more but if that's my only good option I will. Are the rasboras okay with the temp that high? Do I just keep the lid off to fit the second heater in? Can rasboras tolerate salt? I remember that wasn't an option with my tetras.

Any tips on how to find the thread with the med disaster?

Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly! I'm really anxious to try to help these fish.
 
It's 50 something, made for a ten gallon it says. I'm in Canada, that's why the prices are higher. Our tetras were only $9 for the three of them but that was at walmart, which has turned out to be no worse than where we got our fish yesterday! Anyway, I'm on my way to buy a heater and some salt. I really hope this helps them and that it's not some other crazy thing in our tank that's killing the fish. This just doesn't seem right!
 
I bought fish from wal-mart once and i learned my lesson...they hammered my tank with ich, lost all but 3 out of 12 fish that time.

I've found that manufacture ratings are way off. If a heater is normally labeled for a 10g tank, it is usually the bare minimum that will get you by for that tank. Look into a visi-therm stealth heater. I just a 100w visitherm stealth in my 20g and its working very well.
 
The rule of thumb is 5W per gal. So if you have a 10 gal tank, a 50W heater would be perfect. I recommend the Visi-Therm Stealth. That's all we use.

Moved to the Unhealthy Fish Forum.
 
I'm still confused abt all of this. I've read not to add salt to the water of any soft water fish for any reason. Is this not accurate? I have started raising the temp and did buy another heater to add. they are only at 80 now. I haven't added any salt b/c I'm scared to. Will raising the temp alone help? They still only have 1 visible spot each but I htink thye are acting more strange(but again, I've only had them 24 hrs so I don't really know how they should be acting) Like floating backwards some and bumping their noses on the glass and I bought them blood worms but they wouldn't eat. How would I know if it's just the extra temp that's getting to them? My tetras did the same thing, they hardly had any spots (maybe 3-4 each) and just started acting weird and died very quickly. I'm also still tempted to put the ick care in but I haven't b/c it seems to be against advice. Anyway, I'm just panicing and grateful for anyadvice.
 
Salt is not necessary for FW but it can be used as a therapeutic medication for treating ich. The use of salt raises the osmotic pressure which the ich does not like. It is not recommended for use with scaleless fish. The heat method alone will work but it does take a few weeks.
 
Okay. I'm still not convinced it's ich for sure. It looks like the pictures except that there are only 2 dots on the fish that have it and they are in the same places on both fish. Is there any chance it's Lymphocystis? I haven't had time to find out much but it sounds like it can be mistaken for ich and is most often seen on the fins and mouth (the two that have the dots on the tips of their tail fins have just sprouted one each on the bottom "lip". I'm going to try to do some more resaerch but if anyone has any thoughts to share - that'd be super.
 
I tried taking pics but they are so fast and the white dots so small there was no way to see them. The bottom tips of the tail fins have just a small dot at the very tip and now it does look a tiny bit ragged at the edge. I mean really a tiny bit - you really ahve to look. They each seem to have the same white dot on the "lip". It's only visible from certain angles and they move around so much that it's hard to see anything clearly. I don't think there were any new dots overnight altho I didn't notice the white on the female's "lip" last night so that may be new.

As for flashing, they are not flashing unless you count rubbing their noses on the glass while swimming up and down and they were doing more of that yesterday. I haven't seen any other rubbing.
They are not gasping for air at the top or anything.

Tests this am show pH at 7.6 (had been 7.5 yeasterday and 7.4 the day b/f) i don't thing there is any ammonia but it's so hard to tell, the yellow just looks a little lighter than the 0 but not greenish at all like the .25. 0 nitrites.

These guys have not eaten since I got them Sat afternoon.

Should I keep raising the temps? It's at 82 now and I haven't added the second heater yet b/c I'm not sure if I should raise the temp when I'm not sure it's ich? Does the fact that there are little bubbles thru the tank from the return mean that there is enough oxygen or should I lower the water level some more? It's about an inch and a half from the top.

Sorry this is so long with so many questions but I really want to do it right. And if it is ich, I don't want to miss the free swimming stage and end up with bigger probs.
 
Go ahead and up the temp. With it being at 82 it is just encouraging more ich growth. It need to get to 87 degrees. Ich thrives at higher temps but dies off at 86 degrees.
 
Thank you so much. The temp is still on it's way up - 84 now. I guess in a couple of hrs I'll get it up to 87. And they DID eat, not much but they ate and I'm very relieved abt. that. I never realized it would be so tempting to overfeed them. Don't worry, I won't feed again today!
Thanks again everyone!
 
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