Sick rainbowfish... help appreciated!

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owl8

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Feb 17, 2012
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3
1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.). My fish is a madagascar rainbowfish, about a year old. Pale, quiet, not eating, and minor buoyancy issues - must self-correct frequently, when she pauses she sinks. No external signs of parasites, fungus, or ulcers. I had one of my pristella tetras come down with what appeared to be the same thing, and eventually die. I did move him to a quarantine tank as soon as I noticed the problem, but apparently it wasn't quick enough... right before he died he developed small red streaks on his sides, it appeared to be hemorrhage under the scales, as the scales were protruding slightly above the red streaks.


2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values. Ammonia = not detected, Nitrites = not detected, Nitrates = 40 mg/L, pH = 7.0, Temp = 78

3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up? 30 gallon tank, set up about 1.5 years ago.

4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known. Over the side filters, I don't actually have the tank in front of me, and I can't remember brand. They should be more than enough for my 30ga though.

5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes? 3 madagascar rainbows, about 2.5 inches each, 5 pristella tetras, about 1 inch each, 2 ottos about 1 inch each, 2 kuhli loaches, almost 3 inches now.

6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time? I do about 10-15% water changes every Sunday and vaccuum the gravel at the same time.

7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them? She's been with me for a year

8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.? Tank has been the same for many months.

9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently? Tetra plus flakes, I supplement about once a week with frozen bloodworms or tubifexes

I originally thought internal parasites of some kind, and treated the pristella tetra with a metronidazole/praziquantel combo drug, but it did not seem to do much for him. I have not removed the rainbowfish to the quarantine tank as of yet; since this has been passed on once, I think I may need to treat the entire tank.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated; I'm not super experienced, but I do attempt to do well by my fish...
 
Welcome!!! Thank you for all the great information!! What happened to your previous fish with the similar symptoms provides alot of insight. As the metro/prazi combo had no effect & you have had the same fish for a lengthy amount of time, i highly doubt its a parasite issue you are dealing with. The red streaking that you witnessed does indicate a possible internal bacterial infection. What exactly is causing it, i am not 100% sure. I would start by increasing your once weekly water change to atleast 30-40% as your nitrate levels are a bit high. As the fish in question is not eating, directly dealing with an internal infection is a bit more difficult. I would qt & try treating with kanamycin for the water to see if theres any improvement. If the fish starts eating, i would opt for a kanamycin medicated food. Dont hesitate to ask questions! :)
 
Thanks so much jlk.

I hate to jump on a forum with a question like this without any kind of previous introduction or participation, but I'm just out of my depth here!

I will try kanamycin, do you think I should treat the other fish as well, or just the sick one?

Re the nitrates, I can easily do a larger water change. Just wondering (and this is a little off-topic), I have a friend who is more into planted tanks, and he suggested I add a few stalks of bamboo (with the leaves above water) to help pull out some of the nitrates. I haven't really done much investigating into that, as I've been concentrating on the illness, but it seemed to make sense on the surface. Have you heard of this before?

Thanks a ton!
 
I would just start with the sick fish in qt & see how this goes first before considering treating the tank (esp because we are not exactly sure what we are treating here). Plants do help consume nitrates- they use them as food source but im not sure what (if any) effect lucky bamboo would have. Lots of fast growing plants (wisteria, hornwort, etc) would have a greater effect on nitrate levels than a stalk or two of bamboo. Plants dont eliminate the need for regular water changes though- they are still needed to remove dissolved solids, add minerals fish need, & re-establish buffer levels in your tank. Hope this helps! :)
 
Definitely. Thank you, we'll see how she does after some meds :)
 
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