My big boesmani oops

[omgfish]

Tonight I acclimated a 3" boesmani rainbow I've had quarantined for a couple weeks from my 10 gallon to my 75 gallon planted tank with co2 injection. I was stupid and wasn't thinking that bigger fish require more oxygen than the smaller ones I have. As soon as I put him in the tank he began gasping at the top of the surface for air. I shut off the co2 and turned off the lights as soon as I realized what was happening. I hooked up the venturi to the powerhead to oxygenate the tank. He seems to be doing fine now. His colors are actually amazing and better than I've ever seen them. I'm a little nervous about him getting ich because he was stressed. I really can't afford an ich outbreak in this tank. What would you do in this situation? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rich311k]

He will be fine in the ten for a few weeks. Just QT him and observe him.

 

[QTOFFER]

I agree, Move the rainbow back to the 10.

You should also check the parameters of your 75 gal. Are they much different from those of the 10 gal? I'd especially look at the pH.

 

[omgfish]

OK, I was just making sure moving him back wouldn't be too much more stress. The pH is the same for both tanks as the water for both comes from the same tap. It is around 7.4. Of course, the pH in the planted tank is lowered by the co2 injection. Water parameters are good, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 25-30ppm nitrates. All the other fish seem happy.

Edit: Hes back in the QT now. I'm kind of upset, I've been waiting to put him in the main tank for awhile now. Patience is a virtue in this hobby though, and I don't have to worry about my other fish getting sick now. Thanks for the help.

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

If you are worried about acclimating you could mix the water from the two tanks. You can either take water out of your ten and replace it with water from the 75, repeat, repeat... or you could put him in a bucket with an airstone with his water, then slowly add water from the 75.

Another option if you are not worried about mixing water from the qt into the planted tank, you can make a Holy...er...holey bucket. Take a 4-5 quart ice cream bucket and poke holes in it with a heated pin (or whatever you choose). The number and size of holes depends on how fast you want the water to mix so experiment with it. Put the fish in the bucket with 2-3 quarts of water from the QT and float the bucket in the main tank and close the lid of the tank so that the bucket water level is below that of the main tank. Wait for the water level to equalize then remove water from the bucket and allow it to fill again. Repeat if desired. It helps to put the holey bucket in a regular bucket so that you don't dribble between tanks.

 

[rkilling1]

I don't understand why you stopped the CO2 injection and turned the lights off. If you have low O2, you would want your lights on and CO2 injecting to produce more O2.

 

[Michael]

I added 2 Praecox Rainbows to my 300 gallon planted tank which is also CO2 injected. The Rainbows did the same thing, went to the surface for oxygen. I left them alone and by the morning they were fine. I would have left him in there and given him a chance to adjust. Moving him back to the 10 stressed him much more. Now that he is back in the 10 you need to wait for 2 weeks before moving him again.

 

[omgfish]

Looking back at the situation I wish I would have just let him adjust in the new tank. He is doing well back in the QT, and I think he would have been fine in the 75. He shows no signs of illness whatsoever. I shut the lights and co2 off because it was my first reaction and I wasn't really thinking anything through. I am only running 1.73 WPG CF so I'm not really sure if my plants are putting of as much oxygen as in a high light setup. I'm sure I could have done things differently, but the fish is doing well and that was my biggest concern. Thanks for all the input.

 

[Radioheadx14]

I have 3 larger bosemanis, and they are very good looking fish... they look nice swimming next to my 5 turquoise rainbows