albino rainbow fish acting wierd

[LJH]

Hi,

I am totally new to fish keeping, so this might be normal behaviour, but my albino rainbow shark has gone to one corner of the tank and is doing sumersaults this has been happening since this morning.

I do a 20% water change everyday because the nitrite level is high (no one told us about cycling etc), my kissing gourami are covered in wihte spots (treating for white spot), I also lost an angel fish lastnight. Is it normal for kissing gourami to chase each other round the tank? it is the albino rainbow shark that is worring me at the moment.

Any input will be greatly appretiated.

 

[Jht]

i don't know much about rainbow fish but it sounds like your fish is'nt acting well at all, carry out daily water changes and hope for the best

 

[LJH]

I have been carring out daily water changes, like I say this behaviour started this morning before that he used to hide at the back of the tank and come out every so often, as previously stated I am treating the fish for white spot, the albino rainbow shark HASN'T been in quarantine as my hubby ordered the fish so it came straight from the lfs suppliers, so I am wondering if the rainbow shark has brought the whitespot with it? in any case I really think the rainbow shark is on it's way out as it has been doing loop d loop all day in one corner of the tank.

I keep on with the water changes and up date you if he gets any better.

 

[Jht]

good luck hope he gets better

 

[Angel Lady]

what are you using to treat your fish for the white spots it could be that it is not for scaless fish that could be what is the matter with your rainbow shark. And that is all my kissing fish does is chase each other around. When you say white spots do you mean ich or something else? And by the way welcome to the forum.

 

[LJH]

sorry I mean ich, the treatment I am using is called anti white spot plus, it doesn't say anything about not using it on scaleless fish (thought all fish had scales) it's made by a company called interpet from surry in the uk. On the side it states harmless to filters and all species of fish and plants, I don't think it is the medication as it was doing it before I added the medicine.

One more thing that might be intresting to know is my albino rainbow shark a few nights ago had what looked like a fit, it sort of twitched in the water and sank to the bottom it just laid there for about 1/2 an hour then started swimming normally again.

does this make it any clear, or is the ich making it behave this way?

 

[wetwetwet]

How long has the tank been cycling and have you any readings for ammonia and nitrite and when readings taken....

The dancing rainbow sounds like it could be suffering from ammonia toxicity - which can make them very excitable ...

nitrite toxicity on the other hand can make them listless....

Chloride can help make them less toxic

 

[LJH]

wetwetwet thanlks for your reply,

The tank is very very new only been up and running a week (don't even ask), anyhow I have been doing ammonia tests and they always came up clear as in no ammonia now I have just done one and it's reading 1.2, according to the box I need a ph tester to find out if this is toxic to the fish but as the rainbow shark is dancing I suspect it is.

How do I get the ammonia level down? please help as I don't want to lose all my fish

 

[Angel Lady]

if it isnt your medicine then it does sound like you are having problems with your tank cycling I did the same thing I went and bought a bunch of fish not having a clue as to what I was doing I did a 10 percent water change everyday until I finally got all my readings to where they was suppose to be it looks to me like that is what you are going to have to do to. if your shark has red streaks close to its tail fin then it is ammonia poising. I know it sounds like a lot of work but that is the only way I know how to tell you to do in order to save your fish. Cm told me to do this and it did save mine.

 

[LJH]

I don't believe this did a 20% water change and went to put in the chemical for dechlorifing (sp) the water and came across a swim safe it takes down nitrite and ammonia levels, hubby must have bought it when he got the test kits, so hopefully that should bring the levels down.

I'll keep you informed on the rainbow shark

 

[LJH]

Ok here is an update,

The rainbow shark has calmed down and this morning had something to eat, he is swimming round the tank quite normal, unfortunatly I have lost the onther angel fish , but that one had been hiding for a few days so figured that one might die.

Thankyou for your help, looks like the crisis is over (for now)

 

[wetwetwet]

Cycling can be very stressful on fish and you probably will have a few more weeks of it.....

There are products that can make ammonia and nitrite less harmfull but what affect these will have on the cycle idk. Some also make the some test kits useless... - making it hard to work out what is going on in the tank....

Observation is probably going to be key and any sign of distress/listlessness then water changes should help ( small and often ) ....

Good luck m8 and keep us up to date