Add More Fish During Cycling?

[ab420]

So... the Tiger is NOT well at all On top of his ick, he is showing signs of fungus too (poor little guy). I treated the whole tank for ick and fungus, set up my 5 gallon, filled it with about 65% water from the 29 gallon, and the rest Brita filtered tap (with some Stress-Coat added) I matched the water temps and moved him over there. Since he is now by himself, I have added some more aquarium salt. Also, I dosed both tanks AFTER all the water changing and adding. I am slowly raising the temp of the quarantine tank up to help move the ick through its cycle quicker. I still don't know if it'll be enough, the poor guy really doesn't look well. The good thing, is he is balancing and swimming better now, so hopefully he's pulling through.

On a side note: (and this is pretty horrible, just to warn you)

Has anyone here had to euthanize a fish because it was suffering so much? Last night, one of my Rosy's wanted to be king, well another Rosy clearly showed him this would not happen. Unfortunately, their little duel got pretty ugly, and one of the Rosy's was left with 2 very large wounds, one on the bottom, one on it's side. They were purple and literally bulging out of his side. He was breathing VERY heavily, faster than i've ever seen a fish breathe before, and could not swim at all. He was lying on his back on the bottom, sort of twitching occasionally, and at one point got himself stuck sideways between rocks. This fish was not going to make it under any circumstances, and it was very evident that he was suffering immensely. I then made one of the hardest decisions of my life. I could not let him go on like that. On top of him being in so much pain, because he was acting funny, the other barbs all started in on him too, and it was just cruel, so I had to act.

It was easily one of the hardest things I've had to do.

Now, has anyone else had to go through this horrible experience before?

Also, what is the most humane way of doing this?

 

[juicebox]

i hope your tiger barb gets well soon!

i've never had to kill a fish before. i hear putting them in a container of water and sticking them in the freezer is the best way, though i am completely unsure about that. but don't ever flush them down the toilet while still alive; it is incredibly painful for the fish.

 

[Underwurlde]

You're are witnessing the nasty side of nature...
...so let nature take it's course?

(I have a wife that simply cannot leave fluffy injured creatures at the side of the road and just has to take them home for me to sort out - It sounds cruel (but that's is ONLY because we have larger brains) but really, really, really I beg with her just to leave them alone - to not interfere).

What am I saying? IMHHHHO, I'd have just let the other fish 'deal' with their injured tank mate - they (nature) will know how to help him (i.e. their actions - they are omnivores after all...) but what else can I say - this is natures way: Look at it this way: be humane by ignoring the fact that you're human!

My thoughts really are with you!



Andy

 

[ab420]

i hope your tiger barb gets well soon!

i've never had to kill a fish before. i hear putting them in a container of water and sticking them in the freezer is the best way, though i am completely unsure about that. but don't ever flush them down the toilet while still alive; it is incredibly painful for the fish.

The toilet is the WORST imo! The ONLY way it would be humane, is if the fish was lucky enough to die from shock from the drastic temperature change. More likely, it will suffer tremendously. I know I wouldn't want to spend my last moments being sucked through pipes and dumped into the sewer!

On top of that: AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!

These are TROPICAL fish, they are not from around here, and neither are their bacterias and micro-organisms, etc. Chances are, if they are dying, they probably have plenty of these little buggers inside them. When you flush them down the toilet, you just released bacteria and all kinds of stuff that was never meant to be where you are (unless you actually have fish native to your home). This could cause ALL KINDS of huge problems in nature.

 

[juicebox]

a lot of the fish in pet stores were bred in aquarium tanks. they're not necessarily straight from the wild. in fact, a lot of species have been mutated to look nicer (goldfish and some bettas) and probably wouldn't survive in the wild. so i'm sure any bacteria from a single tiger barb wouldn't cause many problems.

also, when you flush a fish down the toilet you're exposing him/her to massive amounts of ammonia and all sorts of nasty bacteria that the fish would suffer from for hours or days before they actually died. and i think they probably use chlorine in toilet water, but i'm not sure.

 

[starrynightxxi]

first off, i would not suggest letting other fish in the tank "finish off" the sick fish, unless you want ALL of your fish to be sick.

second, flushing is bad, so i hear is freezing. There's a pinned article on this topic somewhere.

third, the bacteria from one tiger barb could easily make a huge difference. It doesn't matter what size the introduced colony is when you consider the fact that if it survives, it will increase exponentially. Not to mention that this will probably be a foreign and tank bred illness, which means the wild fish will not necessarily have a built up immunity to it. The common cold is nothing to us now, and was nothing to Spanish conquistadors, but it wreaked havoc in the native populations when it was first introduced. This is a similar idea.

 

[juicebox]

third, the bacteria from one tiger barb could easily make a huge difference. It doesn't matter what size the introduced colony is when you consider the fact that if it survives, it will increase exponentially. Not to mention that this will probably be a foreign and tank bred illness, which means the wild fish will not necessarily have a built up immunity to it. The common cold is nothing to us now, and was nothing to Spanish conquistadors, but it wreaked havoc in the native populations when it was first introduced. This is a similar idea.

sorry, i misread the post. i thought he said the bacteria from the sick tiger barb could cause an illness in the home if it was flushed down the toilet (can it?).

 

[starrynightxxi]

well, that's tricky. there are SOME diseases (such as fish TB) that can be transferred to humans, but it's very difficult because we are not the ideal hosts for fish ailments. In the case of TB there are a few reported cases where the virus got in through cuts or lesions on the hand when contact was made with infected water, but I think it's very rare.

If a fish were flushed then it would be very unlikely that that water would come back and infect that house because most waste water is going to go to a processing plant that cleans and tests the water before it returns to our regular plumbing. Of course, contamination happens, not to mention that flushing a fish is a waste of water and money, so its better to be safe than to be sorry.

 

[ab420]

well, that's tricky. there are SOME diseases (such as fish TB) that can be transferred to humans, but it's very difficult because we are not the ideal hosts for fish ailments. In the case of TB there are a few reported cases where the virus got in through cuts or lesions on the hand when contact was made with infected water, but I think it's very rare.

If a fish were flushed then it would be very unlikely that that water would come back and infect that house because most waste water is going to go to a processing plant that cleans and tests the water before it returns to our regular plumbing. Of course, contamination happens, not to mention that flushing a fish is a waste of water and money, so its better to be safe than to be sorry.

So, the tiger is hanging in there in quarantine, no real changes either way. The other guys in the 29 gallon are doing great, and having a blast with all the new (fake) plants and (fake) driftwood!

Question.... Are there any small Cichlids? There are so many that are so pretty, and they have a few very small ones at the LFS, but they are just labeled "Small Assorted Cichlids" LOL! They are very small, about the size of a Rosy barb, but then again, they also have some Iridescent Sharks that are pretty small too (and they sure don't stay that way!) So, I was wondering, are there any Cichlids small enough that I could keep them in a 29 gallon tank with 6 Rosy's and 6 Tigers?

 

[juicebox]

i think there are some cichilds that grow only up to 3 inches or so, but a lot of cichilds require slightly different water conditions as barbs. also, most, if not all, cichilds are at least semi-aggressive and would probably pester your barbs to no end because they typically don't do too well with other species of fish (although some people might say it depends on personality). i don't really think 29 gallons is enough space for a cichild or several cichilds.

then again, i don't know too much about cichilds. that's just my opinion though. maybe you could browse around the cichilds sections and read some of the pinned topics.

for now i think you should focus on getting your sick fish well and making sure the rest don't develop any illnesses.

 

[ab420]

i think there are some cichilds that grow only up to 3 inches or so, but a lot of cichilds require slightly different water conditions as barbs. also, most, if not all, cichilds are at least semi-aggressive and would probably pester your barbs to no end because they typically don't do too well with other species of fish (although some people might say it depends on personality). i don't really think 29 gallons is enough space for a cichild or several cichilds.

then again, i don't know too much about cichilds. that's just my opinion though. maybe you could browse around the cichilds sections and read some of the pinned topics.

for now i think you should focus on getting your sick fish well and making sure the rest don't develop any illnesses.

I kind of figured it wouldn't work out, just wishful thinking! LOL!

Someday though, I HAVE to get a nice big tank for some African Parrot Cichlids, I am in love with them!

 

[ab420]

i think there are some cichilds that grow only up to 3 inches or so, but a lot of cichilds require slightly different water conditions as barbs. also, most, if not all, cichilds are at least semi-aggressive and would probably pester your barbs to no end because they typically don't do too well with other species of fish (although some people might say it depends on personality). i don't really think 29 gallons is enough space for a cichild or several cichilds.

then again, i don't know too much about cichilds. that's just my opinion though. maybe you could browse around the cichilds sections and read some of the pinned topics.

for now i think you should focus on getting your sick fish well and making sure the rest don't develop any illnesses.

I kind of figured it wouldn't work out, just wishful thinking! LOL!

Someday though, I HAVE to get a nice big tank for some African Parrot Cichlids, I am in love with them!

So, the poor tiger is VERY sick He is still hanging in there though. It looks like he has a combination of problems...

he has the salt look of ick, he has the cottony look of fungus, AND he has the long hairy fungus hanging out of his gills, he really looks rough, but at the same time, today he is swimming a little better, and his color is coming back, this little guy is a trooper!

 

[juicebox]

i'm sorry to hear about all the sickness. hopefully he'll pull through and get better soon; go tiger go!

 

[ab420]

i'm sorry to hear about all the sickness. hopefully he'll pull through and get better soon; go tiger go!

He is a heck of a fighter, I'll tell you that much! Honestly, I think he has 2 different types of fungus, and ick all at the same time!!! But, ever since quarantine, he seems to be stable right now, not getting worse, but not really looking any better. At the same time though, he is swimming properly most of the time now, where he was having all sorts of swimming and balance issues before. Also, his color has come back a bit, it got to the point where he literally was pretty much a white fish with grey stripes, and his nose and fins were the lightest shade of orange imaginable. Now, he is a light orange with dark black strips (that are getting their blue/green shininess back) and his fins are a nice medium orange now, getting closer to the normal look. He still has a bunch of cottony fungus on him, but the ick seems to be dissappearing, but I was treating for ick a few days ago, and just started fungal treatment yesterday, so I'm sure it will take a while to make a noticable difference.

 

[Underwurlde]

Could you post a photo of the little guy?

Cheers,

Andy