Dead Rasbora.... And Still A Sick Frog

[Rediahs]

I've had my fish since Tuesday now, I had 9 harlequin rasboras and an african dwarf frog in 29 gallon fishless-cycled fish tank. I also decided to add a betta from up in my room, he seems to be getting along fine, sometimes he chases the rasboras but they leave him alone and he doesn't actually FIGHT them, like he never flares up or bites anybody. I did a fishless cycle over 2 months and finally got zero readings at 12 hours.

Since I got my fish I've tested twice a day too and it's always zero ammonia and zero nitrite I think I'm gonna step down the testing so much, maybe just once a day now, maybe once a week soon.

Problem is that a rasbora just died last night. Earlier that day I had seen him swimming around a little slower than the others, wasn't really shoaling the same, and seemed kind of fat.... also had a nip in his fin. Didn't think much of it. Didn't seem too serious. But later at night I saw a pink speck next to the heater, went to see what it was, and saw he was dead lodged against the heater.

Obviously took him out.. anyone know what that was? Just a sick fish from the LFS?

Anyway about the frog.. I posted a topic earlier about the new frog, he is very very slow and doesn't move a lot. He CAN move, so he's not dead, but he just chooses not to most of the time. I asked about him and was told it was normal.. but it's been a few days now. He won't eat, hasn't taken a bite since I got him. Also I noticed one of his feet seem "curled"... the toes and webbed area is flipped backward at the end, doesn't look healthy?

I got freaked out by the rasbora and moved him to a quarantine tank. Thought maybe this would also make it easier for him to eat too. Nah, he's not eating in there either.

Gah heeeeeeeeelp! Stats are still zero for ammonia and nitrites.

 

[waterdrop]

Hopefully you can just put the rasbora down to a sick/damaged one from the LFS or damage somehow sustained since then that you just didn't see or know about. This sort of thing happens with fish and often you just never quite know the cause. Your stats all sound great and you are thinking about the tapering off in just the right way I'd say.

I assume your other rasboras are perky and showing good fins and color? They should be moving somewhat as a shoal exploring about the tank and ready to rush after food at feeding time.

Don't know anything about frogs myself. Could be that they take longer to accept a change of environment. Could be that they need a different diet to help with the coaxing. Could be a temp or territory thing.. perhaps they have special need for certain types of "cover."

~~waterdrop~~

 

[arobinson1984]

Frogs in tanks are normally shy little fellows so he may be just taking longer to become accustomed to his new surroundings.

He will need plenty of hiding spaces otherwise he will become stressed, terracotta pots that you can buy for about 30p from most arts and craft stores make good little caves, just lay them on their side and dig into gravel/sand to mave a little hidey hole. Dot some of these around your tank and you will soon see him using them.

Andy

 

[Davo86]

The setup isn't suitable tbh, African Dwarf frogs aren't the strongest swimmers so a 29G is simply too big for the frog, which needs to come up to the surface regularly for air, These are also social creatures and therefore should always be kept in a group of no less than 4, When kept alone they will just become shy and stay hidden away. Also what are you feeding, As the ADF is not a strong swimmer they usually struggle to compete for food?

 

[Rediahs]

Okay, I didn't know that. Maybe I will just return the frog on Saturday when I go to get my corys. He is very cute!! I think he is somewhat happier in his 10g quarantine, but I can't keep him in there forever. It also doesn't have much hiding space (not that he has much to hide from in an empty tank, but maybe the movement outside?), while the 29g has dense silk plants, rocks, and moss.

I tried to feed him (by hand, holding the food in front of him) sinking frog pellets that the LFS told me were good for him, and frozen bloodworms. I hold htem in front of his face and also wave them a bit but I get no reaction from him. Now that he is in the quarantine and nobody else will eat his food I also tried just leaving it in front of him for a few hours before removing it and he's definitely not eating.

Yes the other rasboras are perky and are a pretty pink-orange colour. Will they get more intense? It seems a little pale to me, but it's brighter than when I first got them. They actually seemed to be showing mating behavior RIGHT off the bat , within a day of me adding them to the tank, I had 2 fish swim beside each other for awhile, then swim upside-down and shimmy under a leaf... it was very cute... hey! Actually they are doing it again right now! lol.... (it's definitely not a "sick fish" upside-down swim, I know what that looks like... it's a very healthy-looking quick-invert under the leaf then righting itself again, very perky).

I hope it was just one sick fish from the LFS. Nobody else seems to be showing any problems. They are curious and swim around the tank... very amusing to watch!! They stay mostly in the upper levels but occasionally come down for a quick peek. They sometimes shoal together, sometimes all at once and sometimes in smaller (2-5) shoals.

It's nice to finally have fish after all the testing and adding and waiting.

 

[waterdrop]

Very interesting about the frog. Always a big help when davo can enlighten us about the odd ones!

Your rasboras sound great. They sound a lot like mine. The depth of the pink/orange coloring is a really fun thing to watch over time. If they stay healthy and the water conditions are good and they get more and more comfortable with their environment you should see the colors deepen slowly. As they age that adds to it too.

It really sounds like you had just one injured fish and I would relax and not worry about the others too much, you're clearly observing closely enough that you'll notice if more things are wrong.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Davo86]

How about buying another 3 or 4 frogs and keeping them all in the Quarantine tank with a couple of plastic plants and a half coconut or two?
This would keep the tank cycled and still allow for short term housing for newly purchased fish

 

[Rediahs]

How about buying another 3 or 4 frogs and keeping them all in the Quarantine tank with a couple of plastic plants and a half coconut or two?
This would keep the tank cycled and still allow for short term housing for newly purchased fish

But then what do I do with sick fish? The quarantine tank is also hospital tank... I don't want to keep sick fish with the frogs obviously, then I'd have to transfer the frogs into the main tank where, like you said, it's not ideal, or, .... I guess the obvious answer is "buy another tank!" but I don't want to end up doing that every time I get a quarantine/hospital tank, fill it up and buy a new one I already told myself that this tank is permanently a temporary housing option, nothing is allowed to sit in there full-time. I just can't afford to keep housing things in it then buying a new spare tank then buying another and another... and I know if I didn't stop myself, it woiuld happen. I am a poor student!! I have to stop myself before I end up going all the way. And it's very tempting because I know that a new 10g is only 15 dollars, but then you have to get a filter and heater, and then it would be really nice to have a lid, decorations, gravel, etc, etc....

Yes, I think it's best that I just return the frog then.

 

[Davo86]

IMHO the most common diseases your fish get will be whitespot or velvet, both of which require the tank to be treated and therefore there is no need to rehouse fish, Again in my experience if you keep the water in good condition and don't overcrowd your tanks then you shouldn't succumb to any disease.
Obviously though I realise that to a newcomer to the hobby this may be a totally different story but once you gain experience and know what to look out for a quarantine becomes redundant,

 

[Rediahs]

IMHO the most common diseases your fish get will be whitespot or velvet, both of which require the tank to be treated and therefore there is no need to rehouse fish, Again in my experience if you keep the water in good condition and don't overcrowd your tanks then you shouldn't succumb to any disease.
Obviously though I realise that to a newcomer to the hobby this may be a totally different story but once you gain experience and know what to look out for a quarantine becomes redundant,

Well I already got some use out of it with the frog didn't I!! Heh... I think a spare tank will be handy, and keeping it permanently filled up will not be as handy. I'm not concerned about keeping it cycled because I can grab some mature media from my 29 gallon's filter anytime I want.

 

[arobinson1984]

My frog died the other day after 3 years of having it in my 33 gall community tank on its own and it was fine. It was lively on its own, would come to the front of the tank to say hello when it saw me come near and I've even heard him 'sing' in the past. He never stuggled to get to the surface (19" deep tank) for air even with an eheim 2075 and spray bar on the surface.

I think they would be fine in the 29 gallon, especially if you get another 3/4 friends for him. Frogs are quite active when kept in groups and like floor space to explore so in my opinion a 10 gallon would be too small.

Andy

 

[Rediahs]

Well I returned him yesterday, and checked out the tank he came from..... no wonder he wasn't moving!! None of the other frogs were either. I hadnt' checked it out too well before I got him. All the frogs in the tank just sat at the bottom, no movement, they could have been dead for all I knew. That just doesn't seem right.

I think they were all sick.

The shop is very strange. All their rasboras seem fairly lively and colourful. Guppies are good too, as are otos, they're plump and well-looking, but they have some oscars (for sale!) with insane amounts of ich.... plecos too... ugh.

They didn't have my corys so I didn't get anything. Maybe next weekend. For now I've just got the rasboras and betta and I'm kinda anxious to get more

 

[arobinson1984]

Where abouts do you live?

Maybe some members on here could recommend another good fish store near you if you're not totally convinced by that one

andy

 

[Rediahs]

Where abouts do you live?

Maybe some members on here could recommend another good fish store near you if you're not totally convinced by that one

andy

I live in Waterloo, Ontario. I doubt there's anyone around. I am pretty sure I know about all the fish stores nearby. There are some in Cambridge which is about an hour bus ride away that I might check out someday but I've never bothered to go that far.