Poorly Dwarf Neon Rainbow And Wierd Fungus On Bogwood?

[loubega]

Hi there,

i have two questions to ask, firstly i have put in a new bit of bog wood, i boiled it for 3 days and left it soaking for a further 2 days and no tannins where coming off it when i put it in....the tank i have is a rio 125l with 6 Harlequins and 3 dwarf neon rainbow fish and 1 BN.

The bog wood has started to develop what looks likes a fungus of some sort with little air bubbles underneath a clear membrane??Any idea what this could be?


I also think i may have a problem with one of my rainbows, it seems to be gill flapping, but is not going to the surface to breathe to indicate there is a reduction in o2? all the other fish seem fine and eating perfectly well.

I have an interpet master test kit and have used this to measure the ammonia which comes up as a pale yellow color indicating 0, and the nitrites as a pale pink colour indicating 0 as well. Temperature is at 25C. Any ideas on what may be causing him distress?

The tank is well planted with a fluvial 3+ filter, with plenty of hiding places etc...

i have photos and decreased the size to under 100k but it wont let me upload them? any help on that?

thanks

 

[loubega]

ok managed to use photobucket....

the wierd fungus

http/i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr149/l...08/DSC02253.jpg


my sick rainbow

http/i478.photobucket.com/albums/rr149/l...08/DSC02255.jpg






any help would be great!

the tank is matured.....i used matured media from my other tank, i have another 70l tank matured for about a year, so could use this to move him too, if needs be

 

[loubega]

bump.....please dont wanna lose the rainbow? worried the fungus may have something to do with it?

 

[WILDER]

The bogwood remove it and just scrub it in salt water.
Rinse well and let dry out for aday.

When you say the gills are flapping do you mean rapid breathing as not quite sure what you mean.
Do the gills look inflamed or pale with excess mucas.
Any excess slime on the body of the fish.
Do the gills flaps look swollen and sticking out.

 

[loubega]

The bogwood remove it and just scrub it in salt water.
Rinse well and let dry out for aday.

When you say the gills are flapping do you mean rapid breathing as not quite sure what you mean.
Do the gills look inflamed or pale with excess mucas.
Any excess slime on the body of the fish.
Do the gills flaps look swollen and sticking out.

hi cheers for quick reply,

just done 40% water change, taken out bogwood and currently scrubbing in salt...what do you think it is?


as for the rainbow it is rapid breathing, looks like a healthy fish, brightly coloured has been feeding but not today...doesnt look inflamed or excess mucus, doesnt look distressed or moving around fast, just shoaling with the other 2, but sometimes goes off on his own and really starts breathing fast.....


any help? shall i move all 3 to be cautious? or just keep up with testing...and water changes...

just done fresh test...ammonia is 0 but nitite is up to a middleish pink not a light pink.......so could be 0.1mg/l....?

 

[loubega]

removed the bogwood, was like a muscus all over the wood? i had boiled it for 3 days and let it soak for 2 more? but anyway scrubbing with salt now....the mucus/fungus smelt like grass, could it be sap? or something being secreted from the wood? or more likely an exterior fungus?

 

[WILDER]

Its quite normal for fungus to grow on bogwood when you first add it so I wouldn't worry.

So the tank been set up recently but cycled by adding a mature filter sponge.

If nitrite reading has gone up slighly that why he's breathing heavily.
Increase aeration as that helps.
Water changes till nitrite is 0.

 

[loubega]

Its quite normal for fungus to grow on bogwood when you first add it so I wouldn't worry.

So the tank been set up recently but cycled by adding a mature filter sponge.

If nitrite reading has gone up slighly that why he's breathing heavily.
Increase aeration as that helps.
Water changes till nitrite is 0.

yea fairly new cycle...about 2 and half weeks, cycled with old media, these were the first additional fish i added since seting the tank up and adding 4 danios to keep up the supply of ammonia.....maybe its a lag effect of the bacteria not catching up with the new amount ammonia from the fish???

so scrub with salt and leave to dry for a few days??

the harliquins look very perky as do the other 2 rainbows? should i expect these to deteriorate 2?

 

[WILDER]

What colour is the fungus.
The filter matured with adding a filter sponge from another tank, but the tank hasn't really matured.
I remember when I first set a tank up after a few weeks there would be this like white slime on plants and ornaments.
Just kept rinsing it off.

Sounds like the tanks gone into a min cycle with adding more fish.

 

[loubega]

What colour is the fungus.
The filter matured with adding a filter sponge from another tank, but the tank hasn't really matured.
I remember when I first set a tank up after a few weeks there would be this like white slime on plants and ornaments.
Just kept rinsing it off.

Sounds like the tanks gone into a min cycle with adding more fish.

ahhh.....i see,

the fungus was a see-through slime....but funny enough was the only new piece i entered into the tank....all the slate, rocks, plants and sand are from a mature tank so maybe thats why that has the fungus....


i feared the tank had maybe began to mini cycle.....shall i remove the rainbows into the other tank? or just leave them be and carry on the water changes? feed less? etc...?

how long till this cycle has settled down? im in no rush to add fish just wanna make sure the rainbows pull through, they are such lovely fish...

also how many fish should you add at once to a tank, think this maybe what may have disrupted the cycle?

 

[WILDER]

Mini cycles don't usually last to long.
If your worried about the rainbows add them back to the other tank but match ph and temp.

It really depends on how big the fish is.
If there small fish should be able to add six.
Bigger fish maybe no more than two.

 

[loubega]

Mini cycles don't usually last to long.
If your worried about the rainbows add them back to the other tank but match ph and temp.

It really depends on how big the fish is.
If there small fish should be able to add six.
Bigger fish maybe no more than two.

nice one,

yea slime was whitey/clear colour....

added the sick/heavy breathing rainbow to older tank to watch and hopefully recuperate him, might have caught it early as his colour is still good and was eating yesterday.

yea LFS always say you can add like 10 or so, im always very cautious with adding fish.....cheers for your help was gratefully received and very swift.

was very worried about that white fungus...never seen it before

 

[loubega]

hi....

a few developments, have scrubbed and soaked the bogwood in salt water......and performed a 50% water change and the nitrites did go down to a light pink colour indicating it was at 0, but unfortunalty the poorly rainbow fish didnt make it....

however the other 2 and the 6 harliquins are eating and looking good so will continue to monitor them and test the water daily....i fear that the tank may have mini-cycled so hoping they all pull through it.

Has nayone had any expereince of neon rainbows and whether or not they are quite sensitive etc....?

cheers

 

[LauraFrog]

All rainbowfish are very sensitive to nitrate. If it doesn't stay consistently below about 20ppm there are going to be problems and I believe that rapid breathing or gill irritation are among them. Is there nitrate in the tank or in the tap water? (level) There are products that will absorb nitrate and remove it, but they are expensive.

Most captive bred rainbows are fairly sensitive fish, people seem to have problems with them a lot. The wilds are not the same. Other than a few deaths from stress in the first week removed from the wild, you can do anything with them, pH changes, hardness, salinity, temp, anything. My wild caught rainbows are amazing. Problem is they're impossible to get overseas - I live in Australia, I caught my own.

 

[loubega]

All rainbowfish are very sensitive to nitrate. If it doesn't stay consistently below about 20ppm there are going to be problems and I believe that rapid breathing or gill irritation are among them. Is there nitrate in the tank or in the tap water? (level) There are products that will absorb nitrate and remove it, but they are expensive.

Most captive bred rainbows are fairly sensitive fish, people seem to have problems with them a lot. The wilds are not the same. Other than a few deaths from stress in the first week removed from the wild, you can do anything with them, pH changes, hardness, salinity, temp, anything. My wild caught rainbows are amazing. Problem is they're impossible to get overseas - I live in Australia, I caught my own.

umm you say nitrates? i said nitrities? My ammonia is at 0, my nitrities are at about 0.1 but water changed untill 0, havent tested my nitrates yet, but have plenty of live plants in there to help absorb them.....