Urgent! Please Help Should I Treat The Tank

[rebrn]

Hello, I bought some harlequin rasboras from the LFS today. All the fish in the tank looked really really good at the store. There were 10 of them and I bought all 10. I brought them home, they all looked fine in the bag (as least as far as I could tell). However about 10 minutes after I made the final release of the fish, I noticed that one of the smaller ones has clamped fins. I was wondering if this could be stress related to the transfer.

Water stats - ammonia 0 ppm, nitrites 0ppm, nitrates 5 ppm, ph 7.2 water temp 75 F

I had cherry barbs in the 12 gallon tank prior to the rasboras (from the same store) with no problems, they were in the tank for approximately 4 days. After I bagged the cherries and moved them to the 55 gallon to acclimate, I performed a 30% water change, as it was due today (the stats above are after the water change). Acclimated the rasboras and released. Again I did not notice the clamped fins until about 10 minutes after the release.

No other rasboras are showing any signs of problems. The one with the clamped fins does not appear to have any other problems. While she (I think) is swimming slower then the others, she is still swimming. She is not gasping for air, she is in the middle of the tank with the others, her swimming does not appear to be awkward in anyways just slower then the others.

Again not sure if this is something that is a stress response, or something more serious.

Tank was fish less cycled, getting double 0s for 8 days prior to adding the cherries (ammonia and nitrites stayed at 0 the entire time the cherries were in the tank, nitrates never got above 20 with the cherries and was 5 when the rasboras were added)

Nothing new added except the fish themselves (again all from the same tank at the same LFS).

No chemicals used except for Tetra dechlorinator.

Just added now some stress coat, hoping that it is stress related.

Edit: Forgot to mention there is a golden mystery snail in the tank, he came from the same store, and was put in there with the cherries roughly 4 days ago(cherries transferred to larger tank today and doing great) - the rasboras are the newest addition. The fins that are clamped are her top fin and her tail.

 

[rebrn]

Ok so it has been a little over an hour since the rasboras have been released. All are doing well except for the one with the clamped fins. Really no change with that one. Again, there doesn't seem to be any other symptom. I took out the magnifying glass to see if I could see anything on/in her. I don't see any spots (white or other) and I can't see any worms/parisites sticking out of her. I have not seen any of the poo from her (or the others) as of yet. I have some quick cure here, should I use that, and will it be ok for the healthy looking ones and the snail?

I just noticed now when I went to go look at her, the only other symptom I noticed was when the other rasboras swim away from her, her breathing seems to quicken (she can't keep up with the others), not sure if this is an actual symptom or just additional stress that she is not with the school. Her breathing goes right back to normal when the others come back to her.

 

[rebrn]

OK so I removed the sick fish from the 12 gallon tank to isolate it, I didn't want to do this as I don't have a cycled back up filter yet, but none the less, I thought it was better than risking infecting the entire tank. The fish died shortly after never got a chance to treat with anything, basically removed her (or him not sure) and with in minutes later (less than 5 minutes) the fish died. I looked over the fish and didn't see any thing unusual about the fish, no spots etc. One thing I did notice when I fed them is that the sick fish did not, or rather could not eat (the fish was too weak to swim up to the surface)but would eat the flakes that fell to the bottom, that is when I made the decision to remove the sick fish. The sick fish was very skinny, again didn't really notice that until after I had removed it from the tank. I did notice that it was very small (not the smallest of the lot but in the bottom 3), but definitely the skinniest. I think that perhaps the fish was like this at the LFS and I just didn't notice it. Again, all 10 were in the same tank at the LFS, none of the remaining 9 are showing any signs/symptoms of illness, they are all swimming normally, schooling, eating and no other clamped fins. So should I treat the remaining tank or just wait and see? If I should treat, what should I treat for? There were no white spots, no spots at all actually, on the dead fish. The only symptoms it showed were clamped fins, really skinny, and not eating. I removed the dead fish before it died, but I did check the water stats of the main tank after it died just in case, only change was in Nitrate it was 5 when I put the fish in it is now 5-10, which I would expect to see an increase in Nitrates after the fish were added. Nitrites and Ammonia are still at 0, and the ph is still at 7.2. I will recheck the water in the morning. I don't want to loose anymore, and as already stated the others seem fine at this point. But I am willing to treat the entire tank, but I just don't know if that is the right thing to do as I don't know what to treat for.

Also, I would like to replace the one that died, how long should I wait before adding the replacement fish?

Thanks

 

[Curiosity101]

I would wait and see. At the first signs of anything odd in the main tank get a diagnosis and treat. But it may just be that something was up with that fish, it does happen.
Your stats look fine so I don't think it was that, in which case you can replace whenever. But if you give it a week to be on the safe side then you can see if any other fish start showing signs of illness.

 

[WILDER]

Being skinny can be old age, fish tb, internal parasites, the fish has been starved, or lost weight due to not eating.

Keep a look out for when your fish go to the toilet.
Check the anus of the fish to see if its enlarged or red and inflamed.
Make sure there no worms prutruding from the anus.
Make sure no fish swim on there sides.
Bent spines or sunken in bellys.

 

[rebrn]

Thanks guys. I checked in on the remaining 9 today, and all seems great. The water stats this am were:

ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
pH 7.4 (and I mis spoke in the earlier posts the pH has been stable at 7.4 the entire time, NOT 7.2 as previously said...sorry should have check my log before posting)

As I said the remaining 9 seem great, all swimming together, occasionally 1 or 2 will go off on there own for a couple of minutes then return to the group. They all ate well this morning. I have seen I have seen pinkish, greenish and brownish poo, but the flakes I feed them are red, green and yellowish brown, so no surprises there. I didn't see any spots or worms on any of the remaining 9 nor on the dead fish, and none of them (alive or the dead one) seem to have any enlarged, inflamed or red anus and no worms either. The remaining 9 are shinny and bright coloured, acting completely normal as far as I can tell. So I guess I will continue to watch them and make sure they don't develop any symptoms. I am starting to think it was just that one fish, he/she was awfully small, and perhaps was stressed right from the start (transport to the store then to my house), at least I hope that is what it is.

Thanks again ... I'll update should anything change.

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
Just keep a close eye on the fish.
Good Luck.

 

[rebrn]

I have noticed at various points through out the day, that I have another one that is worrying me. This one has no particular signs, just odd behaviour. No clamped fins, no spots, no swellings, no worms. What it has been doing is it will swim to the bottom of the tank, away from the others, near the filter intake and just sit there for 30-40 minutes then rejoin the group. This fish is one of the smaller ones, but does not look skinny (like the one that died), and I have not noticed the larger ones picking on it. Twice when it swam down to the bottom corner I saw it open and close its mouth a few times but no other obvious signs of illness. I thought of oxygen deprivation, because of it opening and closing its mouth but as it is swimming down rather than to the surface I don't think that is it, but could be wrong. This could be nothing, but as none of the others are doing this I thought I would update the post just in case. Also they all ate this morning, well actually ravaged the flakes, and as I saw all 9 eating, I am assuming this one got some food.

Thanks

 

[rebrn]

It looks like the one I was worried about is turning pale! What should I do? Should I treat the tank with the quick cure? I don't want anymore to get sick.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

i think when a fish turns pale it could be due to stress, and the fact you have said its getting bullied would point me to stress. i had the same thing with a black neon tetra........i dont want to alarm you but the neon getting bullied would wonder off from the group, hang at the top of my filter etc etc, i had to cull the fish because it had parasites, like worms pertruding from its body and with no spare tank it was my only option. the reason i mention this at all is because i understand ( i think ) that fish will keep a sick member of the group at bay, kinda pushing it out.

so i would say...

A) Stress
B) Its Sick

bare in mind that symptoms are not always visable, hopefully it will pull through

i would wait for more responses as im fairly new to the hobby, i dont think im talking crap but better to be totally sure

 

[rebrn]

That is the weird thing, I have NOT actually seen it being bullied, but I have seen it bullying other fish, even the ones that are much bigger than it. It is just weird, it goes off on its own for 30-40 minutes then goes back to the pack and stays with the rest of them for a good few hours before going off on its own again. I just checked in on it again, and it was back with the rest of they fish, picking on the biggest of the bunch. I did notice that when it is back with the pack it is not pale, but when it goes to the bottom by itself it looks pale. It is really weird, I might just be panicking because I lost that one yesterday, and am paranoid that there is disease in the tank. But I am really hesitant to treat with anything since I don't know what the first one died of, and don't want to treat the others if I don't have to. I don't know, I just wish I knew for sure one way or the other.

Thanks

 

[plecostomus-mad]

That is the weird thing, I have NOT actually seen it being bullied, but I have seen it bullying other fish, even the ones that are much bigger than it. It is just weird, it goes off on its own for 30-40 minutes then goes back to the pack and stays with the rest of them for a good few hours before going off on its own again. I just checked in on it again, and it was back with the rest of they fish, picking on the biggest of the bunch. I did notice that when it is back with the pack it is not pale, but when it goes to the bottom by itself it looks pale. It is really weird, I might just be panicking because I lost that one yesterday, and am paranoid that there is disease in the tank. But I am really hesitant to treat with anything since I don't know what the first one died of, and don't want to treat the others if I don't have to. I don't know, I just wish I knew for sure one way or the other.

Thanks

my mistake

hmm... is kinda strange, it might just be a case of being paranoid like you said. if it goes pale then normal, pale then normal etc then id say its fine, my clown plecos do this ALL the time! one does it more than the other and i put it down to him being p*ssed off.lol ( turns pale then he hunts my other clown down )

 

[rebrn]

Thanks plec I think you are right I am just panicking. I checked on him again and he is perfectly fine. I don't know it is just weird. I worked so hard to get these tanks cycled, I don't want to start loosing fish now.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

i was exactly the same when my neon had to go. i was constantly checking the others and my 2 clown plecos, i would almost definatly find something odd and start panicking, then realize there all fine.lol. i still do it now i have a golden nugget pleco and a female bn who are both 5 iches long. the gn had what i thought was a white bacterial fluff on one of her fins, turned out to be sand.lol

 

[rebrn]

That is so funny. I did the same with my cherry barbs, a few hours after I got them I saw something hanging out of one of the males, I was all ready to post "OMG there is something hanging out of my Cherry Barb" when I realized it was poo. I am so glad I realized that before I posted. But in my defence, it was a really long poo. Needless to say he is fine.