Wild Green Rasboros.

[jodisgermanshepherd]

I have been trying my hand at this species. They seem to be very sensitive.

The first batch I bought had ich. I treated them exactly as the instructions say, Even watched a couple youtube videos. I used ich-x and seem to have cleared up the problem. Then the fish started dying slowly 1 by 1.

I cleaned my whole tank. Vacuumed the gravel did a treatment cycle for the Ich. did the water changes as prescribed.

My tank was completely cycled and seemed fine. So I waited a while and put in new stock from a different fish store. They seemed to do really well for about 3 months then I started noticing some white spots on some fish.

Now I am wondering if it is the breed of fish that are not all that great that seem to have a weak immune system.

What else could it be?

 

[anewbie]

I presume you are talking about kubotai rasbora - i find them quite sturdy and will live 5 to 7 years in my aquariums. One thing you did not mention is the type of water you have. I have kept them in my tap water which is kh 3 gh 7 (neutral soft water but not super soft) and blackwater. The current group i have in blackwater have been there for 2 years and were received as wc adults.
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Another question would be what temperature you keep them.
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It is possible they were infected with ick or similar white dot parasite (i've used rid ick from kordon with success several times in the past 5 years) but it is impossible to say without pictures. However most white dot parasites (there are several) will be killed by rid ick.
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Another question is you mentioned you had a group for 3 months and they then develop white spots but you did not mention if anything was added to the aquarium during those 3 months.
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I've not found them to have weak immune system generically but some i purchased from [store name not provided to protect the potential innocent] seemed to be inbred and not that sturdy (they were farmed as oppose to hobby bred or wc). That group did not do very well lasting maybe a year.
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Another thing not provided is size of tank number of fishes or tank mates. One thing i will tell you is a stressed fish is signfiicantly more prone to get diseases (including parasite) than a healthy one and is also more likely to die. I keep my current group of 10 in a 40b.
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Most rasbora are going to prefer soft acidic water so if you have hard water you might consider a different stocking more amendable to hard water.

 

[seangee]

I presume you are talking about kubotai rasbora - i find them quite sturdy and will live 5 to 7 years in my aquariums. One thing you did not mention is the type of water you have. I have kept them in my tap water which is kh 3 gh 7 (neutral soft water but not super soft) and blackwater. The current group i have in blackwater have been there for 2 years and were received as wc adults.

I agree - I found these to be quite robust. Mine had similar water parameters. I do regular 50-70% weekly water changes anyway, but in this tank I made sure that I did because it was shared with a group of dwarf chain loaches who are quite sensitive.

 

[GaryE]

@jodisgermanshepherd I don't know you here, so bear with me if I go a bit basic on you. I'll guess you're moderately experienced.

The white dots after 3 months, if no new fish were added, points to possible epystilis, an opportunistic single celled protozoan that can be mistaken for ich. Fish aren't its favourite host, and it hits them in tanks that have not had regular water changes. It feeds on bacteria and uses the fish as a platform. However, it is often associated with a bacterial infection in the affected fish. Most of the time, it just lives in most tanks and doesn't even approach the fish. There has to be something wrong -often associated with pollution.

A bacterial infection is often associated with poor water quality. That can take two main directions with a fish evolved in the kind of habitat Microdevario kubotai are.

First, these are fish from mineral poor acidic water, and harder water can be stressful to them. If I wanted to keep them here, I have soft and acidic tap water, and they'd do well. In one of my previous homes, the tap gave me hard, alkaline water, and I wouldn't have expected any fish species from their region to stay alive long in it. You have to know the water you have, as it can determine how you succeed. What do you have there (TDS, GH/KH and pH)? The API test kit is seriously lacking and makes you buy extra tests.

Second, this is not an 'easy' species. If I had them, I would do weekly 25-30% water changes, without fail. Epistylis isn't common on fish (though not rare) but isn't seen in well maintained tanks. If you slip up with demanding species, uh oh. But if the water is right to begin with and the water's maintained, they are tough little fish.

So, what is your water like, and how is your maintenance regime?

 

[emeraldking]

So I waited a while and put in new stock from a different fish store.

The question is: Was this caused in your tank, the stores' tank or at the wholesaler? If they've carried something already at the wholesaler, buying new ones at a different store who uses the same wholesaler will probably not work well. Just ask at another store from which wholesaler they came from and compare them with the wholesaler of that other store before buying new ones.