Sick Fish

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AJinNY

Member
One of my rainbows looked slightly thinner than normal and I noticed he was darting back and forth. I looked closer and his back half looked a little reddish - like maybe he was bleeding. I removed him from the tank.

The other fish look ok are swimming and eating, etc. But looking very closely I thinkI see ick on them and one of them looks to have a white furry thing above its nose.

Im thinking with all the chaos with the dozens of cardinals, that maybe something went wrong with the water.

I stirred up the gravel to get the dirt up and removed 50% of the water and put fresh water in the tank. I rinsed some (not all ) of the bio balls....took a few bio balls out and put a few fresh bio balls in....I also rinsed the filter sponge. I didntrinse all the bio balls because I was afraid Id be getting rid of too much bacteria.

My question is, will the fish get better on their own? Do I have to medicate the tank? Do more water changes?

By the way, I have 4 cardinals left and they seem to be ok...but that of course can change at any moment.

I appreciate any advice anyone can give me.
 
CATALYST

CATALYST

Well-Known Member
Could be columnaris or a fungus. I've had good luck with melafix...depending on what else is in the tank. Might put it in a qt tank. My little fresh tank is just fish so I put it in the tank.
 
SubRosa

SubRosa

Well-Known Member
NEVER rinse bioballs with anything other than tank water.Don't stir gravel.Get a siphon with a gravel cleaner and clean it that way.White fuzz on the nose could be Columnaris.If so the fish is most likely already dead and just hasn't figured it out yet.Have you tested the water for ammonia,nitrites,pH?When you have multiple fish breaking out with multiple diseases water quality is always a factor.You should change a minimum of 25% weekly.Bioballs never need to be changed.You can try treating the infections with an antibiotic(terramycin is first choice for columnaris) but results are spotty ime.As far as the ich goes Boesmani Rainbows are easy to ich proof because they like quite a bit of salt in the water.Unfortunately your Cardinals won't be so appreciative.This is the main reason why I don't like mixing fish from completely different types of water.The main thing is to keep up on the water changes!You have chosen a very tough row to hoe.Good luck!

John
 
A

AJinNY

Member
well I wont be getting anymore cardinals.
Assuming the cardinals dont make it, can I then add salt for the rainbows?
The ph is 7.2...tha mmonia wasnt 0 but was the next to lowest on the chart.

Show I wait a week before doing more water changes? Or should I do another change tomorrow?

Also should I add some biospira to get the ammonia back to zero?

Will the fish get better on their own or do I need to medicate or if theyre already infected, is it already too late?
 
A

AJinNY

Member
So I must medicate the entire tank because even if the other fish look fine, they have been exposed by the last fish that died.
 
SubRosa

SubRosa

Well-Known Member
"Cottonmouth" as it is commonly called is usually bacterial in nature caused by a Flexibacter columnaris infection.Most antifungals won't dent it,excluding nitrofurazone and similar antibiotics that also possess antifungal properties.Adding salt is a very good idea.I would add 1 tsp per gallon per day of salt(sea salt or some non-iodized NaCl)for 3 days.This is a fairly large amount of salt for a freshwater tank,but Boesmanis will handle it no problem.Just be sure to research any future additions to make sure they can take it,and be sure to salt the water you add for changes to the same level but NOT the water for evap top off.That amount of salt will kill most strains of ich and if your problem IS fungal will probably cure or at least greatly improve your fishes' condition.Unfortunately columnaris will be unaffected so you may indeed need to treat the whole tank with an antibiotic.Terramycin is the drug of choice but isn't readily available.Use Furan according to the package directions.As far as water changes go yes.More.Bigger.Better.Always!

John
 
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A

AJinNY

Member
Thanks for all the advice.

The whole mouth isnt cottony its more like a little white stringy things on the mouth....one fish has it above the nose.

I tend to think it is fungus, but Im not exactly sure...Im not sure what medication I should be putting in the tank.
 
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