Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Health => Topic started by: Alostangel on October 05, 2019, 04:35:32 PM
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So my harlequin rasbora is not healthy. He or she is swimming at an angle with the dorsal fin down and they have some patchiness on their side. Not white spot but almost slight rotting? Any ideas what it is and what I should do?
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Any possibility of a photograph of it, please? It might be some sort of an ulcer or bacterial infection, but I'd really prefer to see a photograph of it before definitively saying that. [If it is that, do you have a medication for such infections such as eSHa 2000 or Waterlife Myxazin to hand?] Let's see a photograph of it first, though.
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I’ve got the pictures but for some reason it’s being really funny about me turning them into different extensions (eg when I tried to turn it into a PNG it just went completely grey scale) so not sure how I resolve that. I would describe it as almost rot though? Like the scales seem to have gone and left a bit of patchiness. Only on the left side, the right side would be fine if he were swimming normally
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I'd treat for bacterial infection / finrot as described, then, if I were you.
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I agree. fcmf has given you the names of the best medications to try.
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Ok, I’ll try and get some today then. Is it worth getting a cheap quarantine tank for him?
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Yes - I find a cheap, plastic tank the best for that purpose as it can be easily stowed away after use (and items such as the spare filter/heater stored in it). Use a small portion of existing filter media in the QT's filter so that there is sufficient beneficial bacteria to process the fish's waste and therefore no need to worry about the QT('s filter) needing cycled.
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So I messaged my mum’s friend and he has a spare tank and filter but no heater. I don’t really have the money for a new heater as I’ve just started running a car :-\ can I put the medication straight into the tank with everyone else?
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It really is wise to have a back-up heater, filter and tank when fishkeeping, so that they can be used in any of the following circumstances:
* if you get new fish and quarantine them for up to a month in the quarantine/hospital tank;
* if you have fish which need treated in the quarantine/hospital tank;
* in the event the tank, heater or filter in the main tank breaks down.
I'm fairly certain the chain pet and aquatic stores have some low-cost ones. Alternatively, there may be someone selling second-hand ones near to you e.g. via www.aquarist-classifieds.co.uk
The danger with putting medication straight in the tank is that you'll be putting the healthy fish under undue stress and therefore risk. Snails and shrimp can't tolerate copper (consequences are usually fatal).
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So unfortunately having put the meds in the tank (with no way to quarantine), I’ve come back a few hours later and he’s not doing well. He was swimming pretty much vertically and gave up a few times to lay on the sand. He’s been scooped into a net and I’m trying not to stress him out too much but not sure what would be nicer for him. I managed to get a much more detailed picture so will attempt to change that to the correct format.
Update: I’ve put him into a jug filled with tank water to avoid stressing him too much with the movement and tight space of the net. He’s downstairs and hasn’t given up quite just yet but he’s got a rather bleak future I think. He’s mostly spending his time laying on the bottom of the hug gasping :(
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Are you having trouble uploading the pic?
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Yes, before it was the resizing website that was being weird but now it won’t upload despite it being a PNG file and 50% smaller
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How are you managing to keep the sick harlequin's jug of water at the appropriate temperature? Wrapping bubble wrap or a small towel or facecloth round the outside of the jug, but making sure it doesn't topple over, might help a little bit to conserve the water at a particular temperature - but this certainly isn't ideal.
As you've no filter in there, then it's probably best to do a water change of this jug water daily, perhaps scooping out some of the water with an old yoghurt pot or cup, then replacing the removed water with dechlorinated water of the required temperature. Dose the medication after you've done the water change. It's probably much too risky to try to replenish medication lost through the water changes (i.e. trying to judge how much has been discarded and adding that to the new day's dosage), so just dose whatever amount is appropriate for the particular day and the jug water volume.
As for a hospital/quarantine tank, your sister's original tank (the 19-litre one which she was going to upgrade from) would make an ideal hospital/quarantine tank and give the harlequin a better opportunity than a jug - is that a possibility for you? You could then use the spare filter of your mum's friend for now, or an alternative to buying an additional filter is an airstone for the quarantine tank - again not ideal but definitely preferable to having no quarantine/hospital set-up at all. That just leaves a heater to get - could you take on some extra odd jobs to finance that?
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He unfortunately didn’t make it through the night but I hadn’t expected him to, which is why I had put him in the jug. He had been laying on the floor of the aquarium and then sporadically getting up and having a small burst of swimming before having to lay down again. I put him in the jug, having filled it with water from the aquarium and it really seemed like he wasn’t gonna make it past the hour, let alone the night as he was barely moving and just struggling to breathe.
Concerning the quarantine tank, the tank and filter I can get both from my mum’s friend as I believe at some point my sister is planning on getting another blackmoor and won’t listen to my protests that it’s too small a tank. It was the heater that was the problem, I’m hoping to get a new job soon but most of that money will likely go to the car for a while before I have enough for the heater.
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Sad news, sorry to hear this. Sometimes it can be kinder to put a fish down or let it pass if it is happening relatively peacefully that let things drag out.
I'm wondering whether it would be possible to float the smaller tank in the larger to overcome the heater problem but it looks like that won't be necessary... hopefully something you won't need to consider again any time soon...
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Sad new to hear about the passing of a fish.
I have to agree with Matt, and sometimes things move too quickly to be able to do anything about it too.
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He did seem to go downhill very quickly. I noticed it Saturday night and by Sunday night he was in such a state, I was considering if it would have been nicer to had taken him out of water completely to stop him being in too much pain, as awful as it sounds.
Hopefully I won’t, the tank has been medicated (I was hoping he might improve) so hopefully that’ll help it from affecting any of the others
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I had a harlequin which seemed in perfect health (one of my two healthiest-looking harlequins), then suddenly went very downhill one evening and died the following morning. It is indeed horrible. Sorry that he didn't make it.