Sick Dwarf Rainbow Fish

Author Topic: Sick Dwarf Rainbow Fish  (Read 2383 times) 2 replies

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline egg104

  • Super Subscriber!
  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Likes: 0
  • Tropical Fish Keeper
Sick Dwarf Rainbow Fish
« on: June 18, 2021, 05:46:02 PM »
  • Likes On This Users Post 0
Hi everyone

One of my Dwarf Rainbow Fish is sick / dying.  It suddenly started doing tumble turns and is now head down, still breathing but struggling to move.

It's a fairly new tank and the Rainbow Fish were only added about three weeks ago after cycling the tank with Zebra Danios. For reference, it's an 80cm, well planted tank. I have been doing regular water changes and testing the water.  Tested it just now and it all appears ok.

Is there anything I can do?  Or what is the best way to put it out of its misery?   :'(

Postscript:  It has actually died but I would welcome any thoughts / advice.  Is it a one off or are the rest at risk?  What should I be checking for (other than ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH)? 
And what do you do with your dead fish?

Offline Littlefish

  • Global Moderator Subscriber
  • Superstar Think Fishy Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4076
  • Likes: 330
  • aka Donna
Re: Sick Dwarf Rainbow Fish
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2021, 07:55:25 PM »
  • Likes On This Users Post 0
Sorry to hear that your fish has passed.

Also lots to talk about and lots of information to gather, so we'll be asking lots of questions.

Working through this chronologically from the time you set up your tank - what are your water parameter? Hardness? What is in your tank? What substrate & decor?
You say you cycled with danios. How many danios & how long for? What were your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite & nitrate) during the cycling, especially at the end, just before you added the dwarf rainbows, and for the 3 weeks since.
How many rainbow fish did you add? Did you remove the danios to another tank?

As for fish euthanasia, clove oil & commercially available items such as koi calm can be used. Read through this PFK article for a lot of do's and don'ts. Generally euthanasia is quite a difficult decision at a difficult time, so it's worth having a plan & kit available in advance.
https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/fishkeeping-news/painful-fish-deaths-you-might-be-guilty/

As for disposal, I tend to wrap them in paper and put them in the bin. This sounds very cold & harsh considering how much I love my gang.

As for what caused your fish death & whether others in the tank are at risk, I'm not sure. Monitor your water parameters, and monitor your remaining fish very closely. Continue your water changes & tank maintenance & try to provide us with as much information as possible so we can try to work out what has happened. Did you inspect the dwarf rainbow? Did it have any physical damage? Any red patches? Any white spots? Any fuzzy/fungal patches? If you have any pictures of your tank & fish that may be helpful too.

Sorry about all the questions at such an awful time for you, although this may help us work out what happened with your fish.



Offline egg104

  • Super Subscriber!
  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 2
  • Likes: 0
  • Tropical Fish Keeper
Re: Sick Dwarf Rainbow Fish
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2021, 10:03:52 PM »
  • Likes On This Users Post 0
Hi thanks for repying.  Will try and answer your questions.
The water is soft. The tank has gravel in the bottom and is well planted with plant plugs, which are growing well, and it has quite a few different rocks, a small flower pot and a decorative cannon.
 
It had just the plants for about a week before the danios went in. I am using a previously used pump/filter -  I actually cleaned everything before they went in the tank and then wondered if I shouldn't have. 
 
When the danios went in I was testing every day and getting negligible readings except for one slightly elevated nitrites on one day.  I read in a reply to someone somewhere on here that if you have plants in the tank and are getting stable readings you can go ahead and add more fish. So the rainbowfish were added about 4 weeks after the danios. I didn't take the danios out - should I have? I don't have another tank. 

The readings since have all been stable and negligible. I've had a couple of slightly elevated nitrate readings - just around the 5ppm -  and have been doing weekly water changes of about 10-12 litres.  The pH is currently 7.4 (with the high range test)

There are 6 zebra danios, and there were 6 dwarf rainbowfish.

I did have a look at the dead fish and can't see any marks or anything on it.  It all happened really suddenly.  Spent a long time watching them yesterday and they all looked fine. Was just thinking about thawing some food for them today and saw one rainbowfish kind of gulping,(opening and shutting it's mouth like it was eating but there was no food there).  By the time I'd got the food, the fish had started tumbling about and it must have died within two hours. (I think it was the same fish!)

Will have a look at the article, thank you.

Tags:
 


Assess Tankmates In The Tropical Fish Community Creator


Topics that relate to "Sick Dwarf Rainbow Fish"

  Subject - Started by Replies Last post
4 Replies
6905 Views
Last post February 22, 2013, 08:19:05 AM
by brecon
1 Replies
3535 Views
Last post May 22, 2013, 11:55:07 AM
by Sue
6 Replies
3464 Views
Last post May 17, 2014, 06:39:08 AM
by Richard W
13 Replies
5132 Views
Last post December 16, 2014, 10:40:12 AM
by Aquamaid
1 Replies
5271 Views
Last post May 06, 2015, 12:07:22 PM
by Sue
3 Replies
4257 Views
Last post December 01, 2016, 03:28:34 PM
by Sue
4 Replies
2863 Views
Last post October 23, 2018, 05:19:06 PM
by Robert

Sitemap 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 
Legal | Contact Follow Think Fish on: