FishProfiles.com Message Forums

In my rainbow tank I had noticed one of the Australian Rainbows was starting to swim funny and laying on the bottom, even during feeding time. I watched closely for accouple of days before I decided that I need to quarintine her. So right now I have her in a 5.5 gallon (it's all I have right now) hospital tank.

What the fish is doing:
It's kind of hard to explain exactly what was and is going on with the fish but we know it's not right. The fish is laying at the bottom and when it gets scared or excited it swims up. But when it swims it's less than graceful, it seems like instead of just flipping it's fins it has to use it's hole body to move and it looks really wobbly and also like it takes a lot of energy. It seems like she is almost swimming in circles, but I know that she can still swim pretty much where she wants, she just falls quickly back to the bottom. This morning one of her eyes is a little bloody. It's only one eye and it's only the lower portion, I don't know if maybe it just bumped into the airstone or heater. We inherited this fish with a fish tank that we picked up at a garage sale and it is very possible that this fish is 3-5 years old. So we may just be dealing with old age here but I figured I would get some second opinions.

The Hospital Tank:
A 5.5 gallon tank, bare bottom, airstone strip and heater. The water temperature is maintained from 80-82 degrees F. I'm doing a 30-50% water change daily (big fish, small area) and treating with Melafix every other day. She's been in the hospital for 4 days with no sign of recovery.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, please let me know if you need more info. Again: Australian Rainbow 4-4.5" long. I can maybe post pictures on another website, but it won't be until tonight, so let me know if that'll help.

Can we get water parameters from the tank she was in before she was moved to hospital? Ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte, temp, ph ect.
You mentioned she was a rescue, how long ago was that? And what about the water quality of that tank?
And have there been any changes in their diet, or additions to the tank in the past month or so?

^_^[hr width='40%']"Has someone taken your faith? It's real, the pain you feel.
The life, the love, You die to heal.
The hope that starts, The broken hearts...
I’ve got another confession my friend, I’m no fool.
I’m getting tired of starting again, Somewhere new."
[link=*refighting lost battles*]http://babelfish.qwertydigital.com/" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link]

Perameters are fine.
Nitrates: 20 ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
pH: 6.8-7.2
Alkalinity: 80 ppm
Hardness: 75 ppm
Temp: 78 degrees F

The kit I have doesn't test Ammonia, but it's a planted tank so the ammonia should be fine.

Last edited by hzrds at 13-Jun-2005 21:03

Can anyone help? He's getting worse. One thing I've noticed over the days is there seems to be quite a bit of gunk floating around, not like poop, I'm almost wondering it is something that the body is excreting or is shedding.

It sounds like your fish is definetly sick! If it hasnt died yet there may still be a chance for the guy.
I would try dosing with Maracyn and Maracyn 2 at the same time. This should cure it up if it is some kind of bacterial illness. This will treat for both gram negative, and gram positive bacterias, so it should cover almost everything.
Are you doing water changes frequently in the QT tank?
Its probably best to do a 10% change every day at this point.


Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

Yes, I am doing daily water changes, but I was doing more closer to 30-40% because I'm trying to suck up all the floaties.

Thats fine.
Do you notice any reddening of gills, any marks like wounds, spots, bruising, redness, streaking?
What do the floaties look like?
Can you get a picture of the fish?
Is the fish eating at all?
Did you manage to get any medications for the fish?
Have you tried any medications yet, if so which ones?


Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

It's hard to describe the floaties, I guess it kind of reminds me of a snot floating around the tank although a lot smaller than if one were to spit into the water. Kind of a crude way to describe it but that's the best I can. As for obvious signs, the only thing that I've noticed is the fact that one of her eyes is a little bloodshot it's only less the half of the bottom of one. Other than that she just lays on the bottom and it's a real struggle for her to swim. She hasn't eaten yesterday or today but has before that. I have been treating with Melafix everyother day so not to overdose but still doing daily waterchanges. There is no type of filtration on the tank, just a heater and airstone. Like I posted a little earlier it's quite possible that this fish is 3-5 years old (I inherited her and other rainbows with a tank I got) so we could also be looking at old age. But if you can think of something that'll help I'm open to suggestions. I'll look into the Maracyn anyone else that has used this product I'd like to hear from. Unfortunately summer school is keeping me quite busy but I'll try to get a picture posted tomorrow or the day after.

Thanks

Let me take some of that back, or add to it rather. I just went down to put my other fish to sleep and take a look at her and she now has what looks like little blood spots on her, redness around the scales, I don't have a light on the tank so it's hard for me to see, but what could that mean? She's been hanging out really close to the heater I try to scare her away from it but I can't watch her all the time. It seems like she's doing much much worse. She's more lathargic and doesn't move very much and when she does she can't really control where she's going, it took me moving the heater for her swim around. Any thoughts? Or is it time for me to start sifting through that Euthinasia forum? Has anyone ever nursed a fish back to health when it has gotten this bad?

Last edited by hzrds at 14-Jun-2005 23:34

I have nursed several fish back to health from severely detiorated states, including a dwarf gourami, a rainbowfish, and white cloud mountain minnows.
It sounds like it could be either an internal bacterial infection, or a case of hemmoraghic septicemia.
maracyn and maracyn 2 concurrently would be the treatment of choice for most people I would think.
It has been high recommended to be my many people on Fishprofiles.


Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

Great, I'll give that a try today, thanks for all your help. I'll keep you posted.

Too late, she passed away during the night. Thanks a lot for you help, I'll keep that in mind if I ever have this problem again.

Sorry you lost it hzrds, since the current water conditions looked good it's likely something it'd been struggling with for some time. I've been thru that before with more than one fish that I liberated from a previous owner.
You tried and that's what's important .

^_^[hr width='40%']"Has someone taken your faith? It's real, the pain you feel.
The life, the love, You die to heal.
The hope that starts, The broken hearts...
I’ve got another confession my friend, I’m no fool.
I’m getting tired of starting again, Somewhere new."
[link=*refighting lost battles*]http://babelfish.qwertydigital.com/" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link]