Rainbow rescue

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thedarkone

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 10, 2010
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Spokane
This last weekend my wife and I decided to pack the kids up and go check out one of our LFS that we rarely visit because their selection usually sucks. So on this rare visit, their selection in fact did not suck so much. They had all kinds of severums, uaru, Blue Acaras, Creamsicle Midas, mayans, and more.

We don't get much around here as far as CA/SA cichlids go, just the run of the mill JDs, GTs, FMs, Os, convicts and that is really about it. Anyways as we were checking out the fish we came across a tank that had Blue Acaras and rainbows. Right away I got excited because I have been wanting Rainbows for quite awhile.

We left the LFS store and all I could think about was how badly I wanted those rainbows. On top of just wanting to keep Rainbow I wanted to save some of these because the LFS had been keeping them in a 15 gallon with the Acaras and a 6" Mayan. So there was 6 Rainbows and 3 Acaras in the tank and the day before we went in there they had the Mayan in with the other 9 fish.

Needless to say the Rainbows were all in really bad shape. That night (Saturday) My wife said she would buy me a pair for fathers day. So Saturday night I moved my Convict pair into a 20gallon long and proceeded to clean out my 29 gallon and get it ready for the rainbows.

So Sunday morning we all piled back into the car and headed back to the LFS. They gave us 10% off because of the shape they are in. Right now the male is 4" and the female is 2.75" I have them in my 29 now but I am going to put them in a 40-55 gallon. I am keeping my eyes glued to Craigslist. I bought a Penguin 200 (which is for a 50 gallon and it filters 200 gph so there is plenty of filtration)

I turned the heat up to 84 degrees and I am doing 20% daily water changes with aquarium salt.I will post some pics soon, I would have already but I just changed their water and these poor fish have been through so much that they just hide during and after water changes.
 
nice job, Rainbows are great fish . . . they are also very hardy and can put up with lots of abuse, so - - unless they are in really bad shape - - I would think they'll be just fine

84 degrees does sound a bit warm, are you trying to cure anything specifc? otherwise, I would think you'd be fine at around 78-80
 
Here are some pics. i am not trying to cure anything specific other than pretty bad wounds.
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man ive always wanted rainbow cichlids as well lol nice pick up
 
Very nice fish they are showing good color. Thoes fins will heal up in a week or 2. I agree 84F is a bit high 80 would be fine unless you are treating for ich.

Water changes and good food these guys will be awesome in no time.
 
I've seen much worse, I think your fish should be fine . . . the male looks great already, really good color . . . the female, well, she needs some TLC
 
Sab_Fan;4233242; said:
I've seen much worse, I think your fish should be fine . . . the male looks great already, really good color . . . the female, well, she needs some TLC
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Yeah the male brightened up in less than 24 hours. The only thing really wrong with him is the wounds were his scales got ripped off. The female will take some time and care she is pretty beat up.

I turned the temperature down to 80 degrees like you suggested. I have been doing 20% water changes daily, and when I treat the fresh water with conditioner I throw a tablespoon of aquarium salt into the bucket(5 gallons).

How long should I continue with daily water changes and salt?
 
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