I picked up 6 threadfin rainbow fish for my 30 gallon tank about 5 days ago. The shop that got them for me isolated them from their population in a small tank that did not look very clean at all. I usually quarantine new fish, but due to a sick pleco occupying the quarantine tank and the small number of established fish in the 30 gallon I went ahead and introduced them directly into the tank. The tank has been established for several months (ammonia 0 PPM, Nitrite 0PPM, Nitrate 5PPM, pH 7.2, temp 79-81 depending on ambient temp of apartment, the tank has some aquarium salt in it, but not much). There are three plecos (two clowns and a snowball) and about 13 small rainbow fish (celebes and threadfin: all but one are new - 8 from one store, 6 from another).
The threadfins have a long thin projection to the posterior on both the dorsal and pectoral fins. I was placing a background on the tank today and noticed that these projections are looking quite tattered. I don't know how long they have been that way, but they looked ok when I checked them out at the store. I have never dealt with rainbow fish before and am wondering if they are very susceptible to anything specific that might cause this. It should also be noted that these fish are quite young (about 3/4 of an inch long).
As to the tank they are in, again its a 30 gallon. It has both an undergravel filter and an overhang filter that has extra activated carbon in it (shoved in using a filter bag). There is a UV setup on the tank (about 150GPH powerhead on an 18W lamp - so we are killing more than just algae with this one) it runs 4 hours a day. I ran it all day for the first two days they were in the tank. There are several large pieces of driftwood, some slate, and a fair amount of assorted live plants. There is is also stocked with a highly proliferative batch of cherry shrimp. The tank gets about 20% of the water changed via vacuum about every 2 to 3 weeks. If they are sick it is unlikely that it came from the tank setup (maybe from another new fish or came with them). The light cycle varies some (with my wake cycle), but is usually from about 7 to 8 AM to about 11 PM.
I feed the plecos cucumber (a small chunk tied to a cleaner magnet on the wall near the bottom), grapes, and whatever else they will eat. The food usually gets devoured or removed and changed every 48hours or so. I have also been feeding some marine pellets with garlic (one of the clown plecos is new and I want to be sure it eats). The rainbow fish are fed flakes (3 varieties - one of them veggie). They get fed in the morning when I wake up and at night.
I will try to get a good pic and post it right after I submit this one. My question is do you think this is some sort of illness (specify) or just fromt he stress of being moved (to the store, to sit for three days in that dirty tank then to my tank with very different parameters)? If you think they are sick, what should I treat them with. The pleco croaked and I have a fish on tetracycline now (prophylactic from jumping out and nearly drying out on the fish store floor). If its an illness I might put them in with him, but if its just stress moving them again will likely make it worse. it took about a month to get them ordered in. I don't want to lose them so any input would be appreciated.
The threadfins have a long thin projection to the posterior on both the dorsal and pectoral fins. I was placing a background on the tank today and noticed that these projections are looking quite tattered. I don't know how long they have been that way, but they looked ok when I checked them out at the store. I have never dealt with rainbow fish before and am wondering if they are very susceptible to anything specific that might cause this. It should also be noted that these fish are quite young (about 3/4 of an inch long).
As to the tank they are in, again its a 30 gallon. It has both an undergravel filter and an overhang filter that has extra activated carbon in it (shoved in using a filter bag). There is a UV setup on the tank (about 150GPH powerhead on an 18W lamp - so we are killing more than just algae with this one) it runs 4 hours a day. I ran it all day for the first two days they were in the tank. There are several large pieces of driftwood, some slate, and a fair amount of assorted live plants. There is is also stocked with a highly proliferative batch of cherry shrimp. The tank gets about 20% of the water changed via vacuum about every 2 to 3 weeks. If they are sick it is unlikely that it came from the tank setup (maybe from another new fish or came with them). The light cycle varies some (with my wake cycle), but is usually from about 7 to 8 AM to about 11 PM.
I feed the plecos cucumber (a small chunk tied to a cleaner magnet on the wall near the bottom), grapes, and whatever else they will eat. The food usually gets devoured or removed and changed every 48hours or so. I have also been feeding some marine pellets with garlic (one of the clown plecos is new and I want to be sure it eats). The rainbow fish are fed flakes (3 varieties - one of them veggie). They get fed in the morning when I wake up and at night.
I will try to get a good pic and post it right after I submit this one. My question is do you think this is some sort of illness (specify) or just fromt he stress of being moved (to the store, to sit for three days in that dirty tank then to my tank with very different parameters)? If you think they are sick, what should I treat them with. The pleco croaked and I have a fish on tetracycline now (prophylactic from jumping out and nearly drying out on the fish store floor). If its an illness I might put them in with him, but if its just stress moving them again will likely make it worse. it took about a month to get them ordered in. I don't want to lose them so any input would be appreciated.
to MFK!