My Rasbora - Help

[grahamandgem]

Hi,

I have 4 scissor tailed rasbora, 1 of them didnt eat anything tonight - it is staying clear of the other and is hanging about at the top of the tank - It looks paler than the rest and doesnt even have the same shape at the moment - it looks grey.

The water is at 25 degrees, its 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite, .25ppm nitrate and the pH is about 7.4

He perks up then looks confused going round in circles and is loitering at the filter -any advice - I really dont want to watch the fish die if there is something I can do!

Gem

 

[Bazza57]

It could be that your rasbora is just off colour, fish too can have off days - But if you have had the fish for a long time, it is possible that it is nearing the end of its lifetime - sorry to be so morbid.

If you have a spare "isolation tank" why not try putting it into isolation for a few days with a little salt added as a tonic, you could increase the aeration & keep the lights off to de-stress the fish. None of these are guaranteed remedies, but it is worth a try if you have the spare tank.

 

[grahamandgem]

he has been in there a week, I am the idiot who listened the the lfs and am now in the fish-in cycle, he is only in the tank (95litres) with the other 3 rasboras and 2 zebra danios - i dont have a spare tank - if i turn the light off - will that help do you think??

I am almost convinved he is going to die - it is very upsetting

 

[waterdrop]

What is your testing kit? Are you giving us those numbers from a liquid-reagent based test? WD

 

[grahamandgem]

Its an API test kit - my fish died last night - absolutely gutted, ran the tests again, all the same and the rest of the fish seem fine - not sure what I've done wrong!

 

[Timmy_Bee]

Did you say you were doing a fish-in cycle? my guess would be that the fish was damaged by the build-up of harmful chemicals during your cycle...
How long have you been cycling for?

 

[grahamandgem]

This is week 3 but the test kit said the levels are fine (I have tested everyday and the levels are stable) - and I have 6 very small fish in a fairly large tank. I was advised that a water change should only be done if a build of ammonia etc occurs to allow the tank to cycle.

The other fish seem fine so I am very confused - The LFS told me I could add the fish before I came on the forum (which I know was the wrong advice now) so its all a bit confusing. The rasbora looked totally different to the other yesterday - all colourless compared to the others but no signs of disease on the outside at least.

If the levels are fine - and one fish has died - what do I do next? so the rest dont follow


Gem

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the problem with the fish-in cycle is that the damage doesn't always show itself instantly, sometimes fish can seemingly make it through the cycle fine but then have health problems later in life. sometimes just a few weeks later but sometimes they're life expectancy is just shortened a bit or they'll be weaker and pick up minor illnesses all the time.

the biggest damage with ammonia is that it burns their gills which makes it harder for the fish to absorb oxygen - you can imagine the sort of problems that causes for a fish.

if your water quality is now good then there's not much else you can do, my guess is that the rasbora was damaged during the fish-in cycle, probably in the first few days of being in the tank. the others may or may not have been damaged too - only time will tell.

keep on top of testing the water and make sure you keep ammonia and nitrite down to 0 and keep your fingers crossed, sorry we can't give you more help than this

 

[grahamandgem]

Thank you all for the advice! I feel really awful for the fish - knowing its my fault its dead! I hope the rest make it!!

Thanks again
Gem

 

[Timmy_Bee]

its not your fault. You did what the LFS told you. They are the ones to blame!

 

[alex.wardle]

I would maybe suggest a really good water change as you have had a death in the tank 50-75%. sorry for your loss

 

[waterdrop]

The advice to only change water if ammonia appears "so that the tank can cycle" is something we hear from time to time and is incorrect. When fish are in the tank, there is a low level of ammonia that constantly moves from the fish to the bacteria in the filter and it is below what a hobbyist ammonia test kit can detect. Its true of course whether the filter is cycled or not, just based on fish being there.

This low level of ammonia is what "cycles" the filter during a Fish-In cycle and is sufficient to move the cycling process slowly forward. It is not necessary to obtain levels that can be seen in a test and is not desirable.

In a Fish-In situation all focus changes to saving the fish, with no worry about the bacteria. The fish need you to manually (through water changes done with good technique) do whatever it takes to maintain the extremely narrow band of toxin concentration that lies between zero ppm and 0.25ppm. This often requires large changes so that one or the other toxin will not have surprised you before you can be home again to change water. Often though, a fish-in cycle will feel frustrating because you just don't know when its over and wonder if its going to come back on you. You are probably about half way there in terms of feeling like its been going on for a safer period.

~~waterdrop~~