Pacific blue eye problem, maybe one for colin

[Aussie_Bristle]

Hi all
One if my little pacific blue eyes is having problems swimming. I’ve had him in a little breeders tank in my main tank for the last 3 days and try and release him daily to see if there is an improvement. He try’s to swim when in the open tank but seems to struggle wiggling his tail properly and will gradually end up down the bottom of the tank and slowly swims around there or hides in the plants. When in the breeders container he sits in the bottom or will have a slow swim around the container. I did another water change yesterday and levels are back to normal today

A - 0
N02 - 0
N03 - 0
Ph- 7.4

I don’t want to euthanise him if I don’t have too, is there something else I can do for him?

 

[Colin_T]

If rainbowfish ever get sick or look funny, do the following.

1) Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge to get rid of any biolfilm on the glass.


2) Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. This will dilute any disease organisms in the water and substrate, as well as dilute any chemicals that might be in there.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.


3) Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. This removes gunk and micro-scopic disease organisms from the filter and provides a cleaner environment for the fish.
Wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use them.


4) Finally, add salt. The best treatment for rainbowfish is salt.
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 2 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

I have cories, rosy barbs and Bristlenose in the tank top. Will the salt be a problem for them at all Colin?

 

[Colin_T]

Use the lower dose rate of 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres of water. They will be fine with that.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Perfect I will do that. I will clean the canister out this arvo and add the salt

thanks heaps Colin, appreciate it.

 

[Colin_T]

Add salt now if you have some. The sooner you start treating sick fish, the more chance they have of surviving.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Okay all done. I will keep you updated on this post. Thank you Colin

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Morning Colin and all

just an update, I put my little guy in the main tank last night about an hour before going to bed, I thought maybe he can get a better run of the salt through his little body this was with better movement. He was still quite lethargic but seemed to have a little more life in him then early in the day. I did check up before bed and he was happily swimming around the bottom of the tank slowly.
Well I woke up this morning and my little guy is up the top swimming with the group. Now I am not saying he is 100% but he is up and top dwelling at the back of the herd. He‘s colour is not as dark, he’s eyes are still quite dark and swimming is still slowish but what an improvement from the little guy I showed yesterday.

I am so happy, I can’t thank you enough. Not the best picture of him as they are such quick little guys but you can notice the difference

 

[Retired Viking]

I am glad he is doing better

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I'm glad to hear your fish is doing better.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Thanks guys

 

[Colin_T]

It's not over yet. His colour is still off and he could still die. Just keep the salt up and hope he pulls through.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

thanks Colin, he’s up swimming in the current of the filter with the others now. His pupil’s are still dilated and still a bit dark in colour, but he seems to be getting a bit of strength slowly. I will keep going with what you have specified.

 

[Aussie_Bristle]

Just an update, I went to do it yesterday but had my Cory spawning.
My little guy is doing great, he’s up swimming with the school. Hes a lot stronger and dances around in the filter current stream. His pupils have decreased and I can see his beautiful blue eyes again. I have been doing daily water changes and adding the salt as Colin advised to do. Thank you so much colin

 

[Colin_T]

Glad to hear he's coming good