I lost a few dollars (he says as an understatement) on rainbows not too long ago. Those telltail rectangular plaque sores appeared, and the fish died. I'm going to pretend they are all Australian, and all I can see are photos.
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Rainbowfish and fish TB
- Thread starter Wills
- Start date
For Rainbows,you might need a UV light. The only way to be worry free. I saw one on ebay new for $150 to handle 200 gallons or so. These days diseases from the breeder or wholesaler are much more common for many fish with Rainbows being particularly prone seems to me. Oscars are fine as usual.
UV can slow transmission of Mycobacter, but does nothing to help fish already afflicted. In most cases, transmission is in the farm, not in the home tank.
A trick used is to put bows in new clean tanks with new clean mops and spawn them. Incubate the eggs with uv running, and raise the fry in UV filtration. Then put them into new tanks with new media, sterilized (UV) plants, etc. People have reported breaking the cycle of Myco transmission by doing that. However, you're stuck with a colony of young fish that live in forever quarantine. Add a pet shop fish to their tank, and you probably add tb.
A trick used is to put bows in new clean tanks with new clean mops and spawn them. Incubate the eggs with uv running, and raise the fry in UV filtration. Then put them into new tanks with new media, sterilized (UV) plants, etc. People have reported breaking the cycle of Myco transmission by doing that. However, you're stuck with a colony of young fish that live in forever quarantine. Add a pet shop fish to their tank, and you probably add tb.
OP
OP
This is my point, if TB is unavoidable with Rainbows then should we be keeping them? I don't want to breed them, I just want the display tank and I don't want to introduce TB into the tank and risk spreading it to my other tanks. Though I suppose it is likely already in my other tanks....
Wills
Adrian Tappin (ANGFA and the rainbowfish e-book) did pretty much that (minus the UV) and apparently got clean fish.
The e-book has a lot of info in it about fish TB but I can't copy sections out of it and nobody from the admin side of this forum has responded to my question about me uploading a copy of it here. But I do have a copy of the e-book. Unfortunately it's 193MB so don't know if I can email it to anyone.
If you know someone who has some fish that haven't developed gill tumours or ulcers, and have been alive for 3 or more years, then you could get eggs from them and you should have clean fish.
Where does @Stan510 live?
OP
OP
But then if I added a second species of fish that almost certainly means they are back at risk right?
yes
You could try to contact the German rainbowfish association or the IRG (might be the same place). They have a lot of members that are right into rainbowfish and might be able to send you clean eggs.
regenbogenfische, rainbowfishes, poisson arc-en-ciel, johannes graf
homepage, dokument, webpage, page, web, netz
www.regenbogenfische.com
Heiko Bleher collects a lot of rainbowfish from New Guinea and breeds them at his fish farm. I don't know if he would send eggs but he might know if there are clean fish available to send to the UK.
This link is from ANGFA in Australia. It doesn't have much unless you want to join ANGFA and get the newsletters and Fishes of SAHUL.
The last link is Adrian Tappin's. It's worth a bookmark
Melanotaeniidae and Pseudomugilidae
A website dedicated to Rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea
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OP
OP
Does this just apply to the bigger species or Rainbow or can Forktails and Pseudomgils be in the same situation? Just thinking we have even more keepers of those species on this forum than things like the Melanotanias?
The Pseudomugils probably have the same issue but they are generally short lived (2-4 years) so if they do get TB, they might die from it or old age and nobody would know. But I don't recall losing any of the Pseudomugils I had to TB so they are probably less likely to have it.
OP
OP
Is there any difference between the three larger species? Or is it across all of them?
I haven't seen an Iriatheri werneri here I would buy for at least 15 years. Threadfin rainbows are one of my favourite fish - one I used to breed. But they look bad and I tend to suspect tb. I have seen no signs with blue eyes though. They are grouped with rainbows by the hobby, but technically aren't rainbows.
Blue eyes technically aren't rainbows? I got a group of red neon blue eyes the other day, so truly curious! What are they, if not rainbows? I believe you! Just new to this world and fascinated.
@Wills it's a really good question and well worth asking. I'd be rethinking the dream tank too, in your shoes. As gorgeous as the rainbows are, I know the nicu is your star that this is going to be built around.
@AdoraBelle Dearheart - the scientific crew in rainbow world get very upset when you include blue eyes as rainbows. The two groups went their merry genetic ways a long time back.
In the hobby, we throw them together and I don't think that matters at all in a practical way, but if you get into any serious study of the group, it does.
In the hobby, we throw them together and I don't think that matters at all in a practical way, but if you get into any serious study of the group, it does.
OP
OP
Sorry Colin for some reason I only saw the word 'yes' when I replied yesterday haha - this info is absolutely amazing! I've asked in a group that I know there are a few top Rainbowfish in - Gary Lang et al - only had a few responses and they are both people saying they are giving up after loosing fish over a period of years. Gutted but think I'm going to swerve them, really thought I'd found the holy grail for me but not going to work.yes
You could try to contact the German rainbowfish association or the IRG (might be the same place). They have a lot of members that are right into rainbowfish and might be able to send you clean eggs.
regenbogenfische, rainbowfishes, poisson arc-en-ciel, johannes graf
homepage, dokument, webpage, page, web, netzwww.regenbogenfische.com
Heiko Bleher collects a lot of rainbowfish from New Guinea and breeds them at his fish farm. I don't know if he would send eggs but he might know if there are clean fish available to send to the UK.
This link is from ANGFA in Australia. It doesn't have much unless you want to join ANGFA and get the newsletters and Fishes of SAHUL.
The last link is Adrian Tappin's. It's worth a bookmark
Melanotaeniidae and Pseudomugilidae
A website dedicated to Rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinearainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au
Now to decide if I want to stick with my plans of Central American Cichlids (specifically Nicaraguans) or make a switch and go for a Malawi tank... I have an amazing rift shop not too far from me - never been as not sure if its by appointment. But this is only 30-40 mins from me. http://kevsrifts.co.uk/
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