Upon returning home, noticed that, in a 20-gallon tank
of five praecox, one was wavering in mid-water, one
was at the bottom of the tank. The next day, when I
began to address the problem, the one which had been
at the bottom, was dead, the mid-water waverer was on
the bottom and another was wavering in the mid-water
range. Partial water changes from a barrel of seasoned
tap water, pretty much daily at 30% - 35% - 40% - 40%
reversed the trend, though the second fish died. The
shimmying fish returned to health and fry appeared in
numbers at the tank's surface within a few days.
I never knew exactly what the problem was; though
nitrite poisoning was a pretty good candidate.
Assuming that the problem isn't fish TB, improving the
water quality enables immune systems to rescue
rainbows, sometimes, from neglect.
Interestingly the illness pretty much followed the
pecking order in the aquarium. The more dominant
rainbows remained in better health. The least dominant
male was the first casualty.
Quarantining is often a good thing. Will the
quarantine tank have better water circulation and
quality? Is there any way to get that water
temperature below 78 degrees F/26 C ? That temperature
in itself may be enough to do in the rainbow. (Lob
some ice cubes in a plastic bag into the aquarium?
Small bags of ice could be used to gradually drop the
temp. Frozen water bottles have been used the same
way.)
You may be in an area where you have had power outages
from Hurricane Ophelia. Challenges of that sort may
help explain why your rainbow is ailing too.
If your power filters were out too long, they can go
sour or anaerobic. Sometimes it is better to just dump
them, rinse and restart. Aquarium bacteria can
recolonize them fairly easily.
Hope something here is of use.
All the best,
Scott
--- ssselman <ssselman at yahoo.com> wrote:
---------------------------------
I have sick Adult (5+ inch) Inornata male fish.
For last 3 days, Its swimming close to the top,
breathing heavy and
not eating.
I have separated the fish in smaller tank where water
is 85F and it
Have moderate plants in it.
Any idea what's happening and if there is anything I
can do to
cure
the fish?
(Located in Raleigh, NC)
Thanks,
Regards
Selman