It is the curse of Rainbowfish. Other fish do get it of course but rainbows
seem to be especially susceptible and especially trifasciatas and of the
Trifasciatas especially Goyder Rivers.
Cary is correct in his advice IMO. The thing is that the other fish may
have it lying dormant and held in check by their immune systems., When the
fish come under stress for a sufficient time e.g. overcrowding, not enough
water changes, too low or too high pH for that strain, too high a temp for
too long, too much fat in the diet, not enough vegetable matter in the diet
etc (sometimes we can only guess for that particular fish what the
particular metabolic stress was that triggered the outbreak) then the
fish's immune system can't hold it in check any longer and out it comes.
Dan try cooler conditions, lower from 80's to low 70's, feed more vegetable
matter, and lots of water changes, as well as isolate the affected fish if
you can as the ulcers are shedding TB bacteria into the tank and can be
infecting others (if they aren't already infected) as well as the risk to
you especially if you have any skin breaks.
Regards,
Bruce.
bhansen at ozemail.com.au
----------
> From: caryho at ix.netcom.com
> To: rainbowfish at pcug.org.au
> Subject: Re: [RML] Rainbow ulcers
> Date: Saturday, 6 December 1997 15:42
>
> In The Dawn of the Third Age "Simon, Dan" <dan.simon at attws.com> woke
> me from my contemplation by writing:
>
> >Well, my tank seems to be infested. I separated my Boesemani and now I
> >see that two of my Trifascitas have a raised ulcer area. Not sure what
> >to do. I'll be devastated if I lose my entire stock.
> >
> >
> >Any help is appreciated. Thanks,
> >
> >Dan Simon
>
> Change water, change water and change water. That's the only thing
> I've ever seen to put it into remission. I do have a theory, that it's
> the dropping of pH due to biological wastes that brings it on. I had a
> batch of tri's pick it up this summer, due to my laziness. They ate
> like pigs, didn't get enough water changes, and I wasn't watching
> closely enough. Well they're back on schedule with water changes and
> the ulcers have disappeared on all but one fish. This fish just barely
> has it now. Of course I've also started up a new batch of fry just in
> case. When I talk water changes, I'm talking these fish now get 75%
> per week. Over the summer they only got 50% every 2 to 3 weeks. This
> is by no means a cure only a remission. Once it starts that seems to
> be the best you can hope for.
> good luck
> Cary Hostrawser
>
> My Rainbowfish Home Page
> http://pw2.netcom.com/~caryho/home.html
>
> Rainbowfish Study Group Web Page
> http://home.stlnet.com/~gwlange/rainbowfish.index.html