New Dojo Loach issues...

[Batch]

Hi Nerina,
Take some gravel (or whatever the substrate is) from our established/cyc;ed
tank. This will help (alot) with the cycling (ie ammonia) of the new tank. If
possible, also use some media from the filter of the esablished tank (as mentioned before). And if you have extra plants toss them in the QT tank also.... Hope this was of some help.

Batch

[Diana]

All of Batch's ideas are good: any of them will help the new or quarantine tank to cycle.
Beware of tossing these things back into the main tank, however. Even if you have killed whatever parasite/disease/other issue in the quarantine tank, I would not trust these items to not carry the disease, or the medicine back to the main tank.

So add some plants, but perhaps just some trimmings, or something you are willing to throw away. Add some filter media, but either keep it in the Q-tank, throw it away, or sterilize it before putting it back in the main tank... and so on.

[Nerina]

Okay, as of today two of the fish seem calm and happy though still timid. One has started flapping his gills like crazy and has me worried. I know its not ammonia buildup or lack of oxygen because of my tests and that the other two look perfectly normal. What could be going on here? He was the one jumping around like a madman yesterday and was generally freaking out. He literally leapt from one tank to the other in the store! It was crazy.

When I get home I will take the media from my HOB at my established tank and cut the material down and put it in the new tanks filter. Could I take some gravel and put it in a shallow glass bowl set it in the quarantine tank or should I place it right onto the tank bottom? Also, I have stress coat…should I add anymore of this? I added some yesterday to dechlorinate a gallon of the water…but haven’t added anything else.

Sorry for the barrage of questions….I just don’t want to lose anymore of these fish after that last fiasco. *Crosses Fingers*

Glad you all enjoyed the pics. I will take more and post them later on.

Nerina~

[Nerina]

Tonight I changed out 25% of the water from the quarantine tank. 2 gallons of that water came from my established tank and the rest from dechlorinated tap water. Two of the fish still look good and the third appears to be declining. He is lying on his side, gills flapping, and I don't even see him trying to swim.

I am concerned that if he is sick this could affect the two healthy fish?

I took some of the filter media from my established tanks HOB and cut it to fit in the slots for the new filters mesh media slot. It fit perfectly and hopefully had lots of beneficial bacteria. I am going to add some gravel later this evening.

Not sure what else to do at this point...the one fish has me worried, but I don't know where to go from here because I can't figure out what’s wrong with him.

Thanks all,
Nerina~

[Nerina]

Not to keep posting over and over but I was looking at my fish just a minute ago and I am starting to notice more gill movement on the other two fish and what appears to be ich. I am seriously starting to wonder if all this gill movement is gill flukes?! Should I start treatment? I have Ich Guard II, Quick Cure, and Maracide concentrate on hand.

I have a bad feeling that these fish are sick with something more than ich and I don't want to lose another set of fish. Any advice on how to proceed would really be appreciated.

Thanks,
Nerina~

[helen nightingale]

good luck with your dojos. i cant say much about them, as i have never kept them.

Diana asked about whether you tested the water the fish came in. sometimes it is very different from your tank water, it can take a lot longer than an hour to aclimatise the fish.

some fish stores are good and they can tell you the water parameters before you go, so you can match your Q-tank to the store water, and gradually change it over time. i have used my q tank to adjust water from the store, which was cold and very hard and alkaline, to quite warm and soft, with a low pH. i did it over months. if i had acclimatised the fish over an hour, i am sure i would have lots of problems.

in less extreme cases, it can still take a long time of tipping small amounts of water in to the bag. sometimes it can be easier to use a bucket, as you can fit more water in a bucket, and there are no wrinkles of plastic for the fish to get their heads caught up in.

another method is to use a bucket with a drip made of airline, to add tank water one drip at a time.

[Nerina]

Well, the one dojo didn't make it...he almost looked like he had a slimy substance on him, possibly a fungal infection. I started the other two on Maracide and Maroxy on Tuesday. I perform a water change everyday using 2/3 of the replacement water from the main tank and 1/3 fresh water with stress coat. So far they are still hanging in there. One seems to be looking well and the other could go either way. Neither seems to be having adverse reactions to the meds, so that’s good.

I am unsure if fungal issues are involved and how to tell the difference between a true fungal infection, like maroxy treats, or body fungus, which would require maracyn. After the treatment period is up for these medications if I do not see an improvement on the one fish I will try maracyn, but hopefully it won't come to that.

As to the acclimation process...I did not realize that the acclimation process could be that extensive. I always read that at least an hour of adding small amounts of water every 4/5 minutes was sufficient. I will take more precautions in the future, but honestly can't see myself preparing the quarantine water over a period of months. Sometimes when I find a fish, like these dojo's, it’s been a long time searching and they aren't readily available...if I waited months, there is a very good chance they won't be available again from that LFS.

I appreciate all the information and will try to improve my methods for any future additions to the tank.

Nerina~

[helen nightingale]

sorry to hear your sad news. i hope the others will be fine. best of luck

just to clarify, acclimatisation isnt always that lengthy. sometimes the shop water is quite close to your own water, sometimes its miles off. and i had the fish in q for months gradualy changing the water, rather than preparing the tank for months. the owner didnt know what the fish was, and had him in very different water to that of my tank, so i set up the tank as close to the shop water as i could, brought him home, and then slowly changed the water.

my tanks are soft water and the local water is very hard, so sometimes that can be easier than a very lenthy accliamtisation into my normal tanks (quarantine issues aside). acclimatising new fish isnt something i enjoy