Lethargic harlqeuin rasboras

(Excuse the typo in the subject line—d'oh!)

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 10 gallons
How long has the tank been running? This is a cycled quarantine tank that has been running since 11/13/21
Does it have a filter? Yes, sponge filter taken from our main 29 g tank.
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 78˚ F
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 9 harlequin rasboras that were just purchased and added today (12/29/21)

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? Weekly
How much of the water do you change? 25%
What do you use to treat your water? Prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Bare bottom QT with just a sprinkling of sand leftover from a previous QT

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes, this is a cycled QT
What do you use to test the water? API Master Test kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0-5
pH: 7.4

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Typically 6 days a week, skipping 1 day. Have not yet fed these fish, as they were just purchased.
How much do you feed your fish? Very small pinch
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Hikari vibra bites and Tetra tropical flakes
Do you feed frozen? No
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? No

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? Just purchased today
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? When we added them to the tank.
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? 2 of our 9 rasboras seem lethargic and are not schooling with the rest of their tankmates. One of them seems to have slightly clamped fins, and the lower tail fin is missing the tip. This fish mostly stays in the same third of the tank, swimming slightly forward, then being pushed backward and repeat.
Have you started any treatment for the illness? We've dosed with 1 packet ParaCleanse. We treat for parasites preventatively when we buy new fish.
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? Presumably yes, as we just added them to the QT
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? No change in behavior.

Explain your emergency situation in detail.

We purchased 9 harlequin rasboras today from a local pet store. As we were floating the bag in our quarantine tank to acclimate them to their new environment, we noticed that one of the rasboras was acting somewhat lethargic, and its fins seemed a little clamped. They've been in QT for a couple of hours now, and two of the rasboras seem to have mostly separated from the otherwise active school, swimming slowly in the corner of the tank—swimming forward, then drifting back, forward, drifting back. It looks like one of them had the tip bitten off its tail (not surprising after being in a tank filled with a variety of tetra species).

We treat all new fish preventatively with ParaCleanse, so they received 1 packet today. (This is our first time buying from this store, and I'm not sure how healthy their stock tends to be.)

At the moment, our plan is to continue the course of ParaCleanse and continue to monitor during the 4-week quarantine period, but is there anything else to do at this point? This is my first time noticing a sick fish so soon after purchasing; I'm hoping they will perk up, but also trying to accept that I may lose them!

 

The first fish might be suffering from clamped fins. This is unfortunate that this happened so soon. I’m not sure about the second one. It just may be super stressed or somthing . Also, they could be getting bullied. My Rasbora started hiding when he was being bullied . ( just a suggestion of what could’ve happened)

 

How long have you had this fish? Just purchased today

Fish need time to acclimate. Give it a few days. If they still seem off you bought sick fish.

We treat all new fish preventatively with ParaCleanse, so they received 1 packet today.

While I am all for quarantining, I'm against preemptive medication. Fish have a better chance of acclimating when not immediately confronted with meds that are a stress factor by themselves.

The first fish might be suffering from clamped fins.

Clamped fins are only a symptom of a whole array of dieseases and parasites.

 

Dude . You can search every link . ( not Wikipedia) and find some what good answers. Then you can come back here and discuss it with fish lore ppl

 

Again, this is not why people come here. Those that ask here want answers from people with experience, tailored to their problem or specific question.

 

I am experienced with many fish. I ve owned many tanks for a long time .
I know what I’m talking about
Really. U reported me!

 

I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about what the people that come here want. And I didn't report you, mods edited my post aswell.

 

Thank you for the advice, and apologies to have hit a nerve. As a beginner, I always do my research but find it most helpful to get advice from more experienced fish keepers. I realize that we’re all (for the most part!) kind of shooting in the dark when it comes to fish diseases, and I appreciate the patience that the regulars of these boards have when faced with the same questions. Be well.

 

Fine by me.

 

My harlequins had been doing well for the past week—swimming together actively, eating regularly, no more clamped fins—but last night as I was getting ready for bed I noticed some tiny white dots on one of their tail fins. And this morning, I'm noticing those same dots on two more. Dun dun dun...sounds like ich Time to do some more research. I've got a bottle of Ich-X on hand, but I've never used it before. (I am also reading that you're not supposed to use it with Seachem Prime, which is the only water conditioner I have :\)

 

(I am also reading that you're not supposed to use it with Seachem Prime, which is the only water conditioner I have :\)

Means you do a waterchange beforehand, wait a few hours, then you can use the med and then you don't do anything until the treatment is done. After the treatment you can (and should) do a big waterchange and of course can use the conditioner afterwards.

Funnily enough all dechlorinators are Sodiumthiosulfate, so this applies to all waterconditioners.

 

Means you do a waterchange beforehand, wait a few hours, then you can use the med and then you don't do anything until the treatment is done. After the treatment you can (and should) do a big waterchange and of course can use the conditioner afterwards.

Funnily enough all dechlorinators are Sodiumthiosulfate, so this applies to all waterconditioners.

Thanks. In the pinned post "How to Administer Ich-X for Beginners," it looks like Hikari Solutions said that Prime was not safe to use, but API Stress Coat and Hikari Ultimate were OK. I am pretty useless when it comes to chemistry, but is this a case of the manufacturer just wanting you to use their own product, or is there a significant difference between the Seachem and Hikari water conditioners?

 

As far as I know almost all conditioners use the same active ingredients no matter what manufacturer.

So it can only be a legal thing or marketing. Probably both.
If it's not safe to use with a common product of another company, it would count as unsafe here and not get a licence.
If it's just marketing it would fall under the "no defamation of competition by name"-clause in European law. Means they could only put "not for use with products from other manufacturers" on it and that would be a whole other can of worms.

I just looked it up because I always forget their ingredients. Yeah, great. 2% Methanol. That was the reason why it's not available here, I remember. Animal health and general safety regulations.

 

Just to close the loop on this thread, we ended up treating our rasboras for 5 days with Ich-X (and 30% daily WCs), which effectively cleared the infection. The lethargic guppy that I'd noted in my original post, still wasn't looking too great (sunken belly despite feeding regularly) at the end of the treatment, so on week 4 of quarantine we dosed again with ParaCleanse. As of today, he is looking great! His lower tailfin seems to have grown back, and his belly looks more full/regular. Still smaller than his schoolmates, but I think we're out of the woods. I'm looking forward to adding these fishies to our main tank this week.