Post by waternoodle on Jul 20, 2019 13:29:52 GMT -5
I have two harlequin rasboras that I am treating for columnaris. This is the last day of the second round of Furan 2/Kanaplex, and while one seems to be improving (maybe?), I am not sure where to go from here. I would be very thankful for any advice.
This is how they looked when I first noticed it and got them out of their tank. You can see the white spots on the tail of the second rasbora- that is her only symptom. The tail spots appear to be raised. The other rasbora's spot is flat.
They live in a 5 year old community tank, a 20 long, fairly heavily planted. I've had the rasboras (6 total, down from 8 due to jumpers) for about 1 year. All fish get along well. I have sidthimunki loaches, Y. cruciatus loaches, kuhli loaches and a clown pleco. Nitrates are 50. pH was 8.2 a few years ago- I haven't checked it in a long while because my kH was so high that my experiments in what it would take to lower my tap's pH showed that it took a high ratio of RO water. I don't remember the kH number. I suppose I should invest in some new testing kits. I believe the stress trigger was this: My substrate has a heavy mulm buildup in the under layers and my loaches are always digging, creating floating particles in the water column. I tried to vacuum the substrate under the top layer, moved the hardscape, and created a big mess in the water column. I didn't change enough of the water after I was done. 3-4 days later, these guys have white spots. All other fish are healthy and active.
The sick rasboras have been QT'd in a 1 gallon tank with sponge filter, Indian almond leaves, a mini wonder shell, 2 tsp salt, Stress Guard, and furan 2/kanaplex combo. This is the last day of their 2nd round of meds. 77 is the lowest temp I can get the tank to. For the last week only, they have been getting a 30 min bath once daily with the same ratio salt, double strength methylene blue and a swab with merbromin. Both fish are stressed but still active. Their appetite is normal. One appeared to have trouble swimming- his tail end hung lower down , but he is since swimming normal. This is them now:
The top rasbora looks the same on his other side. The bottom's tail appears to have been stained by both/either the methylene blue and merbromin, but it is only stained on one side. It is still upraised.
I am not sure where to go from here. Do I put them back in the main tank? I have a breeder box I could use for them if so. Do I try another type of medication? The only others I have on hand are Paraguard, melafix, and doxycycline. I can order more, but it will take time to get here. Should I leave them in QT with salt, stress guard and daily baths until there is more improvement?
