Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
Injured Rainbow
- Alan86 (Alan86)
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there is another rainbowfish with some fin damage too tho hes not nearly as bad!...
do you reckon they just had a fight?....no other fish in the tank are hurt.
and any ideas what i should do now?.....
Thanks guys
Alan
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- JohnH (John)
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I would venture to suggest that is a male Boesmani, if your other is a male too it could be that they've been 'at' one another...it does happen...
Although I think that fish also has some finnage decay and some fungus developing too, I would suggest a quite large water change in your tank after swabbing the fishes' affected areas with a quite strong salt solution with a cotton wool bud, repeated after a couple of days if symptoms haven't improved.
There are medications available no doubt you'll be advised of what to use, but the salt should do the trick - in my view.
John
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- Alan86 (Alan86)
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Going to do a large (40-50%) waterchange now.
Rather than trying to catch the fish nd keep him steady to swob him would it be easier/ possible to take the fish out of the tank and give him a salt bath in a seperate tank?..nd if so how exactly should i go about this?
Thanks
Alan
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- JohnH (John)
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If you aren't happy swabbing the fish them make up a fairly strong saltbath (with Sea Salt or Tonic Salt for preference) say two teaspoonsful for around five litres of water (use dechlorinated fresh water sooner than water from your tank, but at the same temperature as the tank water).
Put your fish into this bath for around five minutes, but if they start to show signs of stress, especially going over onto their sides remove the immediately! Douse them into some fresh water then return to the tank.
I personally don't like this way of treating as the whole fish gets immersed into the saline solution when as likely as not it's only the fin degredation and small amount of fungus which needs the treatment, to deter further fungus from occurring and remove the existing bit.
I'd be happier if you did do the swabbing but just keep a wary eye on things if you don't.
Repeat this until it has fully cleared up.
Can I ask: has someone been feeding the fish while you were away? If so and they might have overfed a bit your water change is imperative, probably needing a repeat in two days' time.
I hope this works, keep us informed.
John
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- Alan86 (Alan86)
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heres a (kinda crap) pic of it.

Yeah my dad fed them for me while i was away, hes normally pretty good at it to tbh, once ya write out the instructions for him!
ill continue swobbing him daily. and do another large water change on monday.
Should i do/add anything else?
Alan
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- JohnH (John)
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Keep it up daily until the fins start to grow back then you can reduce the regularity.
There are other things to try but hopefully you've caught it in time so we'll see how this treatment progresses.
Keep us informed.
John
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- Alan86 (Alan86)
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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Malachite green is the proven treatment, its the green colour you get in some medications, it tends to make the silicone go green and the green water clears to clear within 24 hours,
another treatment is the organic aquarium treatment as the claim to treat fungus to



That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
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There are several other treatments on the market that don't have these drawbacks. Tetra, JBL, EsHa do very realiable products. Personally I would stay away from any Interpet or King British medications. IMO they are most useless
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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- Alan86 (Alan86)
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Thanks again guys!
Alan
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- JohnH (John)
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Since the fungus has returned I should leave off the salt treatment.
I don't have any knowledge of Pimafix but I seem to remember Anthony saying it was only Tea Tree Oil?
If you can get Malachite Green locally (in liquid form, PM Fr Jack) follow what he tells you.
Sorry the salt didn't work, but it has worked for me in the past - honest! (I wouldn't have suggested it otherwise).
John
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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While I would stockpile malachite green it will take too long to get from Spain to Ireland to be of any use in your case. Go with an off the shelf remedy. Tetra Fungistop, JBL Fungol or EsHA2000. They all will get rid of the fungus. I do agree with Anthony that Primafix is pretty much useless.
I have quote an whole array of medicines in the past, all have been dropped of at the Feb ITFS meeting, and I mean all types, its just a PM away (Ireland) :wink: nod nod.
That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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- apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
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I have quote an whole array of medicines in the past, all have been dropped of at the Feb ITFS meeting, and I mean all types, its just a PM away (Ireland) :wink: nod nod.
Fr Jack, the candyman of the fishkeeping world :!: :!: :!: :!:
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- Mr Algae (mralgae mralgae)
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sorry to hear about your rainbows not good when you come home to something like that.
you say HER & HIM are they male & female? and how many do you have?
it is best to keep 2 to 1 ratio females so the female dosnt get bullied as much for mating.
ive been keeping rainbows for 18mths and never seen anything like what yours have, even when they do nip at each other its never bad. what other fish do you have in with them? could they be being bullied by others for some reason?
see if this link to raibows helps you any.
members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Contents.htm
May your fish be with you:
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- Alan86 (Alan86)
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Bit of an update on things!...Firstly the fungas on the male is growing more than ever, tho he seams ok other than that! [PM sent to fr.jack]. The injured female fins are nearly repaired, and no sign of any fungus on her!
Iv been Continuing the Water every 2nd day for the week. going to cut back now. Was doing a WC 2 days ago i took out the juwel filter to clean off any heavy crap on the top white sponge, and found the spounge to be covered in eggs! Im guessing they got to be from the rainbows since theres only 3 rainbow, 3 Clown loach, 2 Glass cats and bout 8 Ottos in the tank!...have another 3 rainbows waiting to be put in too..(just waiting to sort this out first!)... im doutful that they will hatch, however i took them out (on the wool) and put them in a seperate tank just incase! ill keep yas up to date on them too!
Thanks again!
Alan
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- JohnH (John)
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If they are Rainbow eggs they take an age to hatch so give them time.
I'm glad you picked up on Fr Jack's message, reckon he should be able to help you out there.
All the best,
John
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- Anthony (Anthony)
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It cured it completely. 6.5 t/spoons of Aquarium salt to 5 l of tank water.
Bath for about 15 minutes. If he turns sideways the remove and place back in tank immediately.
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- Alan86 (Alan86)
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Alan
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- Anthony (Anthony)
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Think ill give the salt bath a shot this evening!...ill let yas know how it goes!
Alan
Keep us posted.
Give him another one tomorrow too.
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- Tetra (Tetra)
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- Alan86 (Alan86)
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Thanks again guys!
Alan!
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- Anthony (Anthony)
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Did you bath him. What cured the problem may I ask?
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- Alan86 (Alan86)
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- Sean (Fr. Jack)
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I gave him a few salt baths. whatever fungas that was on him at that time fell off during these. Also treated with some Whitespot meds that contained Malachite Green. Id say this Stopped it fully but the Salt baths def spead up recovery!
A very diplomatic post, its interesting that some have said malachite green is banned in Ireland, I believe you can buy it combines with other drugs as a white spot treatment, e,g the brand Sera "Costapur" has a lot of malachite green, this is what I have used in recent years to save making up my own malachite green and risking lung cancer.
That would be a ecumenical matter!!!
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