Rainbowfish Slime Coat or something else?

WaterBaby

Senior Member with Senior Moments
Sep 23, 2002
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Florence, New Jersey
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So, I had the eye problem with my female Angelfish, who by the way is back in the big tank, and her eye looks no better (maybe slightly worse but her issue may be related to this thread).

Now both my female bosemanis are ill. Only the females. One is hovering either in a corner (not eating) and the other has what looks like a whitish peeling film over her body and fins. She is swimming around at the top of the tank, sometimes in circles. She eats a little. Both look dazed and confused.....this has been all week and I see no red patches or ulcers. Just this white haze.

When I checked my water parameters, most were good: pH 7.0, no Ammonia, no nitrites. However, nitrates were what I consider high.... looked to me in the 50-80 range. Now I do 25% water changes every week and nitrates are always 5ppm, so I asked myself what was different. Well, I shut down my daughters tank and moved all her fish to my 90 gallon. I guess I added 8 fish (2 glowfish tetras, 3 cardinal tetras, and 3 glowfish danios. These fish came from an established tank, (no disease ever). Maybe my tank did a mini cycle, but all the other fish in my 90gal are ok (except for that Angelfish with the eye problem). The other thing different is that I have been dosing my tank with flourish and excel because my plants were looking icky. Could dosing the tank with ferts raise the nitrates and could this be the problem?

I'm also afraid it might be something else........ So I have been doing water changes every day this week. I swear, I think I have done a 100% water change by now and the nitrates have come down to maybe 10ppm (so hard to read that card). I even tested my tap water and it's 5ppm, so it's not the tap.

What do you think? Slimecoat or disease?

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Well, the fish whose picture is above has passed. I took her out and this is what I see. Maybe a little redness below and pale gills. Is this normal?

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Second one just passed. This one had no white coating and no visible red spots or ulcers. Just need to watch the others. By the way, I did quarantine them.
 
What water conditioner do you use before adding tap water? Almost looks like the effects of being exposed to chlorine or chloramine. I'm not sure how the gills look post mortem. Redness can be from exposure to ammonia as well.
 
Usually use prime but bought API because they didn't have prime. I wonder why only the female bosemanis? That's what is puzzling me. Actually bought Prime again before I put them in the q tank since it detoxifies.
 
There's a risk any time new fish are introduced into a tank. Maybe something was passed from fish to fish. I'd isolate the effected fish into their own tank if you can. Feed them lightly, crank up the heat a bit and do daily water changes to see if it speeds it along. If it's bacterial it typically will. If it's viral, heat will make the symptoms worse.
 
If the fish werent used to nitrates that high then a sudden rise might cause the redness in the gills and the slime coat kind of peeling is indicative of the exposure as well. At least in my experience. I also doubt the angel fish is related to this, as the symptoms were very different.
 
If that's so, could the nitrates have risen that much due to me dosing the tank with flourish and excel?
 
I haven't experienced that, but you could test it by holding off on dosing for a couple of weeks and testing the nitrates.
 
I have already stopped. Thought the same thing. I am still testing like a crazy person though.......(every day.....)
 
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