glass fish & ich

[cindymairi]

Our tank has finally finished cycling *BOUNCINGS so we added two new fish today....

We now have two adult platies, two little baby platies(which I'm still assuming will be eaten sooner or later), an apple snail, and a glass fish.

I've never seen glass fish before, but the kids love it, so he's now in the tank. Anyway, I think he's got ich(white junk on the ends of his fins). I didn't notice until I was fixing to put him in the tank...so I dumped him out over the sink so I wouldn't add his water to the tank. Do I need to get medicine to add to the water so it won't spread to the other fish or will he just get well now being in a healthy tank?

Also, I wonder if anyone has experience with this type of fish...behavior/aggressiveness/environment & food preferences?
TIA!

 

[Seleya]

Which glass fish do you have? If they are Changa ranga (also Parambassis ranga with many variations of the name since it has been reclassified) they would be somewhat disk-shaped and very clear. This species tends to have a condition called lymphocystitis which causes the ich-like spots which are not ich. If they ever have lympho, they will continue to have those spots for the rest of their lives. AFAIK they should not pass it along to the other fish. From now on, you may want to quarantine any further purchases for at least 2 weeks before introducing them into your tank. Keep a close eye on all your fish for the next few weeks just to be sure it isn't ich.

Glass fish are typically considered a brackish water fish and prefer salt in their water but may do well in freshwater. They are a schooling fish, so you may want to get him some friends (but not too many since he's in a small tank) I've found them quite peaceful.

As for the platy babies, the odds are in their favor that they will survive so don't count them out!

One of the great things about this hobby is that the entire family absolutely can get involved. I have helped my nieces stock "their" tank, but with limitations and they have to do some research before it's brought home (now aged 10, 12 and 16 and know about every fish in ALL of my tanks)

 

[cindymairi]

it looks like this one (only the tips of his fins have little white specs on them)
Glass fish

OK, so I have a couple questions again... should I return the fish since I don't have room for a school of them and because he looks ich-y. Just to be on the safe side?

If not - will a little salt in the water bother my platies? Also, how little is enough?

 

[Seleya]

From your post, I am assuming the mollies are gone? Platys can handle some salt in their water, I am not sure how much salt apple snails can tolerate however so it would hinge on that. Snails and slugs can be killed by salt but I also have some snails which hitchiked in on some java fern still thriving in a brackish set-up with low salinity (1.005).

What you have is Parambassis ranga. If you'd like to keep him, get him 2 - 3 friends to school with and pretty much consider your tank maxed out for stocking levels. Otherwise, you can return him and look into other fish which might complement your tank as well.

 

[cindymairi]

yep, we lost the mollies during the cycling process - only came out of the cycle with one adult platy and 4 babies. Two of the baby fishies mysteriously dissapeared over the last week or so. I don't know whether "momma" ate them or what, but figured it best to get a couple more adult fish in there so she'd stop picking on them. She's also been pecking at the snail's antennae.

Anyway, thanks for the help. The more I've poked around the web, it really could be lympho so I'll just keep a close eye on the other fish. I really don't plan to add any other fish to the tank right now...well unless the little ones disappear soon

 

[Seleya]

One thing you can do to help save the babies is pop in some easy leafy plants such as hornwort (I find this can be messy however if it doesn't do well in your tank), anacharis, java moss is excellent, water sprite. If you give them some hidey places, some stand a good chance to reach maturity. I find, even in community tanks, if there are enough places for them to dart to for cover, you stand a good chance of some little ones succeeding. Fake plants work as well as live but I think once you try some easy live plants, you'll really appreciate the difference.