HELP! Feeder fish possibly diseased

[borracho]

So, I went to PetSmart and bought 5 feeder fish that were 19 cents each. I was done with the fishless cycling and went to buy some tetras, but the store had these feeder fish that looked like tetras, except these were pretty plain light silver with a single faint stripe across their bodies. I forgot what it said on the label at the store, but does anyone know what I'm talking about? They are very similar in size and shape to the neon tetras except for the colors. I do not believe that they are a type of goldfish.

Also, I am just reading that feeder fish often carry diseases, and I'm concerned about these because I want to add tetras to my tank soon. I have some concerns:

Concern 1: I noticed that about 2 of the fish sometimes rub their gills against the gravel in a quick downward swooping motion. Is this a disease (ich or gill flukes)?? Also, one of them was quite bloated in the stomach area, but it is not anymore. And they have stringy white poop, which I'm reading is caused by internal parasites.

Concern 2: If they do carry diseases, can it manifest in the tank itself?? It has been 2 days since they have been in my 10 gallon tank, but I have removed them for now and did a 90% water change.

 

[Newman]

I wouldnt ever do the feeder fish method (no matter if they are goldfish or tetras or anything else). You dont want the risk of diseases sprouting in your tank. some parasites and diseases can survive in the tank, long enough until you introduce new fish.

Try to get rid of the feeders, and clean as much of the tank and stuff in it, without disturbing the filter media in any way. you dont want the bacteria youve been growing to die, and have to cycle all over again. keep the filter media wet always, and never put untreated tap water near anythinging the tank.

as for concern one, sounds like fluke.

 

[borracho]

So, does fluke come out of the fish and hang out in tank by itself? The fish don't have any visual defects and seems pretty normal other than the gill thing. I'm just worried that I have to take out everything in the tank, clean the whole thing, and start the fishless cycling all over again. I've been doing it for 2 months already.

 

[Newman]

is there a reason you couldnt just buy some cheap tropical fish other than the feeders? you coulda avoided the whole disease thing ( most of it)
Fluke might be able to do that, im not sure. its best to be safe. get rid of the feeders asap.

 

[borracho]

is there a reason you couldnt just buy some cheap tropical fish other than the feeders? you coulda avoided the whole disease thing ( most of it)
Fluke might be able to do that, im not sure. its best to be safe. get rid of the feeders asap.

Well, I went to the store to buy some neon tetras or zebra dinos, but they had these feeder fish that are shaped just like the tetras. I thought they looked kinda cute, and thought I was doing them a favor.. until they started scratching themselves. I've removed the feeder fish last night. I'm gonna just let my fish tank cycle for one more week in hopes that the parasites will starve to death if they are in there.

So much for trying to be nice to the fish.. Between the fishless cycling for 2 months and "rescuing" these feeder fish, I'm wishing that I just did an in-fish cycle from the get-go.

 

[JRB__]

What are your ammonia, nitrite & nitrate readings atm? If your near the end of your cycle there are alot of fish that'll survive the final stages.
You should have gotton the zebra danios, they're a tough lil fish that alot of people recommened for the fish-in cycle method.
As far as the parasites etc surviving in the water... its possible but once the cycle has completed, do 80% w/c's for a few days and it should take care of it.
Good luck!

 

[borracho]

After I removed the feeder fish, I did a 90% water change. While changing the water, I disturbed the gravel in an attempt to stir up any bad things and fish waste (they produced a lot of waste in 2 days) to be scooped up in the water I was taking out. I'm not sure why, but I now have high nitrite that is very slow to go down. 4-5 ammonia goes down to zero in a day and maybe a half. Ammonia and nitrite were going down to 0 from 5 ppm after a day before the feederfish disaster, but I must have lost the bacteria colonies or something when i stirred up the gravel. I resumed fishless cycling for a few days now. I will get eh zebra danions next time!!

 

[borracho]

Well, I think everything is fine now. I now have 5 Zebra Danios and 3 Cherry Barbs. I must say that they are fun to watch. The Danios are really frantic though, and the female Cherry Barb already laid eggs in my tank. I doubt any will survive, though, except for 1 that I manage to save and put in a separate container!

 

[Newman]

careful here. how big is the tank? danios need more space than most other fish. and you should keep the barbs in a group of 5 or more. Are these gonna be your permanent fish? and good luck with the egs hatching. they will in 24 hours and in a few more days the fry will be swimming

 

[borracho]

I have only a 10-gallon tank. These will be my permanent fish, and they are all I'm going to have. I can't keep a larger tank in my apartment, so when I'm out of school and in a house, I'll get a larger tank!

I think the danios would probably do better in a much larger tank as they swim around a lot compared to the barbs as you said, but they stay on the top, and the barbs stay on the bottom, so it kind of works out for them. I have a male barb, and he kind of carved out a territory for himself in the corner around the Java Fern. Funny little bugger.

 

[OrangeCones]

I thought they looked kinda cute, and thought I was doing them a favor.....
........So much for trying to be nice to the fish.. Between the fishless cycling for 2 months and "rescuing" these feeder fish, I'm wishing that I just did an in-fish cycle from the get-go.

Just for future reference, BUYING a fish with the intent of rescuing it just fuels the industry. Its like buying a puppy from a puppy mill. Sure, you MAY rescue the one puppy, but you're putting money into the hands of those that will continue the horrid practice, and allow more mistreatment to be done.

 

[Newman]

sure lets all boycott the trillions of feeder tetras out there in the trade. maybe well save them all.

JOKE

 

[kenny1tothe6]

Just for future reference, BUYING a fish with the intent of rescuing it just fuels the industry. Its like buying a puppy from a puppy mill. Sure, you MAY rescue the one puppy, but you're putting money into the hands of those that will continue the horrid practice, and allow more mistreatment to be done.

Yeah, great. Thanks...

I rescue feeder goldfish both common & comets, along with rosy red minnows & fathead minnows [and the occasional sunfish] all the freaking time, They do great for the most part!

It's great to see someone actually took an interest into helping improve the lives of innocent fish who have an undetermined, but probably horrible, fate, and then you say they shouldn't and that they subjected more to die. If we stop rescuing feeder fish, why don't we just boycott the whole hobby, it's all inhumane. So why buy any fish? Because unlike you, I actually care. I can help my portion of the world, and I encourage others to do the same.

I'll tell you what...In addition to all my tanks, I've got 9 cats. All were rescues.

Is that inhumane as well to take in a cat that's laying on the side of the road crying in horrible pain, dying of hunger & thirst, taking them home, giving them water & food, getting them strong enough to go to the vet, taking them, getting their shots done/tests/spayed/neutered? That's basically what you do with rescuing feeders other the the fact they aren't as expensive to get fixed up.

Replies like this is why I've almost stopped coming to these forums. You people are so freaking self-righteous.


Grow up

Kenny

 

[OrangeCones]

Because unlike you, I actually care. I can help my portion of the world, and I encourage others to do the same.

I'll tell you what...In addition to all my tanks, I've got 9 cats. All were rescues.

Is that inhumane as well to take in a cat that's laying on the side of the road crying in horrible pain, dying of hunger & thirst, taking them home, giving them water & food, getting them strong enough to go to the vet, taking them, getting their shots done/tests/spayed/neutered? That's basically what you do with rescuing feeders other the the fact they aren't as expensive to get fixed up.

Replies like this is why I've almost stopped coming to these forums. You people are so freaking self-righteous.


Grow up

Kenny

No idea where you get the idea that I don't care for the fish I have. I just don't advocate PAYING someone to continue the practice of inhumane fishkeeping. If you want to, or anyone else wants to, that is a personal choice to make. The poster said he brought in disease to his fishtank and 'removed' the fish. I wonder what happened to them now as he said he has only one 10gallon tank?

As for the rescuing cats, I also have done that, and have personally taken in and nursed dozens of cats (and dogs) back to health over the years. My current cat is one whose mother was killed while eating out of a dumpster and I spent the money to take her to the vet (who couldn't save her), raised the 1 week premature litter of kittens the vet delivered by c-section, and fed them round the clock until they were weaned and able to be found homes. When the lady that adopted one kitten called me almost a year later and said she couldn't keep the cat due to moving, I took her back in and she's been with me over 18 years now.

No need to take an OPINION to a personal level and say I don't care for animals. You have no clue what I've done in my life to better the lives of animals I've come across.

I've made a lot of friends and we can continue to talk in PM and by email. I won't say anything else "self-righteous" that may cause you to stop coming here. Enjoy the forum.

 

[kenny1tothe6]

Ok...this is not a personal attack. Seriously. I have nothing wrong with you or anyone else.

I have a problem with these so called experts spreading around all this crap other people have to read. It hurts to know that so few people take into consideration the lives of feeder fish [that aren't that different then a 200$ koi] and so few actually care, who are supposed to be fish lovers!

I sit and watch some feeder tanks, and I almost cry watching a few hang to dear life. It's nice to see people helping out animals then get told they are making other fish suffer. This cycle isn't going to stop even if we all boycott it because most people don't give a *s* about the lives of the animals, just that they are making money, and people will keep buying them to feed to Arrowanas & Oscars. I'm sick of that stuff continuing to circle the hobby.

Lets just say as an ex., some one buys a 5gal Hex with 3 goldfish, what will happen? If they ask about a problem, they will get flamed and told they are stupid and they got the wrong fish.

It may be true, but still, they were atleast trying to get some fish to keep them happy and want only the best for their "babies". Once again, Fancies, Shubunkins, Sarassas, Commons/Comets [aka feeders], & koi aren't all that different, just because someone thinks it'll help save others we should stop buying them. What will happen to the ones we leave? Most likely, they'll die. Atleast they have an ok chance for survival if we attempt.

As with the blah tetras, I've seen people buy neon tetras from the same type of tanks as feeders, same with rosie reds/fatheads, yes, they are horrible conditions, but I do like that some people try.