[BANANAHANDS]

I'm upgrading from a 29g to a 55g tank on the advice of Kim, thanks kim! I picked up a good tank for a great deal on CL. I'm heading out the door after I type this to pick up a new filter for the larger tank. my question is, I'm dealing with a case of bloat in my 29g. It just seems to be one fish left that is still sick (red zebra). I want to cycle my new tank as fast as possible and was hoping to either seed the new filter with media from the 29g or to hang the new filter on the 29 and seed it that way. is this a bad idea? I don't want to have a bunch of sick fish in the new tank, I'm planning on adding more at the same time as transferring the old. My hope is that I can transfer over all my fish except the red zebra and use that tank as a hospital tank for now. I'm pretty new to fish keeping so this may be a dumb question .
Thanks in advance,
Khris

 

[cichlidaholic]

I wouldn't seed a new tank off of a sick tank. There is always the possibility that we're wrong on the diagnosis, and some illnesses are easier transmitted than others.

There is a product called Biospira that you can pick up to jump start the new tank. I've never used it, but others have had great success with it. You would need to monitor the water parameters and be prepared to do water changes as necessary, but I would rather do that than risk bringing illness into the tank.

Kim

 

[BANANAHANDS]

Ok, sounds like a good idea. So another question, how bad of an idea is it to move the fish over from the 29 to the 50g? I'm planning on leaving the sick red zebra in the 29g until it gets better. I'm also planning on adding new fish in with the the others when I transfer to the 50g.

 

[Robin]

Ok, sounds like a good idea. So another question, how bad of an idea is it to move the fish over from the 29 to the 50g? I'm planning on leaving the sick red zebra in the 29g until it gets better. I'm also planning on adding new fish in with the the others when I transfer to the 50g.

You're concerned that the red zebra might spread something to your new fish? Well if it truly had bloat and you let it completely heal up then there shouldn't be a problem adding him to the new tank. Bloat is thought to be brought on when naturally occuring intestinal flagellates get out of control when the fish comes under stress. So the trick is to get the red zebra in good health and then make the tank change as unstressful as possible so that none of your fish succomb to illness.

Even if it wasn't bloat, say if it was a bacterial or fungal infection--for the most part both of the these are oportunistic ailments--the fish only falls prey to them when the it's immune system is compromised by stress.

Nothing like a new tank! Good luck with it.

Robin

 

[BANANAHANDS]

Thanks for the info. But just to clarify, do you think it will be a bad Idea to transfer the other fish and leave the red zebra in the 29g? All of the other fish are completely healthy, eating normally. I really want to get them into the new tank, I'm seeing increased aggression. I'm planning on moving them to the new tank, letting them get settled and make sure they are healthy, then taking some of the fish back to trade in for probably other labs and maybe some Acei. I'm planning on changing stock to most likey yellow labs, Acei, and possibly Demasoni or some other blue fish. But all of my zebras are pretty aggressive.
Thanks,

Khris

 

[Robin]

Okay, sorry, I think I understand now. I thought the only fish left was the zebra.

I think it would be fine to move the healthy fish to the new tank and let the zebra continue to recover in the 29 and let the other fish get settled in in the larger tank before you make further changes. You're basically moving the sick fish to a hospital tank--something we always advise, only instead you're moving the well fish and leaving the sick fish.

The change to yellow labs, acei and demasoni also sounds like a good idea. The remaining zebra(s) may or may not do better aggression-wise with the changes. It might be worth a try to keep them in there but you just have to be ready to jump in and remove them if things don't work out. Always a tricky situation adding/removing fish.

Robin

 

[BANANAHANDS]

Thanks Robin. Thats exactly what I wanted to hear. The aggression is increasing so I really want to get them into the bigger tank. I'll also see about keeping the zebras as well they're some of my favorites. Thanks again!

Khris