orandas

Question
hi nick!

i've been keeping orandas for over a year, and my old fish stock has been healthy for the past 7-8 months.

two months ago, i got a new 2.5 inch oranda. i quarantined her. nothing happened the first week. however she got ick the second week. i treated her for 10 days at 28C. the ick is gone.

i quarantined her for another two weeks, nothing happened. i put her in the tank for two days, and had to clean up the gazillion eggs she laid. she is in the tank by herself.

the problem: the raspberry growth on her head has loosened itself (but has not fell off her head yet) and i've never experienced or read about this anywhere! what's going on? is this a tumour inside her head?

she's eating normally but she just floats on the water surface. there are no physical sign except that i think she's having a bladder problem. she can't seem to stay at the middle or bottom of the tank.

the tank water has been fine for at least 6 months before i put her in. PH 7.3-7.5, ammonia: 0, i do 20% water change every week, nitrite: 0 plants: low light anubias and crypts, there is no sharp object of any sort in the tank

please tell me why her raspberry growth is loosened and why she only stays on the water surface

thanks so much for your time
you're doing a great job

huong:->

Answer
Dear Huong,
Thank you for sharing the oranda problem you're having. I'm thinking that the fish suffered some trauma between the fish store, the quarantein tank, and your main tank. Maybe there was a temperature change.
Tell me if I understand this right. You have had the tank for 7-8 months with just the plants, then you put the fish in there and it got sick.
In other words, there are no other fish yet.
One thing that could help is biology. Fish do not like fresh water from the bottle (don't use tap water because it contains chemicals). The fish need friendly bacteria to help them eat, breathe, and maintain their coats. I suggest that you buy some "Cycle" and follow the directions on the box to add it to the water. Keep it in the refrigerator and add a little whenever you change the tank.
I also discourage the use of fish store medications to treat ick. The best thing is plain old "Stress Coat," which is just an aloe vera formula. That should be in your tank anyway, but try putting a few drops directly on the fish's head when she comes to the top. Repeat every 3 days for a total of 3 treatments and that may cure her.
Try Cycle and Stress Coat, forget about all the other meds, don't move the fish again (it will just stress her out). If worse comes to worse, I encourage you to try again.
Please write back if you want to discuss further.
Also, limit her diet to 3-4 fish flakes a day. Overfeeding is the leading cause of fish loss.
Sincerely,
Nori