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I decided upon moving to my new tank, that I should try and diversify with the fish I keep. In this instance, I opted to expand on a pair of dwarf cichlids(Laetacara Dorsigera)that i'd had for some time. I obtained 4 more Dorsigera and 5 Laetacara Curviceps. These fish were obtained mail order, which I understand is far from ideal and as I don't have a quarentine tank this is obviously dangerous. However the source is reputable and I have had perfect fish in the past so I wasn't overly concerned. The Reds all seemed very healthy on arrival but the blues were all a little thin and tatty. The explanation being that they were wild caught.

The fish have been in the tank now for around a month and a half and the blues have never really been great. So far I have treated for Ich twice and have run a course of Pimafix and Melafix. Today I again noticed that 3 of the 5 blues have Ich again. My friend at the local LFS has recommended ESHa Exit and Hexamita as a kind of catch all.

My concern is that I have some old dear friends and one very expensive friend that have yet to succumb to the diseases, but I am concerned. I guess my question is should I remove these fish from the tank or should I continue to treat, in hope that they will find some stability. I don't really want to keep medicating the tank if I can avoid it.

I'd be grateful for any thoughts.

Cheers

Paul

I think you ought to divide the Laetacaras anyway, regardless their condition, because these fishes will certainly crossbreed.

regarding your more immediate queries, unhealthy fish do pose a health risk for healthy fishes: they are very vunaerable for deseases, and after attracting some illness, they will increase the numeber of pathogenes - to levels wich can attack the other fishes.

You should certainly not put healthy fishes in this tank, and even more certainly not catfishes, because catfishres are very, very vulnerable to many medications. I personally lost a group of wild caught (caught them myself in Urugua) Pimelodella to itch medications (Stupid, I should have known)

Last remark, you wrote about a trusted source, but also the fishes were wild caught, and obtained through mail order. I think a trustable source would quarantaine their fishes before selling them, but shipment through mailorder is very stressing for fishes. They should need a new quarantaine, if only to protect them against any desease in their new tank

However, the situation being as it is, do you have a third tank to medicate the ill fishes?

Hello,

I'm afraid I don't have another tank with which to quarentine them. My friend at the LFS has a number of tanks and has mentioned that he can take the blues and treat them. I'm lucky in many respects as he is a keen catfish person and has helped me out greatly with the appropriate medications and care. I have a syno etc, so can understand the importance of appropriate medications.

Alas my info on other fish is not great, hence the cichlid mix.

I've now got a 20l tank up and running and have the blues seperated. I'm running a bacteria medication, so hopefully they can get on the road to recovery. Does anyone have a quarentine routine or a best practice with introducing new fish?

Many Thanks

Paul

I am curious as to the parameters of the tank including temp. I have found that intrducing new fish when the water is at a lower temp is total recipe for ich. This was discovered after two mail orders of expensive plecs were almost entirley lost. On of the most successful treatmenta for ich also involves cranking, (in moderation, the temprature up and covering the tank to stop light from helping continue the lifecycle of the bug. Temp. is dependant on where you are starting from, if you are on the cooler side you won't be able to turn the heat up too much. A quick forum search should give you about a 1000 hits discussing ich remedies.

I run a 240l Juwel tank with an additional interpet filter acting as a backup/powerhead. Temp is 26/78 with Ammonia and Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20ppm. PH is 6.8 and I do a 10% RO water change each week.

I have read about the heat increase for Ich to speed its life cycle, but the medications I have been dealing with don't seem to require this. In many cases they dose initially then hold off for a few days to cater to new additions.

Currently the Blues appear to be treating well with the anti-bacterial treatment. Although I am concerned about adding them back now due to the breeding issue.