Brymac1

Female red panda barb

This looks like a case of flukes. I would treat the tank with praziquantel.

Does not look like dropsy. I have seen guppies “explode” when the eat too much before. Could this have happened?

Looks like the stability worked then

If it is an infection you should notice a big difference in appearance within a week.

You can treat all at once in a display or quarantine tank. But it doesn’t look like an infection to me.

If it is an infection (which I don’t think it is) I would treat with malachite green (ich-x), kanamycin (kanaplex) and neomycin (neoplex).

I’ve had many rainbows that get this and most of the time it is not an infection. Also if you treated with maracyn, it doesn’t cover fungal or gram-negative bacterial infections.

Looks fine to me. Rainbows will often get a white color to their lips. If it starts to spread you might want to consider a fungal and bacterial treatment.

4 months with no fish is plenty of time for all dangerous parasites, bacteria, or fungi to die off. So I wouldn’t bother replacing it. Just make sure that it is cycled before you add new fish to it.

Depending on the meds you are using, the water changes are to make sure that their concentrations do not become too great. The carbon will just strip out all of the meds within hours of adding the meds.

The carbon will remove the meds so do not use it.

I wouldn’t shut the canister off at night. The lack of circulation and oxygenation would likely kill most of the bacteria living on the canister media.

I am in the process of upgrading my 46 gallon reef to a 200 gallon by Pro-Clear Aquatic Systems. I am documenting the process here. This is my current tank: This tank is currently running on an aquatop canister, HOB skimmer and HOB refugium. I am using a 150w maxspect razor for lighting and Jebao wavemakers for flow. The new system will be a 200 gallon system by Pro-clear aquatic systems. The dimensions are 60”x26”x24”. This tank is using the built in sump with, filter socks, Red Sea 600 skimmer and a refugium lit by a kessil H80. I am using a Sicce 5.0 for the return, as well as an aqua clear HOB filter as my carbon reactor. The display is using 3 kessil a360x for lighting and 2 icecap 2k gyres for flow. The cycle on the new tank has already started and as soon as it finishes, I will be moving the coral and rock from the old system into the new system to begin my 36 day fallow period. The current fish will be moved into a separate quarantine system for 6 weeks to eradicate any illness from the main display. ^This is the QT tank I plan on stocking this new tank with the following: 1 yellow tang (already have) 2 ocellaris clowns (already have) 1 six line wrasse (already have) 1 blonde naso tang 1 yellow belly regal tang 1 Caribbean blue tang 1 harlequin tusk 1 niger trigger 1 snowflake eel 5 lyretail anthias I know this is not a saltwater forum so I hope it is okay that I am posting this here. If anyone has any questions just let me know!

I prefer to keep them at 86 degrees Fahrenheit. But anywhere from 82-88 is good.

If these are the only fish you plan on keeping in the tank and you maintain good water parameters, then they will be fine in a heavily planted 10 gallon for the rest of their lives IMO.

Hey everybody! I’m new to this forum but I’ve been a part of many other forums in the past. I’ve been in the hobby for about ten years and for five of those years I’ve worked in a fish store. I am much more of a reef hobbyist than a freshwater hobbyist but I still look forward to helping out with your freshwater questions! Here are some of my tanks: