Elyse Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 Hey all, I had my new red rainbows in quarantine for about 3 weeks before adding them to my display tank about 2 days ago. One of the females has some discoloration on the top of her head and is staying near the top of the tank. Not sure if she was just fighting or she has an infection. Pic below for reference. Should I pull her? All the other fish in the tank are eating well and acting normal. pH: 7.4, kH: 4, NO3: 50, gH: 8, ammonium and nitrites are zero 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 Yes, before anything pull that fish to a QT setup if possible. I would think that this fish has something that isn't easily recoverable. @Bentley Pascoe have you ever seen anything like this before? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 I'm worried it's columnaris... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 On 9/30/2023 at 9:33 PM, Elyse said: I'm worried it's columnaris... It looks a bit different than columnaris from what I have seen. @Chick-In-Of-TheSea has had pretty detailed battles with that disease in some black neons. When I look at the fish I see a sunken head and I see the yellowish discoloration on the head of the fish. Either that's something cause an actual deficiency in that region of the fish or it's something that targets that area of the fish I would think. I can't say "hole in the head" disease, but that's what I equate what I'm seeing to the most. I'll let other chime in that would be more in the know, but I just wanted to say "yep, please QT if you can!" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 On 10/1/2023 at 12:41 AM, nabokovfan87 said: It looks a bit different than columnaris from what I have seen. @Chick-In-Of-TheSea has had pretty detailed battles with that disease in some black neons. When I look at the fish I see a sunken head and I see the yellowish discoloration on the head of the fish. Either that's something cause an actual deficiency in that region of the fish or it's something that targets that area of the fish I would think. I can't say "hole in the head" disease, but that's what I equate what I'm seeing to the most. I'll let other chime in that would be more in the know, but I just wanted to say "yep, please QT if you can!" I was able to net her out and put her back in the quarantine tank. I'm just really hoping none of the other fish show symptoms. The electric blue acara in that display tank is really special to me... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentley Pascoe Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 Most typically when we see this discoloration in either the front or rear of the body it's due to nerve damage. Unfortunately, there's usually means that the rainbow isn't too long for this world, but that is not always the case. I would start with a light dose of salt, especially if you have a reef salt for the extra mineral content. Then you can do a very light medicinal treatment such as the med trio just in case it happens to be something else. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyse Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 On 10/1/2023 at 1:50 AM, Bentley Pascoe said: Most typically when we see this discoloration in either the front or rear of the body it's due to nerve damage. Unfortunately, there's usually means that the rainbow isn't too long for this world, but that is not always the case. I would start with a light dose of salt, especially if you have a reef salt for the extra mineral content. Then you can do a very light medicinal treatment such as the med trio just in case it happens to be something else. What could the nerve damage be from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 What I would do is quarantine and treat with kanaplex and aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 3 gallons just in case there's a bacterial component I agree that doesn't look like columnaris@Elyse 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentley Pascoe Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 On 9/30/2023 at 10:52 PM, Elyse said: What could the nerve damage be from? Usually with bows they go darting everywhere and don't pay the best attention to their surroundings and end up hitting something hard. I've had a few boys do this courting females. I always feel a little embarrassed for my dumb, but very handsome boys 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted October 2, 2023 Share Posted October 2, 2023 On 10/1/2023 at 9:32 AM, Colu said: What I would do is quarantine and treat with kanaplex and aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 3 gallons just in case there's a bacterial component I agree that doesn't look like columnaris@Elyse Seems too yellowish to be columnaris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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