Criminal Ryukin in prision

[Curious George]

made some amateur mistakes on my first tank with 3 Ryukin and a
common. They got sick so I got to learning fast and have brought them
back (mostly) from very poor condition. Problem is one of the Ryukin
(that didn't get very sick, is now very strong with the medicines, etc
& now harassing still weaker, healing fish (both common & Ryukin.
They're looking poor & now missing parts of fins.

So I put him in jail; a five gallon bucked with aged, dechlorinated,
aerated water and a little salt. (The same thing worked wonders
-overnight - for the common to get him to relax & heal from not
getting beaten up all the time). Is there any hope of having my bad
boy (strong swimmer, bright reds, with beautiful flowing fins) join
the group or should I expect that it will strike again even after they
are fully recovered & should keep him isolated. FWIW his fins were
nipped when I got him. I assumed he got a little fresh with someone
in the store tank. If it could grow back it'd be beautiful.

TIA

[Daniel Morrow]

Bottom posted.


"Curious George" > wrote in message
...
> made some amateur mistakes on my first tank with 3 Ryukin and a
> common. They got sick so I got to learning fast and have brought them
> back (mostly) from very poor condition. Problem is one of the Ryukin
> (that didn't get very sick, is now very strong with the medicines, etc
> & now harassing still weaker, healing fish (both common & Ryukin.
> They're looking poor & now missing parts of fins.
>
> So I put him in jail; a five gallon bucked with aged, dechlorinated,
> aerated water and a little salt. (The same thing worked wonders
> -overnight - for the common to get him to relax & heal from not
> getting beaten up all the time). Is there any hope of having my bad
> boy (strong swimmer, bright reds, with beautiful flowing fins) join
> the group or should I expect that it will strike again even after they
> are fully recovered & should keep him isolated. FWIW his fins were
> nipped when I got him. I assumed he got a little fresh with someone
> in the store tank. If it could grow back it'd be beautiful.
>
> TIA

How big is the tank/container you normally keep him in?

[Curious George]

On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 17:56:50 -0700, "Daniel Morrow"
> wrote:

>How big is the tank/container you normally keep him in?

a relatively new 10 gallon tank. I think was probably the initial
problem; a water quality issue from adding too many fish, already
stressed from the petshop, too fast to too small a tank with a poor
filter. I may have also bought one of them with ICK but was too
clueless to know what to look for. I goofed & believed the local
petstore instead of doing homework.

I'm looking a bigger tanks. It would be exciting to get a 55 gal tank
and watch them grow. Maybe add another when it is appropriate.
Presently one is in the filtered 10 gal tank. The other 2 are in 5
gal buckets with aged, dechlorinated, aerated water with aquarium salt
& an additive for the slime coat. All are young & about 1.5" long
(minus tails).

I have a problem because I need to keep them healthy until a new large
tank can support them. I guess I need another temporary tank, but
even that will take time to cycle and I don't want them any more
stressed then they have already been. :( (any advice is welcome) I
don't care whether I got quality fish or ripped off. I'd like to know
how to make & keep fish healthy.


But again, is it likely that fish would resume picking on the others
if I reunite them after everyone is healed & strong? i.e. Is this
behavior just a matter of "taking advantage of weakness" or is it
socially learned like dogs, etc. who will remember who they used to
pick on or who used to dominate them?

Sorry for the length of response. Appreciate the help.

[Gail Futoran]

"Curious George" > wrote
[snip]
> I have a problem because I need to keep them healthy until a new large
> tank can support them. I guess I need another temporary tank, but
> even that will take time to cycle and I don't want them any more
> stressed then they have already been. :( (any advice is welcome) I
> don't care whether I got quality fish or ripped off. I'd like to know
> how to make & keep fish healthy.

Once you have a tank cycled, it's relatively simple
to "cycle" another. You can move filter material
from the cycled tank to the new uncycled tank. Since
good bacteria are on everything, you can also move
some gravel over (can't recall if there's gravel in your
tank), decorations, etc.

A good temporary tank is one of those Rubbermaid
or Sterlite (or other manufacturer) large plastic
containers. Everybody sells them (big box stores
like Home Depot and Wal-Mart as well as smaller
mom-&-pop stores). I've used a 20 gallon when
redoing my 10 and 20-gallon tanks. Move almost
everything over from the established tank to the
temporary tank (some gravel, all decorations,
floating plants, driftwood, filter, most of the water)
before moving the fish. They don't seem to know
the difference! The fish don't care that they can't
"see out". :)

I'd definitely use a new container so you're certain
nothing toxic to fish has been in it. The containers
cost US$7-10 and are useful for a lot of things.

Gail

[Curious George]

Thanks. What a relief!