I find it kind of disappointing that you all are having such issues with ick from Rapps fish. He is built up as the "be all, end all" in central and south american cichlids and here you are having ick issues. Does he not treat his wild caughts before he sells them? I realize that anyone can get ick, but you all bought similar fish at the same time and they all have come down with ick. That is disturbing to me.
Aequidens metae and/or diadema
- Thread starter Mythic Figment
- Start date
I'm not alarmed by it at all. In my experience it is not unusual for fish to come down with ich after shipping during the winter months. This is the first time it has happened to me with fish from TUIC, but I've had it occur with other vendors over the years, and always in the cooler months. It gets noticed this time because it coincides with a popular thread that seems to have prompted a number of individuals to buy the same/similar fish at the same time. Given the way ich spreads, it would have surprised me if the experiences had been different among the people that bought these fish, myself included. I'm please to report that after a dose of CopperSafe the ich is already retreating (after about 5-6 days) - my three A. metae no longer have any spots and are doing great. None of the other fish I got at the same time from Jeff (Honduran Red Points, A. lyonsi) have come down with it. Rapps is still tops on my list of vendors. These kind of things happen now and again.
Ian
^ +1. There have been two occasions where I've bought fish from Rapps that have come in with ich during the winter months. I've also experienced this with two local sellers, in addition to some of the other online vendors (Wet Spot, AquaScape). It's why you should quarantine new arrivals and be ready to tackle any issues that arise. I usually catch it early when I see a few spots on the fins and begin treatment right away. Within a week it's gone.
Always quarantine, folks. Always.
Always quarantine, folks. Always.
^ Agreed. I've had it happen buying from the LFS this winter. 45 mins to get them home and a few days later they develope ich. Its been a brutal winter here in the northeast. I had put off an order from Rapps multiple times this winter because of the cold, but I knew I has to jump on those diadema because they very rarely come up.
The 20 long quarantine was looking a little crowded, so I moved the four 'JH' to an empty 20 long of their own last night and treated with Coppersafe. Soon after, I found a 'JH' on my floor flopping around. I scooped it up and back into the tank. It hung upside down for a couple seconds and I thought I had lost it, but it righted itself and darted to the bottom.
I came home from a double at work today and my roommate decided that many hours after the fact (she has my phone number and knows she can text me), she should tell me she found a fish (a 'JH') flopping on the floor and instead of putting it back in the $&@$ing tank, she threw it out!!! Pissed would be a huge understatement. Minutes later, my dog comes into the bedroom with a chewed up 'JH' in her mouth. At this point I am about to explode. I raced down to lowes and bought a cheap acrylic sheet, had it cut into four unmeasured pieces and put them over the 20 long to prevent further loss. I am more than a little upset by losing two $18 jumpers.
Unfortunately its day four and remaining two 'JH' ich have seen no improvements, so I did a 50% water change and dosed the tank at 2 tablespoons per 5 gallons and bumped up the heat. I might lose my mind if these guys don't pull through this mess.
The T. macs don't seem to have ich either, so at least the Coppersafe in their tank seems to be preventing the spread.
Edit:
And I too have seen a lot of fish come in with ich during the winter months. The lower temps of cold weather travel just stress them out too much and make them vulnerable to it. Not to mention I think this thread had Rapps scooping the Aequidens out of their bins left, right and sideways, which could have caused some additional stress. Rapps is still a high quality importer and definitely my favorite for quality. My only reason I don't order from him more is the fact that shipping and materials is $75 for me, so unless I REALLY want the fish or am going in on a group order, it just is too expensive to do too often.
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I came home from a double at work today and my roommate decided that many hours after the fact (she has my phone number and knows she can text me), she should tell me she found a fish (a 'JH') flopping on the floor and instead of putting it back in the $&@$ing tank, she threw it out!!! Pissed would be a huge understatement. Minutes later, my dog comes into the bedroom with a chewed up 'JH' in her mouth. At this point I am about to explode. I raced down to lowes and bought a cheap acrylic sheet, had it cut into four unmeasured pieces and put them over the 20 long to prevent further loss. I am more than a little upset by losing two $18 jumpers.
Unfortunately its day four and remaining two 'JH' ich have seen no improvements, so I did a 50% water change and dosed the tank at 2 tablespoons per 5 gallons and bumped up the heat. I might lose my mind if these guys don't pull through this mess.
The T. macs don't seem to have ich either, so at least the Coppersafe in their tank seems to be preventing the spread.
Edit:
And I too have seen a lot of fish come in with ich during the winter months. The lower temps of cold weather travel just stress them out too much and make them vulnerable to it. Not to mention I think this thread had Rapps scooping the Aequidens out of their bins left, right and sideways, which could have caused some additional stress. Rapps is still a high quality importer and definitely my favorite for quality. My only reason I don't order from him more is the fact that shipping and materials is $75 for me, so unless I REALLY want the fish or am going in on a group order, it just is too expensive to do too often.
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My guess is that the fish don't like the CopperSafe, hence the jumping. Either that or something is startling them and causing them to jump. Either way, a lid is a must.
Never experienced that before and I have used Coppersafe at least half a dozen other times. Either way, nothing I can do about it now. It's upsetting, but at least I still have two.....for the moment.
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Wild fish, stress from transport, new and strange surroundings, irritation from ich, and a small tank, probably not densely scaped, considering it's a QT tank, so I'm guessing not much cover in the tank-- not surprising that they're jumpy. Nothing to do with Coppersafe imo, which I've never seen bother freshwater fish.
Makes sense.
Well I looked the T. macs over last night and didn't see anything. This morning they are covered in ich. I have never seen it spread this fast.
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I had the same issue with Gunpowderaquatics back in January. I had the same issue back in 09 when I ordered from Rapps during winter months. I did no salt at all; just bumped the temps to 89*~ and let everyone ride it out in the same tank together for 10 days. Got real real bad for the first 4-5 days as the growth process is accelerated but at that temp when the trophs fall out they pretty much instantly die. I let it go a few more days just to make sure anything sneaky was killed as well.
Don't really feel it has anything to do with the vendor shipping them as it does the severe amount of stress during quite cold times, as has already been mentioned.
Just remember, Ich will always spread hella fast when you elevate the temperature. It's literally what raising the temp is meant to do, hasten the life cycle. My favorite saying "It's gonna get worse before it gets better" could never be more true than with Ich
Don't really feel it has anything to do with the vendor shipping them as it does the severe amount of stress during quite cold times, as has already been mentioned.
Just remember, Ich will always spread hella fast when you elevate the temperature. It's literally what raising the temp is meant to do, hasten the life cycle. My favorite saying "It's gonna get worse before it gets better" could never be more true than with Ich
