A Sick Fish

[keithh143]

hello all, I'm new to this so forgive me if this is a silly question.
 
just started me tank, and added fish about a week ago.
we have 
2 angel fish
1 bala shark
2 white skirted tetra
 
one of our tetras has started to act a little funny, and is staying away from the other fish.
today we noticed he had some inflamed scales.
 
from what I've read it could be dropsy. however I'm not sure.
 
any help would be wonderful,
TIA
 

 

 

[fluttermoth]

Hi there, keith, welcome to the forum.
 
I'm going to ask a few questions, just to get a better idea of what's going on.
 
How big is your tank?
Did you add anything to the tank to prepare it for fish?
Have you got any water test kits; if so can you post the numbers for ammonia and nitrite?
 
Your skirt tetra is what's called 'painted'; although they're not at all painted, they've had dye injected into them through a syringe, in a process similar to tattooing. In the absence of any other issues, I suspect that might have caused the fish's problems, as it looks like the loose scales and lumps correspond to the injection sites.
Many fish don't survive the dying process at all, and those that do commonly have a significantly shortened lifespan along with a whole host of other heath problems directly related to the process. I can only encourage you not to buy these dyed fish in the future.
 
 
I know this isn't directly related to your question, but I feel I ought to mention that;
 
your tank is almost certainly not cycled, so you should have a look in the 'Cycle Your Tank' sub forum for more information on that
skirt tetras are very nippy, if not kept in a group of at least six, so your two are going to cause big trouble for the angel
bala sharks grow very big and also need to be kept in groups; you'd need a six or eight foot tank to be able to keep it healthy and happy.
 
I'm really sorry I sound so negative We see beginners with issues very similar to yours all the time, I'm afraid

 

[keithh143]

first off I wanna say thank you Fluttermoth.
 
as far as the question 
my tank is 15 gal.
we did add jump start (part of the fish tank kit) as well as natural fin cycle.
I do not have a test kit right now. we did have our water tested before and right after getting the fish. and everything was ok.
 
however that was about a week ago.
 
I did not know the tetra was "painted" that hurts my heart a little to know the fish get subjected to that.
I will never buy those again.
 
it's sad when you go to a fish place to buy fish and ask "ok how many and what types of fish can I put in my tank"
and they give bad advise. I've been doing a lot of reading, and I just feel stupid for matching the fish I have up.
 
as far as the bala shark, the pet store did offer to take him back if he gets to big. 
 
thanks again. 

 

[Blondielovesfish]

to the forum.
 
Like fluttermoth said, you white skirt tetra is painted, which is most likely the cause of its problems.
 
Unfortunately, your tank is too small for the bala and the angels sorry.
Bala sharks are a schooling fish that get over a foot long, they need tanks that are at least 14 feet long (a lot of people think they can be in smaller tanks, but they're very active fish).
Your angels need tanks that are at least 20" tall, usually these are 30 gal + tanks.
 
The best thing for you to do is take all of your fish back to the store from where you bought them.
The white skirts are almost guranteed to have a short life and the bala and angels need bigger tanks.
Once you have returned the fish, have a read of the cycle link in my signature, I recommend that you follow those steps. Once you have cycled your tank, come back here and we'll give you a good stocking plan
 
Although your LFS said they will take the bala back if it gets too big, it never will, as it will succumb to a problem called stunting. Stunting is where the fish doesn't reach its full size, its body will stop growing but often its organs won't. The fish often become deformed and it is very painful for the fish. Fish that suffer from stunting also in most cases have severely shortened life spans.
The same might happen to your angels unfortunately.
 
Sorry that this sounds so negative. Always make sure to research your fish before you buy them