Cycle Fish Looking Abit Ill...

[hoarp001]

Hi,

Im cycling my tank with 6 unidentified fish. I did see what they were called but i forgot soon after. They are about one to two inches long, silver body, red belly and red back section of body with a black tail. Il try to get a pic tomorrow.

One of them has a nasty red sore just behind his gills and he looks abit sad, spends most of his time at the back of the tank in a dip in the gravel. One of the other fish keeps swimming over to him to see how is doing (which i thought was quite cute )

They are going back to the shop on friday, im only using them to cycle the tank before i put the red bellies in, but just wondering if maybe one of the other fish had nipped him and he was just slowly recovering? hes one of the smaller ones, about 1.5inches long and one of the larger fish likes to chase the other ones and maybe was abit aggressive towards him?

he came out of his hiding place today for a swim around so i think hes recovering.

any ideas?

 

[WILDER]

Stats would be good in ammonia,nitrite, when you use fish for cycling a tank it takes its toll on the fish as they have to go through the ammonia and nitrite process, it takes it toll on the gills and also can cause the fish immune system to shut down.
If the red sore could get infected and it could be a bacterial infection due to bad water quality.
Please remember the name of the fish you buy its very important, i would suggest a water change, and i suppose you cannot issolate the sick fish for treatment.
I would describe the fish in tropical chit chat there bound to be someone over there that can name the fish.

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hdgilld.htm

 

[hoarp001]

the levels are pretty good

0.1mg/litre ammonia
0mg/litre nitrite
50mg/litre nitrate which is steadily rising.

The waters ready for the proper fish, hey are all perfectly happy and healhy, swimming about and eating properly. very active and interested in stuff, come over to see you when you looki n the tank.

Its just the one fish thats being abit moapy...

 

[WILDER]

If you are cycling a tank the stats will get worse, and if the fish are not coping now, well not good news i'm afraid.

 

[hoarp001]

no, but they are coping. they are all fine accept one and its nothing to do with the water, im pretty sure one of the other fish has nipped him.

the levels are fine...

 

[WILDER]

Red gills are a sign of poor water quality or gill flukes, i would try and take a look behind the gills to see if you can see any parasites.
It would be easy to answer a question about a fish if you knew what type of fish it was.

 

[hoarp001]

ok, il have a look tomorrow. what am i looking for exactly?

its odd that none of the other fish seem to have it though....

 

[WILDER]

I would take a look here.
http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/flukes.shtml

 

[hoarp001]

Well they are definatly not discus or angel fish, the water is cryscal clear, no slime or anything on the tank...

Plus i can see that the red patch iso n the flesh, its not a red thing attached to the fish...

 

[WILDER]

Any fish can suffer from gill flukes it a parasite, it causes the gill to be red and inflamed, they will also try to rub the gills on plants and ornaments, also might notice fish trying to peck at the gill area.
Once they are infested with them they will labour breath.
See how he goes for now, but bad water quality can cause the gill to look inflamed, fish that need excellent water quality will soon suffer from red gills.

 

[hoarp001]

Hmm... that dosnt explain why one fish has got it and the others are fine. they are all the same breed of fish....

 

[hoarp001]

Said fish is now a functioning member of society again and joining in with the rest of them.

He seems fine now, his red sore has gone down too.

 

[JoanneH]

Why ask questions and then question the response ... Wilder is one of the most knowlegable people on this forum, and very helpful!

Glad your fish is better though!

 

[hoarp001]

I dont doubht that he is, but without photos of knowing the breed of fish I cant rely 100 percent on his advice. im sure he would say the same thing.

I just thought it was odd that one of them had this problem and none of the others did.

hes better now though

 

[JoanneH]

He's a she, by the way I like your tank