I Think I Have A Sick Fish! Help

[jbrady5979]

Hi i have a new tank i set up about a week ago. I recently put 3 fish in and waited to see how they did then they were doing fine so i got 3 more and they were doing fine. I have a red tail shark, a rainbow shark, 2 dalmation mollys (male and female), a female red velvet sword tail and a pleco, all my fish were bought small no more than 2 inches long. i have a 10 gal tank with plants a med rock like cave, a small castle, a small rock cave and small dragon set up apart from eachother 1 airstone and a brand new water fall filter. My red tail shark seems to have slowed down and is turning gray ish and his tail is white during the day. the rainbow shark seems to be recenly chasing him but seems to be playfl and the other fish seem to be fine except my female dalmation who was once white and black is now turning a pale yellow and black but i think shes pregnant. i recently did a 40% water change and slowed the feeding from 3 small times a day to 1 med good pinch. what should i do now any help would be great thank you.

 

[grogdog]

Hi i have a new tank i set up about a week ago. I recently put 3 fish in and waited to see how they did then they were doing fine so i got 3 more and they were doing fine. I have a red tail shark, a rainbow shark, 2 dalmation mollys (male and female), a female red velvet sword tail and a pleco, all my fish were bought small no more than 2 inches long. i have a 10 gal tank with plants a med rock like cave, a small castle, a small rock cave and small dragon set up apart from eachother 1 airstone and a brand new water fall filter. My red tail shark seems to have slowed down and is turning gray ish and his tail is white during the day. the rainbow shark seems to be recenly chasing him but seems to be playfl and the other fish seem to be fine except my female dalmation who was once white and black is now turning a pale yellow and black but i think shes pregnant. i recently did a 40% water change and slowed the feeding from 3 small times a day to 1 med good pinch. what should i do now any help would be great thank you.

have you cycled the tank yet? when you say you set it up a week ago do you mean putting water in and then fish?

 

[fluffycabbage]

ok - was the tank cycled? if not, you need to take some drastic action now. do you have a test kit? if not, you need to get one today, and test the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. i think you'll prob end up having to do a 90% water change - you could have extremely high levels of toxins in there!

 

[fluttermoth]

You will need to read up on 'fish in cycling' I expect, as just setting up a tank and leaving it for a week will not have prepared your tank for fish.
In the meantime, lots of regular water changes, with dechlorinated water, will be needed to keep the toxins, like ammonia, from reaching dangerous levels.

As well as that, you will have to re-home either the Red Tailed Shark or the Rainbow shark; both these fish are very territorial and see each other as a threat. They cannot be kept together. It may look 'playful' to you, but it is aggression.

 

[WILDER]

Take the sharks back to the lfs the tanks ways to small for them. Also they won't get along together.
What type of pleco is the fish.

I agree with the above posters read up on the nitrogen cycle.

Immediate water change and increase aeration.

 

[Athena]

Fish can lose their colouration due to stress - and both sharks will be feeling the stress of being in the same tank, as well as having to deal with the likely high toxin levels in the water due to stocking too many fish too quickly in an uncycled tank.

As others have said above, one of the sharks needs to be returned to the LFS, unless you have another tank set up that can home him.

Don't worry, you're not the only one to make these mistakes - I did it myself years ago (as I'm sure many others have done), so I'm speaking from experience of doing it incorrectly.

RT sharks and Rainbow sharks are territorial and don't usually tolerate another shark species in such a small tank area. When they are tiny, sometimes they appear to be ok with it, but as soon as they start to grow (and they will grow to around 4 - 5") they become aggressive and not only towards the other shark but towards other fish in general. So even with just one in your tank you still need to watch out for this behaviour when it grows bigger because it will chase and bully smaller fish. Hence why my Rainbow is now in a tank on his own!

Regards - Athena