Red Hook Has Red Spots?

[finchfarm]

My Red Hook (Silver Dollar family) has had red spots on his scales for a long time now. I've tried to find out what might cause this and haven't had any luck. I just found this forum a few a few days ago, and just now thought about asking.

We first bought our Red Hook from a specialized fish store some 3-5 years ago. When we first got him he was about the size of a quarter. Now he is about 6 inches long, if not bigger. Maybe 6 months to a year after we got him he developed red splotchy patches on the silver portion of his body. The red splotches are not raised and they do not have any different texture than the rest of his body. The red splotches are just there and don't seem to bother him any at all. Our pH is consistently at 6.0 and water temperature ranges (depending on temperature outside) from the low 70s to mid 80s. Right now the tank is at 75ºF. The water is soft and nitrates are good. The only thing I could think of when the spots developed was that he is a very skittish fish and has a tendency to "flip out" when he sees a fast movement and will ram himself into the sides of the tank. Other than that I do not know what would be causing the red splochiness. The red spots are on both sides of his body, but they seem to be brighter and more of them on his right side. Any input?

I'd take pictures of him and post them, but we don't have a digital camera or a scanner.

 

[LisaLQ]

I'm sorry I'm no help - but it might help if you post your tank size, tank mates, ph/ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings?

Also I doubt a fluctuating temp is ideal for pet fish (although when you think about it - there's no thermostats in the wild lol), do you not have some kind of heater in the tank to keep it constant?

Red splotches could mean lots of things, but possibly an infection of some form. But I'm not best to answer health questions as I dont know much.

Do you only have the one then? Because you'll find they're much happier and less stressed in groups of 5 or more, obviously depending on tank size

 

[finchfarm]

The tank he is in is 75 gallons. I'll probably do some ammonia, nitrate, ect. tests later as the ones on hand probably aren't acurate. I'll be posting some up to date ones later. We do have a heater, but its not hooked up to the tank. We've just heard horror stories, and have had them happen to us, where the heater has over heated and fried the fish. Is there a specific brand you recommend that isn't as prone to having problems?

In a way, the Red Hook is buy himself. He is the only Red Hook in the tank, but we also recently bought two real Silver Dollars (same family), not sure if that counts or not though. And I have been considering purchasing more Red Hooks and/or Silver Dollars.

 

[finchfarm]

Well, I have some test results. Our test kit is really old and we were missing one of the cards that they use for the hardness to determine the valutes. It lacked one of the tests you mentioned altogether, and the bottle for the ammonia tester was on so tight that it couldn't be opened with a wrench. Sometime this weekend I'll have to go out and buy a new test kit, but I'll give you the results I did manage to get:

Tank Size: 75 gallon
Tank Temperature: 75ºF
pH: 6.0
Nitrate: 0

I tested the hardness but I was missing the card for it to tell how to read it but once mixed it came out an extremely light/pale yellow color. Looked on the internet for water hardness test strips and didn't even see a yellow color on depicted on any of them......and the ammonia testing kit wouldn't open.

Looks like I get to go to the fish store again this weekend.

 

[mnbyiuopre]

Usually light yellow is around zero for test kits.

 

[LisaLQ]

Hmmm interesting that the nitrate is zero - yep, I think you may need a new test kit. Unless your tank is heavily planted, there should always be a nitrate reading.

Was it the GH or KH that came out yellow? Our KH comes out yellow, and it means it's 0-1 which is extremely low - and can cause ph crashes (which might explain the ph of 6?).

Buuuut. I wouldn't worry too much til you've got a new kit and tested with that - as it might all be out of date

 

[severum boy]

Dont worry about the Red Hook, one of mine to has red spots, but they dont worry her. It is really nothing to worry about and cirtanly not a water problem.