Hi Fishkeepers,

I'm fairly new to keeping fish and have noticed a few problems with a 3 of my fish.

I have a 48l tank containing 6 Danios, 4 Platys, 2 Paradise Fish and 2 Catfish (Bottom Feeders). The tank was set up 01 September 2011 and I let it cycle for almost 3 weeks before adding the fish.

2 of the Platys have lost an eye and become very thin and 1 of the Paradise Fish has developed a lump under his chin but doesn't look sore.

After the Platys had lost their eyes I sort advice from P@H and they said there was nothing to worry about as they were feeding fine. Then they started losing their scales and had open wounds on the same side of their body as the missing eye so again I sort advice from P@H (different store) and they advised using Melafix. I have not long finished the course of Melafix and they're scales seem to be growing back and the wounds are healing but they seem to spend a lot of time staying still.

The Paradise Fish seems to have only developed this lump during the time I was adding Melafix to the tank, apart from this he seems to be his normal self. I was wandering if this was anything to do with the 2 Paradise Fish trying to breed as lately they have been splaying their tales a lot and the male blowing bubbles.

I get the water tested regularly and am told all levels are spot on.

Any help will be greatly appreciated

Hello Gaz, welcome to FK

I’m afraid that anyone who has kept Paradise Fish will tell you that they are territorial grumpy fish and I fear they are responsible for the loss of the eyes.

Ideally, they are better housed in a species only tank and FK usually recommends a min of 88 litres to create some space for the fish to get away from one another. Ideally they need to be moved to a separate tank. Here is the care sheet for them:
http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/modules/ ... sheet.php?caresheetID=203

The blind fish should still be able to find food and with good clean water, the wounds should heal and some addition of Melafix will assist.

The other problem though is that the platy and catfish (a photo of said catfish for us to ID would be helpful) need much warmer water than the other fish, here they are treated as tropical so their health will be compromised long term if this is not addressed.

Have a look at the caresheets here from the left hand menu with show temp ranges. Whilst I don’t wish to shock you, the fish you have are quite squeezed in at the moment and you will see recommended tank sizes on the caresheets too.

As for the other issues, despite the shop saying water quality was ‘fine’, it probably isn’t really. It’s iffy water that causes most fish illness.

Do you have the readings at all for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH? Did you make a note of them at all?
Could you also confirm what temp the tank is running at?

Hi Violet,

I really wouldn't have thought that about the Paradise Fish as they seem happy enough in the tank and rarely bother with each other or the other fish and always come face to face with you when you go up to the tank, but thanks for the information. I've taken this on board.

I've already completed one course of Melafix for the Platys, do you recommend another course?

Unfortunately I don't have any readings but the temperature of the tank at the moment is 22-23 deg C.

Have attached some photos so hopefully these will help.

I was warned off paradise fish for exactly this reason


JON

If the fish with no eyes don't appear to have any infection or fluff/fungus than I wouldn't med again for now. Just keep watching them for any sign of infection.

Ideally, given the overstocking in the tank, you need to be able to test for these toxins. This is a very good test kit and far cheaper on line than in the shops. You can reach for it whenever something looks wrong for immediate answers.

API Freshwater Master Test Kit:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_fro ... nkw=api+freshwater+master

Until you can post the readings (so FK can advise on a suitable course of action) I'd suggest a largish partial water change of about 40% and then some daily changes of 25%. This will dilute some of the nasties that I would expect are present and can do no harm to the fish in the interim.

You have some decisions to make as to whether you wish to keep all the fish (will need different tanks) and whether you can upgrade the tank sizes quite quickly to suit the stock you have. Hope that helps, but any questions fire away

API Freshwater Master Test Kit ordered. As soon as it arrives I will test the water and post the results.

Did the pics I uploaded appear so you can identify which type of Catfish I have? If not I will try again.

I carried out a 60-70% water change Wednesday evening and a 20-25% change since but will continue with these daily changes until the Test Kit arrives.

Thanks for your help.

Regarding pics - to attach them to a post, resize first to about 800px wide and attach only one per post or they won't appear

One of my poorly one eyed Platys

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My Catfish and Paradise Fish with the lump under his chin

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Hi

It looks like the catfish is probably a Hillstream Loach. Pic is a bit dark so not absolutely sure which species. There are a number of species of HSL whose shape and markings vary so a Google Images search might be a good idea to see if you can spot which you have.

Your Paradise Fish looks to possibly have some fin-rot as well as the lump, but again the pic is a little unclear. The lump is probably the start of an ulcer due to the tank being much too small and therefore the water quality probably being poor.

The Platy appears to have some missing scales and either excessive slime-coat production or some fungus plus again possibly the start of fin-rot in addition to the missing eye.

Water test results will help, but the real problem is that the tank is too small for any of these fish. Zebra Danios need something around 3 feet long to accomodate their swimming, Platies need at least 2 feet in length and 60 litres, Paradise Fish need 30 inches length and about 80 litres and the Hillstream Loaches need 24 inches and 75 litres with a very specialised high flow set up that mimics a fast-flowing stream.

Overall, the tank is very overstocked and this is repsponsible for the general poor health. I do agree very much with Violet that the Paradise Fish are the culprits in biting out the eyes of other fish. They are renowned for their aggressive nature and shouldn't generally be mixed with other species', particularly in a very small space where they can't set up a territory and the other fish have nowhere to escape to.