My fish are dull and don't move much

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Itsjimmy24

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Apr 23, 2012
Messages
4
Recently the fish in my tank have lost all there beautiful bright colours! My red tail sharks tail is a light almost transparent orange and a lot of my cardinals are very dull! The don't swim around that much anymore and look like they are in pain! Anyone here that can give me a hand on what to do! I believe they recently had ich and u have my temperature right now at 86! Any help is appreciated!!
 
Could be wrong, but it seems that the temp is a bit high for their tastes, (should be upper 70s IMO). Also, dullness is a sign of stress, so there are some things to check. First, how big is the tank? What are your parameters, ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? How stocked are you, I don't believe red tailed sharks are good choices for community tanks, but i'm sure someone with more experience could divulge more on that.
 
Itsjimmy24 said:
Recently the fish in my tank have lost all there beautiful bright colours! My red tail sharks tail is a light almost transparent orange and a lot of my cardinals are very dull! The don't swim around that much anymore and look like they are in pain! Anyone here that can give me a hand on what to do! I believe they recently had ich and u have my temperature right now at 86! Any help is appreciated!!

What is your water testing at ?
What size tank ?
What fish ?
How often do you change water ?

Cardinals like 80-84f
If the Ich is gone slowly lower the temp.
Most fish prefer 76-78f

The hotter the water, the less oxygen there is.
 
75 gallon
Clown loach still has spots!
Ammonia is safe ph is actually high at 8.2 but I read that's not a big deal

10 cardinals, 10 rummy nose, 10 cherry barbs, 3 Congo tetras, 3 Corey's, 1 pleco, 1 red tail and 1 clown loach
 
What are your exact readings for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate? What are you using to test (liquid or strips)? How long has this tank been set up? There is no such thing as a 'safe' level of ammonia. Ammonia and nitrite should be zero and nitrates 20ppm or lower. If you are getting detectable levels of ammonia and/or nitrite, this is a primary reason for the reason your fish are dull and stressed in addition to possible ich. Start with a 50% water change with temperature-matched, properly conditioned water asap. Some more info will help as well!
 
I believe they recently had ich and u have my temperature right now at 86! Any help is appreciated!!

Did you get these fish from someone else? What do you mean, you believe they recently had ich? You're not sure?
 
They have had iCh and the clown loach is the only one still showing signs all my other fish just lok beat! The fish are from an aquarium store!
 
What are your exact readings for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate?

What are you using to test (liquid or strips)?

How long has this tank been set up?

There is no such thing as a 'safe' level of ammonia. Ammonia and nitrite should be zero and nitrates 20ppm or lower. If you are getting detectable levels of ammonia and/or nitrite, this is a primary reason for the reason your fish are dull and stressed in addition to possible ich. Start with a 50% water change with temperature-matched, properly conditioned water asap. Some more info will help as well!

We could really use the answers to the above questions in order to better help you.
 
Tank has been established for a month I have tester charts in my aquarium! They always read the water levels
 
Tank has been established for a month I have tester charts in my aquarium! They always read the water levels

As previously mentioned, without the readings of your parameters, it is difficult to determine what exactly is wrong. It sounds like they are stressed, which is typically an indication of high ammonia, nitrites or nitrates.

Would you mind posting the parameters of your tank as soon as possible? If you are using test strips as opposed to the liquid method, you will want to change to liquid testing when you can; personally recommend the API Freshwater Master Test Kit.
 
75 gallon
Clown loach still has spots!
Ammonia is safe ph is actually high at 8.2 but I read that's not a big deal

10 cardinals, 10 rummy nose, 10 cherry barbs, 3 Congo tetras, 3 Corey's, 1 pleco, 1 red tail and 1 clown loach

You say the tank has been running for a month, was the tank fully cycled before all those fish went in? Because it a lot of fish in such a short time!
 
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