Milky like film on Black Moor's lower caudal fins.

[HyperionLore]

It's something I just noticed last night but it almost looks as if there's a milky like film on the lower edges of my Black Moor's caudal fins. I don't recall seeing it before and I'm having a bit of difficulty getting a picture of it. It doesn't look like any kind of growth or fungus, it just looks slightly greyish to white, where it should be very obviously a velvet black. I've got one fantail that looks like he might have white on his fin but it's really hard to tell because he's a splotchy colored fish and half of his body is splotchy white anyway. None of my fish show any signs of distress. They all eagerly eat, swim, come up to my hand when it's feeding time... Aside from the discoloration I haven't noticed anything amiss.

My tank is a 46 Gallon with an Aqua Clear 70. I did a 16 gallon water change yesterday and after testing the water today my results were as follows: Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, Nitrate 10. The temperature is kept at 76 and his current tankmates are an 11 inch pleco, two 1 inch balloon mollies and two 1 to 1 1/2 inch fantail goldfish.

I should note that the mollies were added about a week and a half ago after my brother's failed attempt to give his betta tankmates. The mollies have an adoptive home waiting on them, but everyone in the family has been sick and they just haven't been moved yet. Now that I'm noticing a bit of white on my goldfish's fins I'm not sure if I should pass them along or if I should wait and see what happens. (I'd hate to pass on sick fish.) Neither molly looks to be afflicted with anything however.

I'll try again in another hour or so to get a picture but my fish won't stay still. They get excited when they see me and their fins just sort of whip around everywhere.

 

[HyperionLore]

Oh well. Nevermind guys. Apparently my camera isn't focusing well enough to show what I'm talking about. I'll just observe him for a while.

 

[dkpate]

Sounds like it might be the slime coat. I think that might be because of fungal or bacterial. Try looking up slime coat issues and see if you can find anything. Sorry I couldn't be more help.
Good luck!

 

[HyperionLore]

I have been all over the internet trying to figure out what it is. It doesn't look like any of the infections people have documented. It's barely there. It's just a slight discoloration. I did stumble across a goldfish website that said if the slime coat took on a greyish color to automatically check PH because swings and big changes in it will do that apparently. I don't have a test kit that does PH yet, (one's being ordered), but I did add a few ornaments that might've altered the water composition and I hadn't thought about it. I have no idea if this hunch is correct but it's something to work with and it's better than not having a clue.

 

[dkpate]

What kind of decorations did you put in there? Usually only weird rocks do that.
How long has the tank been set up, and what is your water changing schedule?

 

[HyperionLore]

The tank has been going for about 3 months and I do a water change every Friday night like clockwork. I test the water twice a week, once before I do about a ten gallon water change and then once the next morning for comparison. Unfortunately the only things I can test for are the nitrite, nitrate and ammonia. I didn't understand the necessity of the other kits until reading up a bit about how different things affect the water. So my PH kit is actually in the mail....

But I'd added some driftwood and I'd changed out some of my filter media. I didn't think much of it at the time but then I started noticing a slight change in the slime coat on the black moor. I still can't decide if there's a change on my calico fantail. He's a muttly looking little fish and he's just splotched with all kinds of washed out colors anyway.

 

[dkpate]

Ahhh, yes driftwood can alter the pH, but only by a little. The media change can cause you to have a mini cycle, so you only need to rinse it in old tank water when it needs it. I rinse mine about every 2 weeks.
As long as you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 5-40 nitrate your tank should be cycled. How big is the tank?

 

[HyperionLore]

Well that's what I thought too. I only changed out some of my media. I removed the carbon filter media and added ceramic rings. I have three different kinds of media in my filter and I'm careful not to change all of it at once. The tank itself is 46 gallons and so I'm at a loss. I can't come up with any other explanation to what's going on. No one else seems to know. Maybe my fish is just really sensitive to changing PH levels. She came from a really bad tank. My nitrites are 0 my ammonia is 0 and my nitrates are 10.

 

[dkpate]

Hmm, yeah. Maybe she is just not used to clean water! I would just keep an eye on it then, and if it doesn't get better, you might want to think about Melafix or Pimafix.