Need help asap

[Melmel]

I don't know what's wrong with my fish. When I got him he was a beautiful orange color and now he's turned this brown color and he is starting to develop ich. I'm not sure if it's normal for him to turn brown but it's making me paranoid. I started caring him for the ich but as for the browning of the fins I'm not really sure what to do. I need help immediately! Please help me save my fishy! :'(

 

[GNarnian]

You'll get more help if this is moved to the unhealthy fish section. Hopefully an admin will do that.



In the meantime, we will need information.

Tank size?
How long has the tank been set up?
Water parameters? (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, and temperature of the water.)

How long have you had him?
Who else is in there with him?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Moved to FW unhealthy fish section.

Welcome to AA. If you can provide us with the info above it will help us diagnose what's wrong.

 

[Melmel]

The fish tank is 35 gallons, it has a pleco, 2 red eyed puffers (they don't nip at fins and actually turned out to be sweethearts), two neon tetras, two of the orange fish (I'm not sure what they're called), and two red eyed tetras (these are my problem fish, always fighting and nipping, biggest bullies in the tank). The nitrate is at 20 which should be fixed today, the nitrite is at 0, and I need to pick up some more ammonia tests.

I had found a helpful article on fish rot and I think that's the culprit. I'm going to be picking up melafix today, hopefully it's not too late. I could use other opinions on what it could be though. I'm not 100 percent sure it's fish rot.
Thanks so much for helping!

 

[Melmel]

Oh and the fish tank has been set up for about 3-4 months. This is the first I'll fish we've had in the tank. Except for the red eyed tetras they all get along very well.

 

[LyndaB]

Your fish are giving you behavioral issues because they're not in the proper sizes schools. We can help you figure out school sizes if you would like.

I can't tell what species this orange fish is.

20 is not a bad nitrate reading, don't worry about it. What test kit are you using?

Water changes can cure fin rot, unless it's a symptom of another disease like columnaris. You do not need meds to treat fin rot alone.

 

[GNarnian]

Yeah tetras can be serious bullys if you only keep 2 of each type. Usually tetras need schools of 6 or more of the same type I believe.

Could the orange ones be glo-lite tetras? Or maybe brass tetras? How orange is orange? A pic would help if possible To ID the fish type.

 

[GNarnian]

I don't know what's wrong with my fish. When I got him he was a beautiful orange color and now he's turned this brown color and he is starting to develop ich. I'm not sure if it's normal for him to turn brown but it's making me paranoid. I started caring him for the ich but as for the browning of the fins I'm not really sure what to do. I need help immediately! Please help me save my fishy! :'(

Ich is characterized by white spots that look almost like salt granules of various sizes. I don't see that on your fish, but do you? What about your other fish?

Fin Rot can be cured with TLC and water changes, as has been said.

 

[LyndaB]

Is it maybe a honey gourami?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Labyrinth breathers (gouramis and Bettas) don't respond well to melafix. If you do use it use a 1/5 of the dosage. As said if it is fin rot clean water is all that is usually needed. Can you post some brighter clearer pictures of the fish? Other than the color change, what other symptoms is it having?

 

[Melmel]

Well I've been doing 25% water changes every two days and I just did a 50% water change yesterday. Unfortunately it did not make much of a difference. I put a small amount of melafix in the tank today so I'm hopefully awaiting results.
I can't get any pictures of him he's been hiding in his little cave. & yes it's a honey gourami, thanks for figuring it out!

 

[pocket22]

A rough guess, finrot. Maybe velvet. Prob not.