question about behavour...

[justagal30]

Hi there...

I have 2 questions..the first one is about my red tail shark. I notice that sometimes when i look at him, he is almost grey and his tail is almost transparent....other times he is dark black and tail is bright red, then other times he is part black with a greyish colour mixed through out...is it normal for a red tail shark to change the colours this way?

The second one is this....i recently got 5 platy's...four of them are very active and look to be having a wonderful time. The other one kinds keeps to itself and either stays at the top of the tank or hides in the lava rocks. When i feed the fish, they all go crazy for the food, but this one in particular just kinds floats around and if a piece comes by its way, it will open its mouth for it, but there is no trying to swim around for it. Is this normal? Do i just have an antisocial fish, or is there something else going on here?

Thanks all

 

[rich311k]

What are your test levels? Fish will change colors, if they are stressed. I think your lone platy is sick, something digestive related.

 

[justagal30]

i just finished a water change...will testing the levels now give me an accurate result? I just took a look the the shark and he seems to be fine again...the platy is still doing her own thing though...i hear of the pea thing but i dont have any peas in the house at the moment...is there anything else that I can do?

 

[rich311k]

Run the numbers it wont hurt. You could soak some food in garlic juice if you have any minced garlic.

 

[justagal30]

sounds kinda gross but i will run the numbers and then soak some flake food in some garlic for her....thanks for the info...i will post the results

 

[Guest]

livebearers are notorious for internal parasites.. does the platy look skinny? what color is the poo? Also try posting int eh sick fish forum.

 

[rich311k]

That is what I was thinking too, Ashley. I have had good success treating fish with garlic. I beleive there is a brand of flakes that comes preenriched with garlic just for this problem.

 

[justagal30]

Here are my test results....

ph 6.6
nitrite 0
ammonia 1.0
nitrate 5.0

Sorry for the post in here. I am quite new to this...lol....i will re-post in the sick fish forum...I guess maybe i was hoping that the answer would be something else, and not that she is sick. But to answer your questions, she seems to be about the same size and the other playt's and as for her poo, well im not sure. Havent seen that yet.

Thanks all...i am going to repost in the sick room.

 

[rich311k]

How old is this tank? That ammonia level is awfully high especially if you just did a water change.

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Platys prefer a higher ph. Maybe this one had a harder time adjusting.

 

[Puriti]

Also try posting int eh sick fish forum.

She did post it in the sick forum X3 just no one answered. I looked at the post I just didn't know what to tell her ^^;

 

[odobenus]

I have kind of a silly question about your red tailed shark. Do you notice the difference in color when the lights turn off? I have a red tailed black shark, and when the aquarium lights are on his colors are brilliant - jet black and fire red. When the lights go off, however, and there is only the light from the room or the windows, he looks quite gray and washed out. Could this be what your are seeing? (just trying to eliminate the simplest explanation...)

 

[justagal30]

In answering the questions, the tank is fairly new....just over a month. And yes, it is when the light is off that i notice him looking washed out....usually, i notice him washed out, do a water change, turn on the lights and he comes back, so maybe this is normal for the shark. As for the platy, should i up the PH even though the rest of the fish are doing ok? Again, sorry for posting this here, but as it was noted, I did post in the sick fish forum and no one replied

A quick question about the garlic...how will this affect the condition of my water?

Thanks for all the help...

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You don't need to mess with your pH. It is better to leave it where it is. Altering pH normally leads to problems unles it is REALLY needed. For example African Cichlids thrive in a higher pH, terefore you add something like crushed coral or limestone to the tank. But if you are talking about just for the platy, don't worry about it. Their pH "zone" is between 7.0 and 8.2 Plus, a stable pH is better than a perfect pH.

 

[rich311k]

If your tank is less than a month old and your ammonia is over one, I think that your problem is that your tank is not cycled. I would do another water change and retset to ammonia.

 

[rich311k]

or retest the ammonia.