All has broken loose, war in my tank!!!!

[Donna]

since poor Ponyo died on monday, the fish tank has been very odd. Glimmer has been sitting on the bottom for most of the day and there are some shadowy parts on her body which worry me. but this morning i was horrified to find my poor Bolly being relentlessly chased by Star and ALL of her fins were torn to pieces!!! I mean savaged!! i had to put my hand in the tank to seperate them. then Schnitzel had a go at her. whilst i cornered the two offenders, she fell to the bottom gasping for breath, but Star slipped past me and went for her again. I had to take her out in a bucket whilst i figured out a way to keep them appart.

i eventually crafted a divider, cutting the plastic lid of my daughter's toy box and putting some holes in it to allow flow through. by the time i came to install it, the two bullies had been picking on Glimmer. i decied to put Bolly and Glimmer together and Star and Schnitzel on the other side. hopefully once Bolly has healed, the divider can go. Bolly seems a lot happier and after a rest, was investigating the divider. Glimmer still sat on the bottom though, and I'm kinda worried about her. any ideas on how to cheer her up or if there's something drasticly wrong?

my little babies are turning into finned fiends!!!

 

[Phoxly]

It would help greatly if you gave us the types of fish you have and not just their names.

 

[The_Desacrator]

thinking the same thing

 

[Tivaala]

these fish have been together a while havnt they?
im wondering if there may be some sort of infection in your tank and they are harrassing the sick one. did they bother ponyo when he got sick?
maybe theyre reestablishing heirachy now that a member is missing.

 

[mfdrookie516]

It would help greatly if you gave us the types of fish you have and not just their names.

if you click on 'my tanks' it says 5 fantails... I would assume these are the 4 remaining after the one died?

 

[logansmomma1228]

I am assuming that there is something going around your tank. +1 to Tivaala

 

[Donna]

Yes, I have four fantails. Bolly seems fine health-wise. She's always been a slow healer when it comes to fin tears though and I was told that there's always been something odd about that, just genetic apparently. they may have picked up on that though. but Glimmer was the worrying one. if they were picking on the weakest, that would be Glimmer right now but they've left her alone (mostly). bolly and Glimmer are now seperate from the other two. I'm pulling my hair out. just as I solve the whole fish war thing. this morning Glimmer decided to turn upside down. after panicking near the surface for a bit she sank to the bottom, on her side! Ellie noticed (Glimmer is her fish)..... fortunately five minutes later she was swimming the right way up again. I have prayed, begged, I can't lose another fish after the week we've had. I can't take it!

 

[Donna]

thinking that the way things are going, I should have put this thread in the sick fish section.....

 

[The_Desacrator]

Is there any abnormal crap on their fins. And I didnt know fins regenerate.DO angelfish fins regenerate?

 

[Donna]

well, news that may explain the Bolly-shredding....Schnitzel is a boy!! he had the classic white "thorns/pimples" along the front edge of his pectoral fins and white pimples on his gill plates! i'm guessing now that Star may in fact be a girl and chsed bolly as competition. seems likely, no? poor Bolly's fins are going a bit white and manky though, dosing with Melafix to help. (darn, i need a QT tank!)

 

[corrado33]

Schnitzel is a boy!!....i'm guessing now that Star may in fact be a girl and chsed bolly as competition

Ahhh teenage hormones... the answer to everyone's questions?

 

[Donna]

bang goes my theory, Star's still a bloke!

 

[logansmomma1228]

Well I am glad to hear part of this is solved! You could pm a moderator and see if they will move this for you. Or you could just re-post in the sick fish section. Those usually do get attention quicker. I have been reading lately that the 3 gallon rubbermaid totes/buckets work well for QT, you would just need a filter and air pump/stone I think. Or Wally world has the cheaper kits that you could use, a 5 or 10 G.

 

[Donna]

yeah, i've re-posted this in sick fish under "upside down fish!" things aren't going too well. (all advice welcome)
my local pet store does a starter tank with a filter for £25, would make a great QT tank, just don't know where I'd put it though, also, beginning to think it's a little late judging by the other's reactions.
does a QT tank need to be set up for a while before or could you just put lots of the tank water in there because i honestly don't have space to have a second tank set up except in emergencies.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Here is a thread I started on that . It should answer all those questions for you http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/how-to-set-up-a-qt-129329.html

 

[jsoong]

my local pet store does a starter tank with a filter for £25, would make a great QT tank, just don't know where I'd put it though,

You can do an emergency QT setup using just a cheap rubbermaid tub. <Brand new, unused so no contamination with soaps, etc ... and rinse well before use.> For goldfish i would use at least a 5 gal .. <I use a 30 gal tub ... which doubles as my fish stuff storage when not needed.>

A filter is not totally necessary, as long as you are willing to do daily large (50%+) pwc's. <A mature filter that you maintain in the main tank & ready for use at a moment's notice is of course best.>

I have also used "Ingrid's tub-to tub method" in the past. In this system, you use 2 tubs & do a 100% water change daily. You set up both tub with dechlorinated water. Set up the fish in the first tub. Move it to the second tub the next day (by which time the water is aged & normalized to your room temperature.) You dump out the water in the first tub, clean & refill & dechlorinate. Next day you move the fish back to the first tub, and repeat the whole process. This is a labor intensive way of QT, but is good for the gold fish, as it will always have clean water, and any surface parasites or bacteria that falls off is removed with the daily 100% water change. <I move fish with a small container, so the fish is never out of water & be stressed .... I don't even own a net!>