My fish looks broken...

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kr.shelby

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 4, 2014
Messages
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My molly is crooked about halfway back to her tail...ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1399589748.928043.jpg she was not like that when I got her and she only lives with other mollies and one tiny angel fish. She is still eating but hides in the cave most of the day. She can still move her tail but the bend is always bent never straight. What could have caused this and is she okay or do I need to help her some how? Any thoughts?ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1399589997.384970.jpg
 
Probably have to put her down.. They don't seem to come back from the crooked spine thing..
 
How is her general condition health wise and pooping. I was thinking (hoping!) it may be genetic and not parasites / bacterial. Do you water spec readings? IMO eventually you will lose that fish - I just don't get them come back from that as they are weakened for any other infection that comes along.

Edit - Just saw Brookster's post. Plus 1 really.
 
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Nitrates are 0, nitrites are 0, ammonia is .25, pH is a bit high at 8.2. She is still pooping and eating.
 
I don't know of anything that can be done except good fish food and clean water - keep up the pwc's.

Is the tank cycling? The ammonia looks a little high for that ph.
 
I just added ph down last night. I will test it again tonight along with trites and trates and ammonia. I got metafix that I am going to try for her.
 
Have you tested your tap water used for water changes for ammonia and ph? Test the tap water straight away and then let it stand for 24hrs to de gas, etc and retest ph.

The tank ph sounds fine but FYI ammonia becomes more toxic as ph and temp increase. In a cycled tank ammonia will be 0 although if tap water has ammonia it has to deal with it. All depends where that ammonia is coming from and if your filter is up to speed on handling it.

Edit - usually it is risky with ph up / down products without knowing kh. And most fish adapt anyway as long as you are roughly in range of their preference. Tank ph tends to decrease over time as kh is used up, adding driftwood can be a more natural, slower way to decrease ph.
 
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Why the oh down? That's going to stres her out more than anything.. Fish will adjust to most any ph baring a few more delicate species.. The ph swings are what they won't tolerate..
 
Okay. Will my angel be okay with 8.2? I have tested my water for ph and it is an even 7. I have not tested for ammonia. My other tank has ammonia level of 0 and I use the same water for that. Will test water for ammonia and I won't add any more ph down
 
Just checking - tank is 8.2 and tap is 7 (tested straight away)? Do you have any limestone or any rocks in the tank?

Mostly I've found that here that if the lfs sells them, they should be ok as the lfs generally uses unadjusted tap water.
 
Just checking - tank is 8.2 and tap is 7 (tested straight away)? Do you have any limestone or any rocks in the tank?

Mostly I've found that here that if the lfs sells them, they should be ok as the lfs generally uses unadjusted tap water.


Yes, 7 is tested straight away. In the tank is live plants, a few plastic plants that were on the cave decor and another fake decor. No limestone or rocks. ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1399735364.772564.jpg
 
Nice tank! How long has it been going?

Hugely interested in ph reading after 24hrs now :)

Ph will drop over time in a tank so yours is against trend :) Are you adding anything to the tank water after pwc (apart from tap water conditioner)? Any buffers?
 
Thank you. It is new. Only up 3 weeks so all my fish are very new. Ph looks to be 8 now. Kh is high between 180 & 300.
 
The ammonia is not coming down...it looks like it has gone up!
 
What's tank ammonia now? I'd say anytime above 0.25 and water change to bring it back down.

Kh is pretty high - a ph down product won't work well.

Ph for angelfish is probably a little high for my preference but if tank bred as most are, then see how he goes. I'm trying neons for the second time, if I lose them I might just give up on them.
 
Okay just did a 25% change and while dumping water in a dead, fuzzy fish emerged...it was the newest molly, not Bendy, she is still with us, and looking a little bit straighter, I might add. Probably the reason for the ammonia spike, yeah? He must have died over night. Retested ammonia and it has already come up. The fish are all over the place right now...
 
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