Urgent Help Required !! - Fins getting cut

[sunilgeorge1]

Hi Guys,

I have couple of Fancy GoldFish, Two Silver Sharks, Two White Tiger Sharks, Five Apple Snails, One Koi and one Arowana in a 4 Ft. 70 Gallon Tank.

They all have co-existed for a year now, just yesterday I noticed all the fish have their fins cuts.

Any advice from you guys will be helpful !!

Cheers,
Sunil

 

[dkpate]

Are they picking on eachother?

 

[sunilgeorge1]

That was my first thought as well. But they aren't chasing each other !

 

[dkpate]

Are they black around the edges? Jagged or look pretty straight? (the missing areas) What are your water parameters? How often do you change the water? What is the temp?

 

[sunilgeorge1]

There are no Black edges. Two of them have it jaggeg the rest look pretty straight. I havent checked my water parameters. I do regular changes about 25% every weekend. The temp. is maintained at around 80F.

 

[dkpate]

Well, if they are straight, I would say it's fin nipping when you aren't looking. But ammonia and stuff in your water can cause fin problems too I believe. Temp sounds good.

 

[glassbird]

Water parameters would be very helpful...specific numbers, not just "fine". (As in "The pH is 6.8, the ammonia is at 0, the nitrite is at 0", etc.) Pictures would be good, too.

Any recent changes to the tank? New filter? Decorations?

 

[Blueiz]

It sounds as though you have a bully in your tank. Take your pick between the sharks and the arrowana. More often than not you do not see the fish being bullied or chased because most of this occurs after lights out. For a few nights, after lights out, sit back and watch your tank. As your fish grow and mature the risk of territorial issues arising grows. Your tankmates are very incompatible with each other.

The temp of 80 degrees is no good for the koi or the goldfish. These are coldwater fish, while the fancy variety of goldfish can tolerate higher temps than the koi and reg goldfish, 80 degrees is still high. You can safely reduce your tank temp to 76 degrees and still be within the tropical range, yet give some relief to your goldies and koi at the same time. The warmer the water, the less dissolved o2 that is in it, goldfish need lots of dissolved o2 in there water of which cooler temps provide.