Whats wrong with this fish?
#1 Guest_AndrewMeiborg_*
Posted 23 February 2012 - 05:48 PM
I have two slenderheads in my tank and this one has just overnight two nights ago turned extremely light colored. I dont know if this is breeding colors or if something is wrong, thanks
#2 Guest_Ken_*
Posted 23 February 2012 - 05:59 PM
#3 Guest_AndrewMeiborg_*
Posted 23 February 2012 - 06:14 PM
#4 Guest_Ken_*
Posted 23 February 2012 - 06:31 PM
#5 Guest_gerald_*
Posted 23 February 2012 - 07:44 PM
#6 Guest_EricaWieser_*
Posted 23 February 2012 - 07:46 PM
It could be physical distress caused by dirty water, too hot of temperature, or a pathogen. Check your ammonia (should be 0 ppm, no higher), nitrite (should be 0 ppm, no higher), and nitrate (depends on the species, my general rule of thumb is 40 ppm is too high). A pH swing of 1 pH or more in a short amount of time could also cause physical distress. A sudden dramatic temperature change may also cause distress. If it is a pathogen, you'll know soon enough. Note what other symptoms he gets.
It could also be social stress due to bullying from a conspecific or fear of predation from a larger fish. The orange stripe on his fin marks him as a male, so if he's the submissive male and trying to submit and the other male isn't getting the signal and still beating him up, that could cause him to blanch. He would try to be as gender neutral as possible to avoid being beaten. Or if there's a larger fish and no cave to hide in, he could feel afraid of being eaten and be trying to stand out as little as possible.
Edit:
Gerald is right. I would quarantine the fish. He is clearly not happy in the tank he is in, so moving him to a new place might help. And if it is a pathogen and he dies and ruptures, then that would greatly increase pathogen load in the water column and the risk of your other fish becoming infected. Back when a few of my fish had camallanus nematode a long time ago, as soon as I saw the worm sticking out of their butt I moved them to the camallanus tank. I did that for a few fish and the main tank became pathogen free. It really does help to get the sick fish out.
Edited by EricaWieser, 23 February 2012 - 07:52 PM.
#7 Guest_exasperatus2002_*
Posted 23 February 2012 - 11:11 PM
What is your ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & temperature levels? Did you just perform a water change? If you did a water change, was the temperature close to tank temp. or was there a big difference? If so do you have well water or city water? Did you treat the city water with a dechlorinator prior to adding it to the tank? Is the fish new or did you add any new tank mates & if so what? Have you noticed any aggression in the tank lately? has it been eating?
#8 Guest_AndrewMeiborg_*
Posted 23 February 2012 - 11:39 PM
#9 Guest_AndrewMeiborg_*
Posted 23 February 2012 - 11:42 PM
#10 Guest_AndrewMeiborg_*
Posted 23 February 2012 - 11:43 PM
Edited by AndrewMeiborg, 23 February 2012 - 11:58 PM.
#11 Guest_Casper_*
Posted 24 February 2012 - 01:24 AM
So... i aint been to Iowa so don't rightly know how your Darters act... you might be learning something. Keep watching.
#12 Guest_NVCichlids_*
Posted 24 February 2012 - 08:26 AM
#13 Guest_gerald_*
Posted 24 February 2012 - 09:19 AM
also, he has gotten much fatter in the last few days. i did just remove a large green sunfish from the tank making him the largest fish in the tank
#14 Guest_AndrewMeiborg_*
Posted 24 February 2012 - 09:53 AM
#15 Guest_AndrewMeiborg_*
Posted 24 February 2012 - 09:57 AM
#16 Guest_Ken_*
Posted 24 February 2012 - 10:23 AM
#17 Guest_AndrewMeiborg_*
Posted 24 February 2012 - 10:34 AM
#18 Guest_Ken_*
Posted 24 February 2012 - 12:55 PM
#19 Guest_EricaWieser_*
Posted 24 February 2012 - 01:02 PM
"Fish" is a large term describing a wide range of different organisms. Some are like bunnies (constant grazers, if their stomach empties they have problems) and some are like crocodiles (eating once or twice a week is fine). It's all about what level of the ecosystem that particular fish species occupies.One thing I would suggest as I have done this for a few decades, I always skip a day of feeding for my adult fish when feeding "non live foods" whether tropical or native no matter what time of year. I believe it is healthy for them and gives their systems an opportunity to clean out. Too many people think they have to feed their fish foods daily or they'll starve. My response to that is how many people do you see standing over river banks, at the edge of lakes etc. throwing fish food in the water to make sure the fish eat daily?
For example, my Elassoma gilberti are micropredators. They are one inch long and they live in the densely vegetated swamps of Florida and Georgia. In the wild they eat many times during the day, snacking on various foods like insect larvae and worms and stuff. This means that in the home aquarium if you don't feed them for a day, they suffer. I feed them twice a day, and their bellies get physically shrunken if they eat less frequently than that.
Top food chain predators and carnivorous scavengers don't necessarily eat every day in the wild. Omnivorous grazers, micropredators and herbivores may. Depriving the latter three types of fish of food would not be helpful to the fish. For example my chinchillas or my friend's rabbits (grazers) would develop digestive problems if they were deprived of food for any length of time. They need lots of fiber, all the time, something in their stomach. Otherwise you have a very messy cage to clean up and an unhappy, ill animal.
Edit:
I reread your post. Yes, there is a risk that eating nothing but freeze dried worms and dried fish flakes day in day out will cause constipation. This risk can be reduced by soaking the dry food in water for a few seconds before giving it to the fish or by occasionally giving them something different to eat.
Alternative foods include:
thawed frozen bloodworms, tubifex, and mosquito larvae
live grindal worms, blackworms, wingless flies, daphnia, earth worms, and wax worms
grated or chopped frozen unbreaded cocktail shrimp, and beef heart cubes
steamed zucchini, broccoli, carrots, and peas
So you don't have to not feed your fish, but you're right it is not a good idea for them to eat nothing but super dry foods. They can be given other, less dry things to enrich their diet. It helps to keep them healthy and prevent constipation.
Edited by EricaWieser, 24 February 2012 - 01:36 PM.
#20 Guest_AndrewMeiborg_*
Posted 24 February 2012 - 05:24 PM
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