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September 26th, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| 6" golden algae eatter getting green scales
Our 6" golden algae eatter is our oldest fish @ 5 yrs old. He used to live in a poorly filtered (beginers kit) 10gal tank and chased all the other fish out to our other tank (except for a couple of zebra danios). About a month ago he began to get "green scales" along his sides which began to multiply in number.
We have since moved him to a 50 gal tank to give him some more room. The green scales keep appearing and I can't find any info on them. (see photos). He has grown more reclusive and was hard to get good shots of his scales.
[b]What is causing the green scales and what can I do about them.[b]What should I treat him with? Should I treat the whole tank (total 3 fish) or move him to the 10 gal tank to treat him? Thanks for any help we can get, we're worried about him! | 
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September 26th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| Im not sure whats wrong with him, but id love to see an entire pic of him when you can!!
It could be some type of coloring when they are stressed, happy, breeding, etc..it also could be a change in tanks is something he needs to get use too...try some veggies on a veggie clip to boost him up a bit....I wouldnt use anything to treat until you can find out what it is..plecs are very sensitive to meds so deffinately hold off for now....hows your water parimeters? ammonia nitrite and nitrates... | |
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September 26th, 2008
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| | Moderator
| Sometimes as fish get older their colors change. I'm with shawnie I wouldn't medicate until I figured out what I was medicating for.
Is he eating? what are your water test readings?
Carol | 
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September 26th, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| He's had this for about 6 weeks, started slow and is now spreading more rapidly. about 2 weeks ago we moved him from his (and 2 zebra danios) tank to a 50 gal tank set up with 2 jars of the plastic ("bio-mass") plastic thingies in the filterwith the liquid provided and some of the old water, gravel, etc. to ensure good bio environment. since his move he has progressivly become less active and hide most of the time (thus the poor photos). He's 5 and I have been told they live to 12-15 yrs. He's usually extremely active and plays "soccer" with his favorite rocks, picking them up and banging them around all the time. the last month or so, none of this, either tank........ We're worried, he's our favorite/oldest fish. under the advice of a very reputable fish store (Ocean Bottom, phoenix, AZ) we were advised to medicate with "Maracyn 2" for a week in 10gal isolation tank. I'm about to start this at the urging of everyone. | |
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September 26th, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| I was testing his water and discovered my test strips to be outdated by 2 yrs (  so have my son getting ne strips as we............. type. I'll update when I have readings. | |
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September 26th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| test strips are notorious for not being accurate..im not telling you what to do but again id say dont medicate until you know whats going on....it could be ammonia which water changes with some prime will fix him right up if the cycle isnt complete.. API liquid master test kit is very accurate and will let you know if thats what it is....stressing him back to the 10 gal when hes so big might not help at all...goodluck in whatever you decide | |
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September 26th, 2008
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| I have just found a fish that looks just like ours right down to the green scales called a "Golden Loach" Posted by Isabella under "YELLOW SUCKER FISH" thread on 1/25/06........... This may eplain my problem as a NON-problem as it appears he's just changing color.............. .... | |
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September 26th, 2008
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by kingfisher  This may eplain my problem as a NON-problem as it appears he's just changing color.............. .... |  good to hear.
Carol | |
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September 26th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| HORRAY!!!!!!  id still like to see an entire pic of him LOL ..he looks so facinating from what I can see  | |
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September 29th, 2008
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| | Fish Mentor
| He's not sick - he's just changing colors. I think these fish have been bred back and forth the "normal" colored ones with the "golden" colored ones, that they get confused as to what color they are supposed to be. I bought two from walmart last year that were normal colored and put them in my pond for the summer. One stayed normal colored and one turned sort of pied color. I took a pic of them when I caught them at the end of the summer to send them to a school classroom tank. This year I bought two more for my pond for the summer, once again both normal colored from Walmart. One is still normal colored, the other has turned completely yellow. As for not as active, these fish need lots of room, lots of hidey holes, and lots of food. If they get stressed, they either turn aggressive towards other fish in the tank, or they will hide even more. | |
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