cvilapla

125 gal tank
10 Australian rainbows
4 Green Cory Cats
5 Platties
5 Silver Dollars

Temp 78°F
chlorine 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate ~5 to 10 PPM (ambient amount in tap water)
pH 7.8

I have a sick rainbowfish. I am not sure what is wrong it is like the fish is in a state of shock and has been for about 3 days. The fish has lost all color and was having trouble swimming, so I did a water change and the fish was doing better,. Unfortunately it has been 2 days and the fish is still pale and still not swimming 100%. The fish also has not been schooling and has isolated itself. I am not sure if it is because it is the smallest rainbowfish in the group of 10 and is getting picked on? Any suggestions as to what could be wrong or what I can do would be greatly appreciated. The other 9 rainbowfish are okay.

TFA101

it could be stress from the pecking order in the group (he could be being picked on).

1.Have you noticed him being nipped by the other fish?

2. What color is his poop? If it's long and stringy and white, there's a problem, but if its solid and brown, nevermind this question.

3. It would also help to know the ammonia level in your tank.

4. Could we possibly get a picture? If he doesn't want his picture taken, don't stress him out more, leave out the picture.


At this point, keeping up with water changes once every 1-2 weeks and watching out for signs of aggression and poor water quality is all we could do at this point. I hope he gets better.

cvilapla

it was a spinal deformity