Swag Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 I am very new to this and have a sick Tetra. He was fine one day, the next day he had what looks like a bruse on his side and is not swimming as well as his friends. I thought he may have been hurt by me Gouramis who swim round the tank very fast at times. It was then suggested that he could have a desease. now I'm not sure where to start. I have put a link to my sick fish below. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 I see he is the smallest of the group and the mark is only on one side. I suspect he may have been rammed by another fish and it is a bruise. Not sure there is anything you can do except keep the water as clean as possible and make sure he is not harassed further, or misses out on food. If he worsens, or the others pick on him further, I suggest you separate him until he improves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swag Posted June 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 Thank you for your help. We have only had the tank and fish for a week and I have never had fish before. Been doing lots of study so hopefully I can keep them happy. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 14, 2010 Report Share Posted June 14, 2010 They are a shoaling fish and prefer to be in a group of 6 or more. They will always fight amongst themselves for the top position but do not usually do any damage. It is also possible it was damaged while being caught. I don't know how long a bruise takes to come out in a fish :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted June 14, 2010 Report Share Posted June 14, 2010 I agree that it looks like a bruise which is probably from another fish. I note that you have only had your tank for a week. How big is it and what sort of filter is on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swag Posted June 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2010 It was a pre-established tank that we brought. Its an Aqua One AR620. it is 90ltr the filter is a bio filter that comes with it. We put in Aqua plus water conditioner and stress zyme biological filter booster. The man we got it off did not keep any of the water for us so we had to start from scratch with water. All the other fish seem fine so far. We have 2 pearl gourami, 1 sucker cat fish, 1 clown loach, 5 tetras, 1 gold gourami and a little bristle nose. Iv been told we have room for plenty more but want them to settle in first and we need to get a qt tank set up for new fish. How long do you qt new fish before you put them in the main tank? Im going to have so many questions as we go. hope you all don't mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swag Posted June 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2010 I had to put my little tetra out of his misery. He was not eating and getting very small I did not know what else to do. Poor little guy, was my first loss, bit sad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted June 15, 2010 Report Share Posted June 15, 2010 Keep up with regular water changes as somewhere about the two week mark you may get an ammonia spike which can kill off some of your fish. This is as the tank cycles. Quarrantine tanks - anywhere from 4-6 weeks is the best. Its up to you really but sometimes things take a while to show themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted June 15, 2010 Report Share Posted June 15, 2010 It was a pre-established tank that we brought. Its an Aqua One AR620. it is 90ltr the filter is a bio filter that comes with it. We put in Aqua plus water conditioner and stress zyme biological filter booster. The man we got it off did not keep any of the water for us so we had to start from scratch with water. All the other fish seem fine so far. We have 2 pearl gourami, 1 sucker cat fish, 1 clown loach, 5 tetras, 1 gold gourami and a little bristle nose. Iv been told we have room for plenty more but want them to settle in first and we need to get a qt tank set up for new fish. How long do you qt new fish before you put them in the main tank? Im going to have so many questions as we go. hope you all don't mind. Are you planning on getting a much bigger tank for when you need to rehome your clown loach and get him some friends? Clown loaches grow big, about 20-30 cm. Your tank will become far too small. The generally recommended minimum tank size is 75 gallon (approx 280 litres) They also are much happier in groups, 5 or more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swag Posted June 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 oh my god. I had no idea I was talking to a lady in a pet shop and she said they dont get much bigger than this and pointed to one that was smaller than mine. Mine is only 7cm. Stink I wanted to get him a friend but I guess he will have to move in with a friend else where. Stink he is so neat the life of the tank as all my other fish hide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 oh my god. I had no idea I was talking to a lady in a pet shop and she said they dont get much bigger than this and pointed to one that was smaller than mine. Mine is only 7cm. Stink I wanted to get him a friend but I guess he will have to move in with a friend else where. Stink he is so neat the life of the tank as all my other fish hide. Unfortunately some shops will disregard the welfare of a fish for the sake of a sale. On the other hand the lady may actually not have known that they do grow that big. There are other loaches available that are smaller but just as entertaining. Zebra Loaches for example. Not as colourful though. Dwarf chain loaches are even smaller, again not as colourful as the clown loaches, but do have a unique patterning on them. Your little guy will be ok short term, but will eventually need to be rehomed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swag Posted June 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2010 thank you. I will be doing lots of research into any new additions to our tank. What we have so far is what we got with the tank when we purchased it. there are so many clown loaches for sale around here you wonder where the poor little guys will end up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted June 20, 2010 Report Share Posted June 20, 2010 No worries. Yep, there are heaps of clown loaches for sale, they are a popular loach. Unfortunately alot of them will end up like your little guy, in tanks far to small for them. They are cool though. I'd absolutely love some myself, but my tank isn't big enough. One day I'll get a custom made tank and it will be big enough for clowns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 20, 2010 Report Share Posted June 20, 2010 Also bear in mind that clown loaches are a slow growing fish so it will be a number of years before they actually do outgrow your tank I do agree though petshops should pass on the advice that they should be in groups and in bigger tanks, years ago I was at a shop in Auckland and they told me they wouldn't sell any less than 3 and that they grew big so was impressed with that, but don't think it happens very often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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