Green Terror

[jahouli]

This is a bit of a long shot without a photo, but since a re-arrangement of my tank I've noticed what I can only describe a flaky skin on small patches of my Green Terrors head and body. There's just on odd few scales in a couple of patches that have gone a bit grey and look a bit flaky.

Anyone any idea as to what it might be?

I've dosed the tank with melafix and pimafix for now. Hope it doesn't get any worse.

 

[black angel]

patches of extra slime can be parasite ot water chemistry changing.

do water tests and see if anything has changed.

might be stress too if it was a big change and he was either in the tank or taken out.

 

[jahouli]

Just did the tests now. Ammonia 0.1, Nitrite 0.5, Nitrate 30, ph stable.

We just added a few boulders to the tank. She was in there the whole time, but she hates us being in there. I'd really like to do a good gravel clean but I don' want to stress her out any more.

Looking again today, the patch behind her pectoral fin looks more like complete loss of colour rather flakiness.

Tried to get a photo but she's not posing for me today.

 

[black angel]

how big is the tank an how many fish? is it fully cycled? in a cycled tank it should be 0 ammonia and nitrites and nitrates should be low. 30 seems a bit high to me. is it usually this reading? if not then take a glass of water and test the water to see where it is.
i would do a 25% water change to get the levels down and test again in the morning. if its still showing high then take the rocks out and do another 25%.
do you know the ph? see if thats changed too

 

[jahouli]

The tank is 240litres. There's 6 young clown loaches, 2 young ornate birchirs, 2 golden nugget plecs, and 3 talking catfish along with the green terror. I'm aware I should go upto about 400litres when my clown loaches get a little older - but I didn't think I was over stocked yet.

The readings have always been somewhere along those lines. And the ph is 7. Also I do a 25% water change every week...I was thinking about adding a second one in this week but as I've started dosing with melafix I thought I'd leave it for now, reconsidering again now.

Oh and I've had the tank 18months.

 

[black angel]

i would concentrate on getting the quality of the water right first. do about 25 to 30% tonight and test after an hour. If it seems ok then leave til the morning.
test again and see how its done overnight, thing is ph fluctuates through the day. if ammonia and nitrites have gone up again then do another water change. and make sure your filter isnt too dirty. if it is each week then you may need to consider upgrading or another filter to back it up.

and yes you might have to go to more than one change a week or do something more with filtration. always make sure that filter media is washed in old tank water.

 

[jahouli]

Ok thanks. I'll get on it now.

Thinking about it, I do rinse my filters out in aquarium water but it is prone to blocking. I think I should get the whole think out to de-clog the trickle filter parts too.