Please Advise

[fishsedai]

Dear Friends,

I have 3 tanks and have been maintaining an aquarium for the last 3 month or so. Initially I seemed to have a few problems with the mix, leading to 7 odd deaths within a week so I went ahead and trifurcated the tank.. since then things have been fine till yesterday..... Today morning I found one Black Molly dead - the fins were nipped and the eye was gouged out. Could you please suggest what should I do? Who could be the culprit? I would not like to throw away any fish but in case some of these need to be shifted, please suggest

There has been no aggression or crowding problem so far with all the fishes getting along very well.

1. Common Gold Fish: 4
2. Red Koi: 2
3. Tiger Koi: 2 (not to be confused with tiger Fish)
4. White Koi: 2
5. Rosy Barb: 2
6. Dimple Barb: 2
7. Black Molly: 1
8. White Molly: 2
9. Black Ghost Knife Fish: 2
10. Rambo Shark: 1
11. Tetra: 2
12. Dollar Fish: 2

Please excuse in case you are confused by the names - these are the names by which the fishes are known here ... I will try to detail them in case there is a confusion.

Regards and Thanks,

Fish Sedai

 

[aussieant32]

ok what size is the tank? Also you have a mix of cold and warm water fish in there whish i personally advise you to stick to either warm or cold and not mixed.

It could be the Rambo shark, who i believe is actually a Rainbow shark, or possibly the 'dollar fish' if they are silver dollars. One thing to factor in is that any fish might have had a go at the fish after it was dead, mistaken it for food over night etc

 

[fishsedai]

ok what size is the tank? Also you have a mix of cold and warm water fish in there whish i personally advise you to stick to either warm or cold and not mixed.

It could be the Rambo shark, who i believe is actually a Rainbow shark, or possibly the 'dollar fish' if they are silver dollars. One thing to factor in is that any fish might have had a go at the fish after it was dead, mistaken it for food over night etc

Hi Aussieant32,

The Tank size is 24*12*15 inches... could you please help in segregation of the fishes so that I can get a new tank and separate the fishes?

You are right - it's a Rainbow Shark and the other fish is Silver Dollar. I guess you must be right about the fish eating the eye after the fish was dead, since the other eye was untouched but could the Molly have died due to fin-snapping? Out of the fishes mentioned, which is the fish that may be responsible for the same - I would really appreciate it if you could help in ascertaining how do we go about finding the real cause... Initially I thought the BLack Ghost or the Tetra was to be blamed.....

A few days ago, I had bought a pair of Clown fish, one of them died in similar circumstances, though it was not mauled or attacked... the other one is currently living in my second tank that has Black Moor and Oranda.......

I love fishes and would love to rear them well but in Bombay, it's very difficult to get a knowledgeable enthusiast who could assist me.

Thanks and Regards,

Fish Sedai

 

[arobinson1984]

Am I right in my calculations that the tank is about 19/20 US gallons?

If thats correct then that tank is only suitable for the tetras, all the other fish are unsuitable for that size tank

Goldfish / Koi - Get too large, need big tanks and very good filtration
Barbs - Very active and can become aggressive in smaller groups, need a slightly larger tank
Molly's - Brackish, prefer salt in the tank
Rainbow shark - Can become aggressive when kept in inadequate sized tanks, require roughly 40 gal and above
Silver dollars - Require 4ft tank at least and will eat any fish they can fit in their mouths.
Black Ghost Knife Fish - Grows upto 24" which is the full length of your tank, requires 75 gal tanks and above.

What sort of filtration do you have because it will need to be very very good just to maintain water quality with that mix of fish

Andy

 

[Wills]

Totally agree with above you really need to rehome some of those fish - definatly need to get rid of the goldfish, all of the koi, both of the black ghost knife fish, the rainbow shark and the silver dollars.

I would put the koi as a matter of urgency as these are pond fish there is just no way these should be kept in tanks.

 

[MBOU]

Koi can easily get to a meter long, even when small they produce a HUGE ammount of waste! Goldfish too, dont get quite so large but far too big for your tank.

The Black Ghost Knife and Clown Loach will be VERY sensitive to your water quality and wont last very long at all... The have 'skin' rather than scales which means they are more sensitive.

Silver Dollars get to the size of small dinner plates are are related to piranhas, while they are generally vegetarians, all fish are opourtunists.

Pretty much all of those fish are unsuitable for that size tank and as compatability and unfortunately, you are finding out the hard way!