Red Tailed Shark

[ric1984]

We have had our Red Tailed Shark now for about 4 weeks, but the last couple of days his colour has reduced his red tail is not red anymore its gone a very light colour, also the black has faded too - he seems to be eating fine, the temp is ok and the water has been checked today and all was fine.

Could he be stressed ? i have noticed our Platti chasing him could that be the problem ??
Thanks

 

[rabbut]

Yes, loss of colour is probibly stress. Whats caursing it? well, could be anything form;

Bullying
Water Quality Issue
Disease
External (out-of-the-tank) issues

Can you give us exact readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, along with any other additions to the tank? Please give numbers for each of those readings, as opinions of what is OK will vary alot, particularly if the OK was given by an LFS employee

All the best
Rabbut

 

[ric1984]

Yes, loss of colour is probibly stress. Whats caursing it? well, could be anything form;

Bullying
Water Quality Issue
Disease
External (out-of-the-tank) issues

Can you give us exact readings for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, along with any other additions to the tank? Please give numbers for each of those readings, as opinions of what is OK will vary alot, particularly if the OK was given by an LFS employee

All the best
Rabbut

Thanks
Ok was given by local fish shop today about 2.oopm - we go every week and have never had any problems with the water.
We have a candy striped plec, black knife fish, 5 neons, 3 golden barbs, 2 angel fish, 2 cathfish, 1 platti and the shark.

 

[ALW]

Is their space for him/her to hide in (bogwood or caves), i find they like somewhere to hide.

 

[ric1984]

Is their space for him/her to hide in (bogwood or caves), i find they like somewhere to hide.

Yes they all have their own hiding places

 

[ALW]

How big is the tank

 

[ric1984]

How big is the tank

70 litres

 

[Proud Texan]

Quarintine him and see what happens.

 

[ric1984]

Quarintine him and see what happens.

will do, thanks

 

[ALW]

Is the tank near anything that bangs (makes loud nosies or vibrations), what are you feeding him/her

 

[ric1984]

um not really no the tank is in the corner, and we alternate beween flakes and bloodworm - are we feeding him wrong, should be giving him other stuff we put in cucumber too.

 

[ALW]

you could vary the diet a bit more (blanced veg), how big is he/her, sounds like the platie is the cause

 

[ric1984]

not very big about 2-3 inches max, he has been hiding a lot, the past couple of days i think it is the platti, cos other wise they all get on very well together

 

[ALW]

not very big about 2-3 inches max, he has been hiding a lot, the past couple of days i think it is the platti, cos other wise they all get on very well together

Yeh i think it is the platie, does it only chase the redtail

 

[pinkdolphin_113]

no offence here mate but your tank sounds well over stocked. this could be a reason for the stressed shark.

however, the first thing i thought about was the electrical impulses the black knife fish gives off (i'm guess its a black ghost knife fish you have). everytime this fish moves, he or she is sending electrical waves out which bounce of objects and are sent back to him or her. this means these fish have extremely good vision although they're blind!
anyway, sharks are pretty sensitive to electrical impulses so having a fish like these together, you can imagine would cause a problem. i personally wouldn't mix these fish.