Who is this little gal/guy

[geebea]

Sorry, From the picture I think the fish is unhealthy genetically (small and out of proportion- curved spine, lacks depth in the body) and would not be inclined to build a shoal/ tank around him.

Definitely a runt. We are going to give him a run at it. We are just a small children's aquarium, but appreciate your observation.

 

[geebea]

The fish acted aggressively because it was on its own. Rainbows need company otherwise they stress out. You need to keep them in groups of at least 6, preferably 10 or more.

The fish is a male Melanotaenia praecox and he is really skinny. If he eats a lot but stays skinny, then he probably has intestinal worms. Section 3 of the following link has info on treating fish with worms.

The fish's diet should consist of about 50% plant matter and 50% insect larvae, shrimp, fish and other foods.

They are a lovely fish when kept in groups and fed properly.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

Hmm interesting, it looks like we have a number of factors to sort out first before introducing others again.
Given what we have since read, we are most definitely feeding it incorrectly, will need to remedy that too.
Cheers.

 

[geebea]

Blue green algae (Cyanobacter bacteria) is a photosynthetic bacteria that loves nutrients, slow water movement, low oxygen levels, and red light.

Reduce the dry food going into the tank. Offer more frozen or live foods and remove uneaten food after feeding.

Do a big (75%) water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for at least 1 (preferably 2) weeks. Try to remove as much of blue green algae as possible. Lift ornaments out and hose them off outside too.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence and water movement around the bottom of the tank.

If you have fluorescent lights above the tank and they are more than 12 months old, replace them with new globes and starters. Get globes with a 6500K (K is for Kelvin) rating.

Add some floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta). These will reduce the light getting to the bottom of the tank, use up some nutrients, and provide the fish with some hiding places near the surface.

Perfect, thanks for the steer!

 

[connorlindeman]

We have done that for a period but there is so much BGA on the bottom that changing the water doesn't really work. The material needs to be scraped out by hand but you just cant get all of it no matter how hard. I think I will get some advice at maidenhead, see what they say. It's obviously something that I am doing wrong. I just need the education. Maybe a more shady spot would be best for the tank.

yeah. excess light really does make a difference. sorry I couldn't be of more help to you.

 

[geebea]

yeah. excess light really does make a difference. sorry I couldn't be of more help to you.

On the contrary, you've been a great help!