Severly red fins on King Tiger

Jon · Post by **Jon** » 20 Apr 2005, 23:30

Well, recently, my tank broke out in ich. To make things worse, now one of the king tigers under treatment has severe reddening on her fins. Any ideas? Treatment?

Jon · Post by **Jon** » 20 Apr 2005, 23:31

Here's a picture:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v398/ ... ooo011.jpg

kev · Post by **kev** » 21 Apr 2005, 01:03

mabey a stupid question but is the water quality ok?

Kev

Jon · Post by **Jon** » 21 Apr 2005, 01:11

Nitrates are on the high side, at about 20, but nothing to shake a stick at. NH3 and N02 are zero and zero, respectively.

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 21 Apr 2005, 09:59

From what I've read, red-fins are a sign of ill health caused by high nitrates. If you're in the 20+ ppm range, I would recommend a relatively big water-change (check that your tap-water isn't high in nitrates, otherwise you need to find a way to reduce nitrate in your tap-water first...)

May also be a good idea to check that your nitrate test is accurate, let's say that it always shows a bit low, then you may be in the 30-50 range, which is definitely high for Hypancistrus species.

--
Mats

Post by **Barbie** » 21 Apr 2005, 15:22

20ppm nitrates won't cause stress in Hypancistrus, IME. My tanks occasionally get to 40 between weekly water changes in the growouts and I don't have problems. Keeping the nitrates lower is desirable, but not mandatory, IMO.

I would say that redness is damage from fighting. It's a normal behavior for Hypancistrus, but that doesn't make it less dangerous. They have to establish a pecking order before any colony can spawn. Keep an eye on the areas, making sure they don't grow any fungus or deteriorate more. An extra water change or two will definitely not hurt them. If you remove the fish for quarantine, you'll then be faced with having to reintroduce it and go through the process all over again. Good luck!

Barbie

Jon · Post by **Jon** » 21 Apr 2005, 18:20

Wow, I think you're right on the mark, Barbie--I added a new female in a few days a ago (you can see her tattered cadual fin in the background), and the youngster decided she was up to wedging herself into the established female's favorite lookout. A bit of tussling occured throughout the day, but I didn't think much of it.

Thanks to all.

eclipsecatfish · Post by **eclipsecatfish** » 25 Apr 2005, 03:05

at this fish store called fish r us there was alot in one tank and almost all off them had red fins. so I think that barbie is right.