PlanetCatfish.com

I have group of 6 adult Chameleon Whiptails in a 6 foot tank with other South American fish. About a month ago one of the whiptails shows up with white discoloration behind its dorsal fin. The dorsal fin itself was also torn. At that time I had a marble sailfin pleco in the tank and promptly removed it thinking this was the most likely culprit. I also have a Queen Arabesque, Gold Nugget, and a Royal Pleco, along with random dither fish I don't think are doing anything to the whips.

Once the MSFP was removed I treated the tank with Melafix as I saw redness under the armor of the afflicted whip. That fish seems to be on the mend with only a small amount of the original white discoloration.

Last night, unfortunately I observed a second whiptail with more sever white discoloration over its head covering both eyes. It almost looks like the eyes have a clouded look (not fuzzy) and I'm concerned they're permanently damaged. This morning I went in with the lights off and observed eyeshine in the whips eyes, so I'm hoping they are still usable.

Has anyone experienced aggression or slim sucking by Royals. I have a hard time believing my tiny Arabesque would do it or my flighty Gold Nugget. I can't think of anything else in the tank that would do it. My water parameters are good. The pH is a little low for my liking (5.5-6) but I don't think that has anything to do with it. I've treated the tank with Melafix as a precautionary measure. I'm willing to move everyone out to eliminate variables. All of the fish are eating including the injured whips. I should say they continue to eat voraciously.

Any thoughts???

how old/large are your whiptails?
assuming they are wild caught, is it possible that it just developed a fungus, not related to any fish being aggressive?, certainly you have enough room, and my opinion is that the ph is not a factor..... in fact probably good for them.
I had one of mine die unexpectedly, with no real signs of wounds or aggression, but as mine tend to be more active when the lights are off, sort of hard to say whether or not there is any aggression towards each other.
I think what you are thinking about, in moving everyone else out, reduces probabilities, and easier to conclude issues...sorry, I probably am not much help here, but will be curious to hear what others think.

IMHE mixing different loricarids it's a real crap shoot when trying to anticipate inter-species aggression. Those other loricarids, no matter their size, can inflict damage to others. I'm not sure, but are all of the species that you are keeping in the tank endemic to the same environment in nature? If they were they'd probably be familiar with each other species aggressive actions and be able to deal with them.

not heater burn-related?

Thanks for the responses all.
I'm pretty sure they're all from different areas. Rio Xingu, Rio Irri?, etc. I'm thinking I may need to move fish around. The whips are too valuable both aesthetically and they're not cheap.
The heater is outside of the tank.
Also, if it was just fungus I would expect to see fin damage.

As has been said mixing loricariids especially from different sub families is hard to predict. I wouldn't rule out them doing it to each other.

Jools

Hi together,

those whiptails that prefer to hide under sand and dont move a lot are always endangered to be "grazed on". I would never mix them with others, especially not Panaque, Pterygoplichthys, and even small Otocinclus have been observed "grazing" on them. But, do you keep shrimps with them? They are known for some real massacres among whiptails.