# scales falling off



## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

so several of my fish stopped eating about 6 days ago. some of them started eating again. then one died today and 3 of them have scales falling off and look beat up. but they are not fighting at all. they are all keeping to themselves. all my levels are good. any ideas?


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## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

please help 1 is Metriaclima pyrsonotos and he is my favorite and i had to pay alot to have him shipped to me. i don't want to lose him


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## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

my water is 80 degrees. amonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 20ppm. ph 8.0. fish is hiding in a cave and will not come out at all. it's hard to tell but it looks like it is having trouble swimming. it will move its fins like normal for a minute or 2 then stops completely for a minute or 2. scales are still falling off. i also noticed it had a spazum or someting.


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## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

I was finally able to get a picture of him. he is out and about, but doesn't look any better. He is also hanging out near the top of the tank, but then hides when he sees me. can someone please help me?


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## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

does anyone have anything. i have been searching everywhere all day and cannot find anything about what is wrong with him? he doesnt have white spots like ich. i have looked at lots of pictures and it doesn't look like that and he is not swollen like bloat and he is not looking like a pinecone.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

It looks like aggression to me. Also the lurking is a sure sign of aggression. You rarely see it happen, but you see the results. My Demasoni looked like that after jumping over a divider and spending a day in a tiny space with another male.

I'd put him in the hospital tank and unless he starts getting fuzzy on the wounds with pristine water he will probably heal nicely and quickly.


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## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

ok. thanks for your response. i do not have a hospital tank. but the fish in the picture his anus is pertruding out and now i'm seeing another fish with a fat belly and it is laying on the bottom and not moving except when i tried to catch him in the net he swam really really slow away from it. and i found another dead fish in the tank today. it was a small baby. i didnt see really anything wrong with him except he was discolored. i am so frustrated.


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## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

another fish died today. he was the one with the fat belly. pyrsonotos still looks like ****. no better. and my polit is staying in hs cave and will not eat now.


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

sounds like stress that leads to disease probably brought on by by aggression.

maybe just pull out the fish you want to keep and put them in buckets with regular water changes until you figure out whats happening.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Any white thready poop? If you have bloat you can treat the tank with metronidazole.


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## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

i stopped feeding everyone a week ago. there is not poop. it does seem like bloat. i lost another fish today. where can i get metronidazole? is there any brand name treatments? the pet stores around me do not have very many options.


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## bacondaddy (Dec 6, 2007)

now my super red empress has lost its color and is not eating


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