My Australian Rainbowfish is turning black??!?

A

adamcaso

Registered Member
Feb 22, 2006
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Hey all,

I woke up this morning to a very strange problem with my Australian Rainbowfish. He's one of a few fish in my 10gallon freshwater tank. The only other fish close to his size (about 3 inches maybe) is a Dalmation Molly and a Chinese Algae-Eater

He has developed overnight a black patch on his face. It is contained to one side of his face.. the dividing line between the affected and non-affected areas is almost completely straight down the center of him.

He seems to be alright, he ate fine when I fed him. Does anyone know what could be wrong with him? My ammonia level is a bit high, but I added Bio-Spira yesterday that should fix the problem. All my other levels are fine.

Here's a picture of him:

mbjb.jpg
 
Well, one of your first priorities should be to get a larger tank. Rainbowfish will reach 5-6" as adults and must be kept in schools of the same species. Further, even one that is three inches is too large for a 10g tank. They are way too active, need other "friends", and simply are too large.

That said, do a water change. You don't want any ammonia in that tank. Is it a new tank?

As for the black spot, if it wren't so neatly defined I wouldnt' be worried, rainbows change colors quite a bit (in fact, when looking at a boesmani, you can literallly see color changes in the scales). I've never experienced anything like that though. I would first do a water change, keep the water clean, and observe it. It may just go away. If it is a disease, I would lean towards a bacterial one and may try some broad spectrum antibiotics. Or perhaps it is akin to a bruise?

Maybe someone else can help more.
 
S'funny. It looks almost like my Bosemani's in the morning when their colours darken for breeding I guess. There's no females, but they still seem to want to look their best! :D

In any case, I did some research, but I can't find anything that relates specifically to a spot such as the one on your fish. I hope somebody else has some experience with this. The only thing I can suggest is to watch for swelling (as I read about fish experiences a dark swollen spot near the tail that turnd out to be nemotodes) or any other signs of illness.

I'm not totally sure about this species but *sometimes* fish start to change colour as they age. Still I would keep an eye on him.

Other than that, the rainbow is usually a schooler but for that you need a bigger tank, so you might actually find that's part of the problem. I guess fish get lonely too! :D You would probably do much better with a larger tank and a couple of friends for him. And they're so pretty, how can you resist? ;)

Hope it all works out!

Jade
 
Offtopic, I'm sorry:

Jtruswell, is that frog in your avatar yours? She's a beaut...nice weight to her.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
 
adamcaso said:
I woke up this morning to a very strange problem with my Australian Rainbowfish. He's one of a few fish in my 10gallon freshwater tank. The only other fish close to his size (about 3 inches maybe) is a Dalmation Molly and a Chinese Algae-Eater
Click to expand...
You have a 3 inch molly, and a 3 inch CAE in a 10 gallon tank and they are both smaller than the rainbowfish?

How many other fish are in that tank?

He has developed overnight a black patch on his face. It is contained to one side of his face.. the dividing line between the affected and non-affected areas is almost completely straight down the center of him.
Click to expand...
It looks like an ammonia burn, but it's very hard to be certain. It's certainly not a natural coloring for that fish.

He seems to be alright, he ate fine when I fed him. Does anyone know what could be wrong with him? My ammonia level is a bit high, but I added Bio-Spira yesterday that should fix the problem. All my other levels are fine.
Click to expand...
Bio Spira isn't going to fix your problem. You have a 3.5" or larger Melanotaenia splendida australis, probably South Alligator Creek from the looks of him, in a 10 gallon tank. That is your problem right there.

That fish will grow from 4-5" and it is a schooling fish. It needs to be with others of its own kind, at least six of them, in a LARGE tank -- no smaller than a 55 gallon. He's almost an adult now, he needs a *lot* more space than what you've given him.

The fish you have indicated, along with the fish you didn't specifically name, are taxing the biofilter on your ten gallon tank. You will be hard-pressed to keep the ammonia and nitrite levels under control with a load that large.

You need to start doing water changes and get that ammonia down to 0, nitrites too.

How often are you doing water changes and how much? What are your exact readings: ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH?

Roan
 
Leopardess said:
Offtopic, I'm sorry:

Jtruswell, is that frog in your avatar yours? She's a beaut...nice weight to her.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Click to expand...

Off topic reply, Sorry adamcaso! :D

Leopardess: unfortunately, it's not a picture of mine. My camera is no where NEAR good enough to take that kind of picture. What's really cool, though is that my female ADF looks almost exactly like her. And even more amazing is that the two ADFs I have are quite the little couple. They 'snuggle' all the time in their little clay pot and (cross my fingers) I think she MIGHT be egg laden, but I'm not sure. In any case, they do seem to be a willing breeding pair and that's the first (if not most difficult) step, so who knows.... :D And it just amazes me how different in size the male and female are. She's so much bigger! :D

Good news: I'm *hoping* to get a new camera soon, so maybe I can take a picture of my own babies! THAT would be exciting! :dance:

Jade
 
My ammonia levels were high due to my biological filter crashing for reasons unrelated to the high bio-load. I've taken steps to fix the problems that caused it in the first place, and I'm also planning on upgrading to a larger tank soon (since I'm fully aware that I've overstocked the tank), I'm just waiting for a response to a 'want to buy' post I made on another forum.

The thing that makes me unsure that it's an ammonia-related problem is that all my fish are doing fine and are eating and swimming around (no fin-clamping or other signs of stress).
 
Rainbowfish are *very* sensitive to water conditions. Some specie more sensitive than others. Most rainbowfish breeders advocate 50% water changes twice a week to keep the fish healthy and in prime condition, but that's in a properly stocked tank of the appropriate size.

It would really help if you could post a better picture. Has the black spread at all?

Roan
 
The black area has decreased in intensity.. but it's definitely still slightly there.

I'm going to go ahead and drop 36 bucks on an 18-gallon on Friday (nobody has responded to my post on MAAST), that's not too expensive, really.
 
36$ on an 18 gal? thats a bit overpriced if you ask me....

in most pet stores here 18gals cost about 15, and 20 gals cost about 25, and 55gals are 90

i would keep saving to get something even bigger IMHO
 
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