# Dull color and sluggish



## TheSentinel (Jan 25, 2006)

I have a few fish that aren't looking quite right, but google isn't helping me shed any light on the problem.

Two of my six clown loaches have their dark stripes looking quite dull and gray and they are swimming a little slower than usual. One of my two angels seems to be just a tiny bit duller than usual in color and isn't moving around much at all. He didn't head for the food today and didn't even swim out of the way of a hand during cleaning. I don't see any obvious signs of anything on the disease charts, so it's a little difficult to pin down the issue.

As for set up, the tank is a fairly heavily planted 90G, has CO2 at ~26ppm, has no recent additions, uses EI, and the only grief it gives me is a minor BBA issue. 

If anybody has an idea of what might be wrong with the little guys and/or how to fix it, I'd love to hear your advice.


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

2 questions 1.what are You feeding them? and 2. what color is your background/substrate? if not being fed right they will lose color also if they are darker colored fishes such as the clown loaches you mentioned their colors will fade against a lighter colored background or substrate as their bodies attempt to blend in with their surroundings. you can accualy see this at some LFS that keep their rd tailed sharks in with white gravel the fish will turn grey and the red will fade from their tails an extreme example but none the less the same thing.if its not the colors in your tank i would advise some live foods or freeze dried foods and only high quality flake like aquadine hope i didnt tell you what you already knew as for the sluggishness try a large water change to see if that helps it usually does


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

I'd agree with Cassiusclay's comments about doing a large water change. Just in case there is some water quality issue that is stressing the fish slightly.

I always find some freshly hatched brine shrimp will perk off-colour fish up and get them feeding and looking better too, so if you can hatch a few for them, or get some other safe live food.


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## TheSentinel (Jan 25, 2006)

Thanks for the responses.

The main food in the tank is flake and freeze dried bloodworms and shrimp pellets go in once or twice a week, with a ring of cucumber going in every second or third week. The substrate is a mix of flourite and light colored gravel, so even the lighter spots aren't too light. I've been pretty good with the EI and do a 50% water change almost every week, though I do miss a few. I test pH and kH every few weeks and they're usually just about perfect. The change to the fish seems to have happened fairly suddenly, but I did a water change last night and I'll keep an eye on them.


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## TheSentinel (Jan 25, 2006)

Unfortunately, the angel was dead when I got back home from work today. As for the loaches, the ones that look fine still do, and the ones that don't almost seem to have a hint of a gray film perhaps over both the black and the orange resulting in the dull color. The other angel seems fine and healthy.

Does that help any?


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

You said you did a water change, do you use tap water and, if so, do you treat the water for Chlorine/Choramine? Was the water particularly cold, maybe a large change in temperature shocked them? (I know it shouldn't be at this time of year, I'm just thinking that something has stressed your fish pretty severely and trying to look at options!)


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

hmmm......not cool i agree with ed there. id quarantine that sick loach if you can. is this a new tank by any chance?have you changed any thing drastic? i just recently had a switch from well to city water and my fish had a bit of a problem with it luckily i didnt lose any but it wasnt easy for a few water changes.any thing like that????


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## TheSentinel (Jan 25, 2006)

Thanks for keeping on this, guys.

The tank is well established, the tap water is treated for chlorine and choramine with Prime, and I do use a thermometer to keep the fresh water within about three degrees Fahrenheit when I do a water change. I certainly wouldn't put it past me to do something pretty stupid, so I certainly don't mind anyone asking questions like Ed and Ali have been.

That's probably a good idea to fire up the quarantine tank for the two grayish loaches so I'll do that tonight. Does 50% water volume from the existing tank and bringing over the hob filter I mainly use for aeration in the main tank (I use a canister for the main filtering) sound about right?

So does it sound like this is more a stress than a disease issue then?


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

The grayish colours are often a sign of excessive mucous production which if often a reaction to stress or disease - a lot of the signs are the same as a disease will stress a fish and conversely stress can often cause disease.
I have heard of water companies doing things like flushing out the pipes and the chemicals they use, while fine for people causing havoc with planted tanks, or them switching the source of the water in your taps and the change in conditions stressing the fish - that is only a guess but the fact that you had these problems after a water change is a bit 'fishy' to me! It sounds like something came in there. Maybe you could run some activated carbon in the filter just in case there was something in the water?


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## TheSentinel (Jan 25, 2006)

Actually, I had the problems just before a water change. The tank gets 50% a week, so it could have been from the last one.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

TheSentinel said:


> Actually, I had the problems just before a water change. The tank gets 50% a week, so it could have been from the last one.


It is probably not an issue with the new water then. Things like that tend to happen hours after a water change; I misunderstood when you said about the water change.

I'd just up the frequency of water changes and keep an eye on them. There's no point dumping treatments in the water unless something specific rears it's head.


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

ed seeley said:


> I'd just up the frequency of water changes and keep an eye on them. There's no point dumping treatments in the water unless something specific rears it's head.


not only that treatments can stress your fish as well and i usualy only use them in dire cases IE realy treasured fish on the brink and ive exhausted all other options just my 2 cents


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## TheSentinel (Jan 25, 2006)

Ok, I'll just keep an eye on things and move the water changes up to twice a week. Thanks for your help, guys.


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