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Fahaka fin anomaly

Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2016 8:07 pm
by RedSuit
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate).
PH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 25 (last water change: 4 days ago)
Salinity: tap water

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
Tank size: 120 x 45 x 60 (yea it's not big enough, I am still working on it.)
1 fahaka, around 15 cm
1 Macrobrachium lar around 5 cm (fahaka never bothered to eat it for some reason.)
10~30 ghost shrimps
2 guppy
numerous kinds of snails

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
Usually feed the fahaka with freeze dried krill and ramshorn snails, I tried other food like frozen shrimps, crab etc but fahaka doesn't seems to appreciate it.
I usually feed him when I see him begging for food, which is once around 2~5 days, always keep the tank with some ghost shrimp so he can catch his own food when I am too lazy.
water changes once a week.
each water change will add 40 cc Ista NH/CL aqua reliever and 5 cc Ista black water extract

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
nothing much is changed in the tank last week other than adding some ghost shrimp, the problem have been there since I bought the fahaka.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
The tank is set up around 10 months ago, cycled for 27 days before introducing the fahaka.

I first bought my fahaka when it's only around 2 cm, it grew very fast indeed, it used to have tapeworms on him but I got rid of it with waterlife anti-parasites after 3 months since I bought it.
however there is something about it that always makes me worried, the left fin of the fahaka doesn't seems to grow as big as the right fin, here is a video of it.
https://youtu.be/qK2aPlojpa8
It is obvious that it's left fin is really tiny compare to an average fahaka, it's been like that since I bought it.
doesn't really looks like fin rot to me, and it's acting pretty normal, eating stuff, greeting me and throwing a tantrum occasionally.

what's wrong with it? how should I help it?
Is it a problem with it's genetics?

Re: Fahaka fin anomaly

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 10:09 am
by Pufferpunk
Why are you adding blackwater extract? These fish come from neutral water, not soft/acid water that that additive produces.

You MUST get this fish onto different foods. Krill is a bad staple diet.
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... r-puffers/
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... ur-puffer/

Re: Fahaka fin anomaly

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 4:49 pm
by RedSuit
Pufferpunk wrote:Why are you adding blackwater extract? These fish come from neutral water, not soft/acid water that that additive produces.

You MUST get this fish onto different foods. Krill is a bad staple diet.
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... r-puffers/
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/lib ... ur-puffer/

The tap water here are rather alkaline, sometimes at ph 8.0, the aquarium clerk suggested me to add black water extract to lower the ph.

arrggh I tried so many times feeding him something different, it always took a bite and ignore me, there are a few times it took a bite and start smashing it's face on the glass.
I can't even get it to change the brand of the krill, I swear TetraKrill-E have cocaine in it, it's so expensive and addictive.
oh well, I will stop adding black water extract and try feeding something different.

Do you have any suggestion on lowering the ph?