Hello,
First time I've posted on a forum so apologies if I mess up.

I have two 'blackmoore' - one who is now orange and pretty much a fan tail with boggle eyes, and one who is turning bronze. So i guess they are not actually blackmoore.

The orange fish is around 5 inches long and I've had him for 4 years, the black one is around 3.5 inches long and I've had her (?) for 2 years.

The orang fish has whitespot and has been treated with chemicals (containing malachite green) but has not cleared up yet. There are small round white spots on the front edge of his pectoral fins.

He also has red streaks down his tail, like veins, which have come up in the past before, generally around the same time as whitespot springs up. One area is beginning to look very slightly puckered.

And... one of his eyes went blood shot around a year ago, which I presumed was due to some physical injury, this gradually cleared up, and i removed any objects this may have occurred from. However, it is back again, and the whole eye area is bigger than on other side. His pupil isn't round, but an irregular shape.

Despite all this, He is active and eats well. he does rest on the bottom a lot, but has always done this. Occasionly he tries to rub himself against the gravel- I presume because the poor fellow is trying to get rid of his whitespot.

Now on to my other fish. When I look at my orange fish head on, the clear lens/ covering outside bit of the eye is clearly visible. However, I've recently noticed that the black fishes eyes don't have a clear area- they are all black, and I can't see her pupils. her whole eye looks slighly cloudy upclose, but mainly just all black- she used to have bright eyes. cataracts maybe?? She doesn't act blind, and feeds fine, but she could just be picking up on vibrations.

My tank is 55 litres (around 11 UK gallons/ 13 US gallons) but is a hexagonal shape and taller than it is wide, which I've heard is not ideal, and with the size they've reached I am looking to get a bigger tank.
I have a submersible fluval filter/pump that treats a maximum of 45 litres- the next size up created too strong a current for a narrowish tank- in addition to a corner filter with carbon/wool layer and airstone. I have a bogwood/plant thing in the middle and gravel on the bottom.

I clean them out between 4- 6 weeks, and do weekly water changes.

Any ideas on any of these problems appreciated - I hate to think of them being in any discomfort, and I'd much appreciate some advice!

Thank you!

Hi Jenni and

I'm so glad you're looking to get them a bigger tank and when a tank is longer, it can take a stronger current for filtration. Currently the filter you have may be too small for them and it always easy to add extra filtration down the track.

Just on the ich - this will normally appear as a result of stress which will be resolved if you can get them a bigger tank. Just on treatment though, using MG will work eventually but the tank must remain dark as light renders malachite green ineffective.

As an alternative, you could treat using salt and this is a very effective way plus it's gentle on both your fish and your filter. All you have to do is add 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon (sea, rock or aquarium predissolved) taking you to 0.1%. Then you slowly want to raise it to 0.3% by repeating the first dosage 12 hours later and the last dosage 12 hours after that - so 3 doses 12 hours apart.

This will also help as a deterrant to any secondary bacteria. The cloudy eye could be due to flexobacter infection and the dilated fins, a result of ich. Keeping the parameters perfect with 0.3% salt is usually all they need to improve.

Another thing you can do once you've reached 0.3% salinity is raise the temperature of your tank to 80-82 degrees as this will speed up their cycle while the salt will destroy them. Plus daily gravel vac'ing removes any of the cysts that drop to the gravel.

So trying to fix the underlying problem that cased these symptoms is the best course of action - a bigger home, perfect water and good filtration and i'm sure you'll see a vast improvement.

I hope this helps

Thank you so much!

Will get that sorted straight away. And I'm sure my fish will both be very grateful too!

Jenni

As far as the whitespots...I see you noted that they were on the pectoral fin. Were the white spots only on the gill cover and leading rays of the pectorals? If so, it's not white spot, but a male's breeding tubercles, which would indicate your orange fish is actually a him, and not a her.