very skinny fish - please help

[turquoisegirl1]

Hi all,

bought a handful of fish a few months back including a large fine spot who, as i was told, was beaten up a fair bit by his old tank mates - at the time he was very dark in colour, had tatty fins and barely any coloration. he was also quite sunken.

since then he seems a lot happier in with my other fish - around 12-15cm, hes the largest, and is the boss of the tank due to his size. he does not act like a sickly fish, and while lighter in colour and with healthy fins, his colouration is poor and he is very sunken. he shows interest in food and takes mouthfuls here and there, but most is spat out.

just after any ideas as to what I can do in case he loses much more weight or takes a turn, would really like to fatten him up in case this happens..

plan of attack is get him in a seperate tank in around 10 days (uni exams coming up) as i need to set the whole thing up after moving house, give him a routine worming, wait a week and then dose with metro if no improvement occurs in his eating.

any other ideas are welcomed, please!!!

thanks guys,
jacqui

[broadfoot]

It does sound a hit wormy.

What's your water change pattern at the moment?

[turquoisegirl1]

it's not great...haha. around 20% every 2-3 weeks, however all parameters are great, i test them regularly - pH around 5.5, kH 1-2, ammonia nitrate and nitrite all at 0. one of the pairs spawns regularly and raises wrigglers until they are free swimming - though i am not trying to breed them at the moment, and they are eaten by their tankmates.

the tank is also fully planted and runs on a large sump so i don't think, in this case, the water changes are the issue. also with the worms, is there any reason that they are only affecting one fish in the tank?

he has 8 tankmates who are all fighting fit and 100% healthy.

[broadfoot]

The others may also be infected with worms but because one of them was regularly beaten up by tankmates he became weak enough to get significantly negatively affected by the worms.
Like giving a cold to someone whose immune system is weak.