Banner fish problem!

[cdnmedic]

I just got a black and white banner fish about 1 week ago and it has been eating fine. In the last few days I have seen that his fin, only his "rear" fin looks like it is disintagrated. There is almost nothing left, I have been on here for the last hour or so to try and figure this out. All parameters in the water are fine. Ammonia 0 Nitrates 10-20 fluctuates, temp 78. Phosphates 0. I have a 125G FOWLR and only one other fish a Small damsel, the blue ones "ellen's damsel" I think.
Now I have not seen it attack or bother him, but wondering if that might be the problem. I can obviously see that my bannerfish is stressed, his colors are fading and he is of course swimming weird. no sign of ick. he still eats like crazy.
Any imput would be appreciated!

 

[beth]

That basically sounds like aggression--another fish chewing the fins down.

 

[cdnmedic]

I'm trying to move the LR around tonight, hopefully the "territotial" instincts of the damsel will be diminished, but any other ideas if this doesnt work?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by CDNMedic
http:///forum/post/2567039
I'm trying to move the LR around tonight, hopefully the "territotial" instincts of the damsel will be diminished, but any other ideas if this doesnt work?
Is the damsel the only other is in the tank? How long was the damsel there before you got the banner? If it wasn't a long amount of time then I doubt if moving the rock will help. You can try it. You may have to end up removing the damsel though.

 

[florida joe]

I don’t think the aggression is doing to stop, if anything IMO it would have started as soon as you put the banner in and would have calmed down after a week, if it was going to. I would start planning on which fish has to come out. If it’s the damsel catching him in a 125 is not an easy task I would start to cordon off sections of your tank and move the LR to give you a shot to net him

 

[cdnmedic]

Unfortunately the fish has died. It's back fin was gone. The rest was fine, the only other thing I could see wrong with it was the discoloration of the stripes. Could any other thing as far as water parameters have caused this? I dont want to get more fish and have them die for nothing..
Thanx again. To answer the questions, the damsel had been in there for approx 4-5 wks and the banner fish was in with him for about 1 1/2 wks.

 

[florida joe]

I am sorry for you loss you may never know why he died our tanks as in the open ocean are predicated on survival of the fittest his diminished health may have brought on the aggression

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by CDNMedic
http:///forum/post/2569949
Unfortunately the fish has died. It's back fin was gone. The rest was fine, the only other thing I could see wrong with it was the discoloration of the stripes. Could any other thing as far as water parameters have caused this? I dont want to get more fish and have them die for nothing..
Thanx again. To answer the questions, the damsel had been in there for approx 4-5 wks and the banner fish was in with him for about 1 1/2 wks.
I am sorry for your loss. The discoloration is from stress. As Joe pointed out, there is no way to know if the damsel was just attacking him or if he was attacking the banner because the banner was already in declined health. The banner was certainly a victim of aggression though. He most likely would have been fine if he wasn't harassed. It is likely to happen with other fish. You may want to consider getting rid of the damsel or planning on fish that will fight back.

 

[cdnmedic]

thanx for the input. I appreciate it. I think I will be taking out the damsel, if I can catch him, the idea was to keep him since he was actually a good looking damsel (ellen's damsel) But there is no need for him now, just wanted to test my water parameters before getting more livestock.
I will update and let you know what is going on, thanx again