Beth???

[lionpicasso]

I've been treating 2 damsels for ick with hypo,
it's been 31 days. My question is one of my damsels was acting funny , like he was being shocked around my heater, I also noticed that some small scratches was on him on one side.
Whats the matter with him? I saw him do it one time and the other damsel is doing fine.

 

[beth]

Is he being shocked around the heater?? Heaters are known to malfunction and cause problems with electricity going directly into the tank. I recall one time when I noticed a dead fish in my tank....right under the heater. Well, I went to fish him out, but, thank goodness, I looked more carefully before sticking my hands in the water and noticed that the glass on the heater was cracked. Obviously the fish swam around the area of the heater and got zapped by the broken heater. I would have likely succumbed to the same fate had I submerged my hands in the water. Since then, I have stopped using heaters, but, since I live in the tropics, heating really isn't necessary anyway. I am, however, a firm believer in GFI's.
If your fish have been in hyposalinity treatment for 31 days why are you not already acclimating them to return to the main tank?
Is this fish eating? Are the scratches injuries? Is the fish scratching against objects or darting around abnormally? How is he and his tankmate getting alone? Damsels are notorious for hating each other, the dominant fish usually killing of others [unless you have a large tank with many hiding spots].

 

[lionpicasso]

I don't think it's the heater because the other
fish would have been jerking also, he looks healthy and eats like a pig and he's the dominant
fish in the QT. I haven't seen him scratch himself on anything. The reason why I haven't
started acclimating is on the 5th day of hypo
my salinity went to 1.011, I was just gonna
wait a few days extra then acclimate them.
And what is GFI's?

 

[beth]

Well, I tend to be conservative too about better to take longer than be sorrier.
GFI is a ground fault interupter. You probably have one or 2 in your bathroom or kitchen. They are electrical recepticles that measure the amps going thru its circuit. It will break [shut off the juice flow] if a ground fault or loss of ampage occurs [as in the incident with my broken heater]. Basically it protects hobbyist and fish from electric shock. No fish tank should be without one.

 

[lionpicasso]

Thanks. Will his scratches heal up?