Sick Damsel

[vinguitara]

I have a 55 gallon saltwater tank its been running for about 2 weeks all of the levels are ideal and i had my local ***** test the water. I put in 6 damsel fish and they are all doing fine and happy except one of the fish he is in the corner of the tank on the bottom barely moves and wont eat????? any ideas??? should i remove him so he doesnt infect the others??
thanks
Vinny

 

[carrie1429]

Does he seem like he has any spots or anything on him, having any difficulty breathing? Sounds like your tank could have had an ammonia spike, some fish are just more sensitive to ammonia than others, since your tank is still cycling tha ammonia could have spiked then went down.

 

[vinguitara]

i also just noticed that one of his fins is bitten off only half remains he is struggling to swim and there are NO signs of ICH, do you think he could have had a quarrel with one of the other bigger damsels?? if so should i just put him out of his misery????
Vinny

 

[carrie1429]

It is possible that the others beat him up, damsels will do that to the weaker fish. They are very territorial and if there isn't enough territory for all of them then the largest fish will kill the smaller ones. You can put him out of his misery or you can put him in a hospital tank by himself and see if he does any better.