White looking I.D Shark...

[cowlovergirl]

Over the last few days I've noticed our smaller I.D. shark is getting very white looking.. He used to be very black like the bigger one. Now he is sick looking..

I've checked all the ph,amonia, etc.. all seems to be okay.. Should I put him in a tank by himself and see if he'll improve or will this make matters worse?

Also is there and med's i should add to the water? thanks

 

[Balance]

I would be VERY careful medicating sharks. since they have skin instead of scales the tend to soak medications up very quickly.

its possible to kill them off with a medication, even with a really small dose.

probably wouldnt hurt to put him in a nurse tank if you have one available......

 

[cowlovergirl]

I thought about adding some aquariam salt maybe. In two days he's gone from pure black to white.. I know they change their colour if and when something is wrong with the water etc.. So I'm wondering if there is something I'm not catching...

 

[cowlovergirl]

The readings are as follows:

ph is 6.0 (which is a bit low)
amonia is .5-1
nitrite is good at 0

 

[Angelfish]

I dont know how true this is but the owner of my LFS said female ID sharks get paler with age. So maybe the shark is a female. If it looks abnormal and was a sudden change there could be a problem, I dont know how to help you with that though.

 

[Balance]

you ammonia should be a 0, but i dont think that level of ammonia would cause the fish to stress that much.
some aquarium salt will help your tank in general, not sure if the ID sharks like very brackish water or not (they probably do)

it might be the ph though, 6.0 is pretty low for quite alot of fish. I think most sharks prefer 6.5 - 7.5 (except for maybe Bala sharks)

 

[cowlovergirl]

Thanks.. I have added the ph increaser and hopefully that will help..

 

[mike the zealot]

how big is it? They can grow to a good 4' , if they're anything over 6" I would suggest getting a bigger tank, that might solve your problem right there.

 

[cowlovergirl]

I;m aware of the size they get.. We are building a bigger tank right now actually. Just waiting on the glass to come in this weekend.. That one isn't that big..

SInce I put the aquariam salt in he looks like he's getting blacker..

fingers crossed

 

[fishface]

he might be settleing in mine was greyish(from black) when i first put him in he might be scared or fighted or something how long have u had him?

 

[cowlovergirl]

He's been here for a while now.. Months anyways.. I'd say around 6 months.... Today he looks alot better...