# Loss of colour in my fish



## squishyfishy (Jan 27, 2008)

Hi, i have a 10 gallon tank that has been up and going for about a month now and the fish have been doing great until now. I have 5 small fish I have just noticed my pleco algae eater and a guppy losing their colour drastically. We think one of the small fish (cant remember the name: it has purple zebra stripes) has been nipping at the guppy's tail and others and he has now been separated, could that be the problem? I have tested the water and everything is fine and the temperature is good for all of them. I have cleaned it once a week by removing 25% of the water too. Any help would be great! I dont want to loose any of them. Thank you!


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## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

Are you using test strips or a liquid test kit? If you're using strips, those tend to be really unreliable and inaccurate. Any way you can share pics? What kind of pleco do you have by the way? Common ones will grow far to large to keep in a 10g. If you can figure out the name of the "nipper" that would be great.


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## squishyfishy (Jan 27, 2008)

I have been using liquid tests. and i dont have pictures right now but they are just turning very pale starting at the head and slowly moving back.
I am thinking he is a trinidad pleco. The store didnt say what kind though. And he is just under 1 inch right now. The other one i am pretty sure is a zebra danio and there is also 2 serpae tetras that after reading about seem to be somewhat aggresive.


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## SolaceTiger (Oct 4, 2008)

Yea, the serpaes are more agressive, especially if not kept in a school of 6 or more if I'm not mistaken. Also, if it's a trinidad pleco, from the info I'm reading they require a minimum tank size of 70 gallons as they grow to 11 inches. Anyways, I would imagine that the serpaes are behind all this nonsense, since from what I've read of them .. the guppys fins would be pretty tempting to nibble at. Being that guppies are peaceful and serpaes are semi agressive... you may want to rethink your tank stock. Someone better experienced than I though should give a second opinion.


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## squishyfishy (Jan 27, 2008)

ok thats great  and we will be exchanging the pleco once he gets too big. thank you very much for your opinion. I have separated the culprit for now and will be taking him back to the store tomorrow to exchange for something a bit calmer.


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