The 'eBay' tank...

[Nathan]

has it been acting strangely? scratching itself against wood or being skittish? If so id maybe lean towards it being the start of ich. Youve got a QT tank? maybe take him out and treat him in there just in case its something sinister that could spread.

whats the temp you keep them at the moment? Id slowly increase the temp, 1 degree per day

[jimstreet]

Thanks Nathan, they're all swimming fine and acting normal, apart from the usual biffo every now and then. The white skin like bits have now gone however he is still a little darker than normal. I have been doing a 20% water change every night. Temp is 29 degrees, I might up it to 30 on the weekend. Is there a 'general purpose' medication I should dose the whole tank with?

Edit - I found this, looks to be a reasonable medication for the situation?
http://masterpet.com/products/product/?pid=EL051
Broad spectrum medication for treatment of most common diseases in freshwater aquarium fish. Including white spot, fungus and fin rot.

[Nathan]

if hes improving id hold off on any meds. I always use meds as the very last resort and if you do its preferable to do it in a separate tank. Any pics?

Sounds like stress more then illness/ The white skin sounds like the fish has cut itself on something when darting away from aggressive neighbours

[jimstreet]

Well what a week, going against my gut and taking the advice of an 'aquarium' I added the multi-cure to the tank. On the basis that whatever one fish had they would most likely all have it. That turned out to be a pretty dumb move. Whilst the fish are fine the tank was stained green, including sand, stones, water etc. I have been replacing 20% of the water every day and today did a major clean. I ripped all the stones out and the smaller piece of driftwood, it was amazing how much 'crap/food' was lurking underneath all that. Gave the sand a deep vacuum and ripped out any plant leaf that had algae on it. I replaced the stones with new stones and the driftwood with the piece from the QT tank, as I like it better and it just happened to be the same footprint. Pretty happy with the result, just have to wait for the water to clear now.

[Nathan]

hmm they look pretty stressed in this pic mate (dark purple colour). Id add some carbon to a filter if possible this will help remove any medication left over but make sure after 1-2 weeks you take it out and toss it. Tank is looking good otherwise.

if it aint broke dont try to fix it, your other fish wearnt showing any signs of illness so no need to dose the whole tank. Ah well lessons learned. keep us updated

[jimstreet]

Thanks Nathan, they're actually not that dark, just a bad camera angle. I agree with the 'if it aint broke don't fix it' method. As I mentioned, I'll trust my gut next time not somebody who wants to sell me something...

[Nathan]

you could always come here if your unsure. It is unfortunate that 'salesmen' will give you advice which may not be beneficial just to sell something. We all learn these lessons one or another. At least when we share them on forums people can learn through other peoples mistakes haha

[jimstreet]

I'm still chasing why the water is never crystal clear, so I did a big water change (70%) and driftwood pressure wash and swap. So far still cloudy, starting to get annoyed. With 2 x 2217 on a 200L tank the water should be perfect. Swapped the big piece of driftwood out, I am not a fan of the new piece so I'll swap it back tomorrow.

On the bright side I moved the heater to the LHS rear of thank, pretty happy with the less cluttered look.

[jimstreet]

Swapped back to the original piece of driftwood after giving it a very comprehensive pressure wash. Also dosed the tank with Kusuri wormer plus.

[Ghoti]

I'm still chasing why the water is never crystal clear

Could be a number of things from organic compounds to silt. Suggest you pop some purigen or macropore in one of your filters. Generally over a few days they'll have your water so clear you'll wonder if its still there