My fish is bullied? Another sick? And another losing its color!

Question
Dear Ron,
My fish Swimmy is about 3 inches. He was the first fish I ever got and I love him. But lately I have seen the other fish 'nip' at him and his tail is shredded? Can you help? And another thing is my other fish (I have 6 fish 2 are sucker fish the rest goldfish) Nevaeh is floating on her back but not dead. I tried to feed her peas or letece but she won't eat them. Then my other fish Popeye is losing his color. He used to be black and gold but now he's JUST gold! Should I be worried?
From A Concerned Fish Owner, Kayla

Answer
Hi Kayla,
 Sadly, yes you need to be worried.  Once a fish is swimming on its back, things are really bad, and that fish is unlikely to recover.  

 Are you feeding the sucker fish?  Too often people put sucker fish (plecostomus) in a tank and don't feed them. So, the plecostomus are starving and they will attack the other fish.  You need to put algae wafers in the tank for the plecostomus.  

 How large a tank are you keeping these fish in ?

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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