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Black calvus breathing really
hard for air 03/19/2008
I bought a black calvus and it is breathing really hard for air.
<... Mmm, all fishes (in fact all livestock) is damaged, stressed in
shipping/moving... hence one part of the suggestion to quarantine, allow it to
"rest up" before being placed in a community setting where it may be harassed,
have to compete too hard for food...>
I put him in well established tank, 80 degrees PH 7.9 nitrites and nitrates are
in a normal parameters.
<... need data, not subjective evaluations>
The other cichlids he is with are doing fine and breathing normal. He just sits
on the substrate doing nothing. He does not have any signs of
disease no white spots or no cloudy eyes all fins are good he sits right side up
no swaying or anything what do you think
Troy
<... Read more widely on the Net re fish physiology, husbandry, particularly the
value of quarantine... there is very likely nothing "wrong" with this Cichlid
than that it's new. Bob Fenner>
Night time fishes, lighting, eating,
beh. 1/29/08
hi bob and friends I just set up a 20 gallon tank now cycled for 3 months. I
just added in some nocturnal fishes and I was wondering, do I have to cover the
tank up with a blanket or something to make the tank completely dark.
<Blankets are a bit extreme, but obviously if the tank gets bright sunlight, the
nocturnal fish will stay hidden. If the tank is in a dark corner things might be
different.>
I wanted to know because I don't want my other fishes taking all the food and
leaving none for my nocturnal fishes.
<They won't. Daytime fish won't feed at night, so food put in at night will only
be taken by nocturnal fishes.>
Also can daytime fishes smell the food and eat it?
<Not really, no. Some fish such as Corydoras feed both day and night, but things
like tetras and cichlids are daytime fish and hunt by sight. In the dark, they
sleep.>
Or is it okay to leave some light in it to create a moonlight effect for the
fishes.
<There are indeed moonlight tubes available for just this effect, though low
wattage red tubes work just as well.>
Last, how will I know when my fishes are sleeping?
<Sleeping fish look dozy. Some retreat to favoured burrows or nest, while
midwater fish often drift about among the plants. Several fishes change their
colours at night when they are sleeping, most famously the Pencilfishes.>
Thanks for your help. Thank you.
<Cheers, Neale.>
Is it true that if you raise
an aggressive fish from little to old it will be less aggressive?
1/1/08
<No, aggression is largely genetic.>
For example instead of raising a 10 inch aggressive fish you raise it since it
was 1 inch and it will be less aggressive.
<Nope. Obviously not all fish are aggressive at all. But most territorial fish
are aggressive to some degree, and in general they become aggressive once they
reach a certain level of maturity. The classic examples are things like Mbuna,
which as fry can be quite sociable, but once they become sexually mature the
males especially can be ferociously hostile to one another.>
This was a argument me and my friend had and I really wanted to prove him wrong.
<"My friend and I"...>
:) Anyway, thanks for replying.
<Hmm... arguments on these sorts of topics can be fun, but I think whoever said
that raising fish from babies makes them less aggressive has lost. At best, if
you raise a juvenile territorial fish, say a Red Devil cichlid, from a baby in a
tank with a bunch of other cichlids, say Convicts, often-times the Red Devil
will "accept" the Convicts in the tank as part of the scenery. Provided the
Convicts don't stray into the Red Devil's patch, they'll be largely ignored. But
if you were to dump a different fish into the tank once the Red Devil was
mature, say a Firemouth, the Red Devil would immediately see this as a threat,
as something new, and chase it around the tank. Cheers, Neale.>
Fish staying near top of the tank
Good morning,
I have been reviewing your site and I am trying to find an answer to why my fish
have decided to stay near the top of the tank. I have a 30 gal tank with 2
Mickey mouse platys, 2 neon and 2 gold tetras, a 6 inch pleco, 1 2 1/2 inch
clown loach and recent addition of 3 high fin black tetras (2 days ago). I
recently had some problems with nitrites spiking, about 2 weeks ago, (my theory
is the person who looked after my tank for a weekend overfed them as she also
majorly overfed the cat and rabbit we also have!). I resolved the nitrite
problem with frequent small water changes and the levels are back to 0 (as are
the levels for ammonia and the ph is also good, these were never an issue). The
platys (they are moving around a little more everyday) and the black fin tetras
are all hanging near the top sort of hiding in the floating plants and are
relatively inactive despite the levels being okay. The tetras which were
hanging near the bottom while the nitrites were out of whack seem to be fine and
are swimming around at their usual level of activity. Is there something else I
should be checking or is it that perhaps these fish just like the top of the
tank.
< High nitrogenous wastes may damage the gills and affect the fish's ability to
absorb oxygen. Day by day they are probably slowly recovering. Keep the tank
well oxygenated, keep the tank as clean as possible and feed only enough food so
that all of it is gone in a couple of minutes each day.-Chuck>
Thank you for your help.
Midnight massacre - help!
This last week I have been losing my albino Longfin and zebra Danios during
the night. In the daytime these mainly occupy the top layers of my aquarium, but
ay night sleep in the cover of numerous plants and rocks. Each morning I find
their numbers diminished and some with their tails completely chewed off and
bloodied stumps. There is no indication of the culprit during the daylight
hours, but I am wondering if my golden algae eaters are to blame as they seem
very protective of their personal space.
My
tank: 300ltr (80gal)
with mix of artificial and live plantings
Temp: 21oC (70o
F) as I have a mix of goldfish and semi-tropicals
PH: 7.0
- 7.1
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Fish: Comets,
Shubunkins, Calico Ryukins, Fantails
Buenos
Aires Tetras, Black Widow Tetras, Bitterlings
Golden
Algae Eaters, Chinese Algae Eaters
Peppered
Catfish, Tandanus Catfish
Albino
Longfin Danios, Zebra Danios
I have suspected the Tandanus Catfish, but there is only one, a juvenile, no
larger than the Danios.
Until now, these fish have been socializing quite happily since installing this
tank about three months ago. Can anyone enlighten me please?
< My money is on the Buenos Aires tetras. These tetras are quite active and
have appetites to match. I suspect they are out looking for a little midnight
snack and find these albino Danios easy to find in the dark and easy to catch
when they are asleep. As these tetras grew larger they have found that they can
now eat at least part of these Danios when they catch them.-Chuck>
Who's the Culprit?
Hi,
<Hi! Ananda here tonight...>
I have a healthy well-established freshwater aquarium, with red serpae tetras,
dwarf neon gouramis, bala sharks, sucking loaches, 2 monodactylus, and two
upside down catfish.
<Ah...the monodactylus are brackish fish, needing more salt in their water
than any of the rest can live with now, and needing full-strength saltwater as
adults. They should be in their own tank.>
Recently I was given 6 Neon Tetras, and one disappeared quickly. I
assume one of the larger fish ate it, but don't know which is the culprit.
Before I got the Monos, one of the red serpae tetras also disappeared, so I'm
wondering if the upside down Catfish are the predators. Any ideas?
<Those catfish are omnivores, but then, neither grouamis nor bala sharks are
vegetarians, either... hard to say who the culprit was. --Ananda>
Thanks,
Eleanor
Carbon
Hi there,
I have two questions for you:
1. Can I use carbon to break up the bond between chlorine and ammonia rather then using conditioners (de-chlor)?
<Yes>
And how long should I wait, 24 hour?
<Should be sufficient.>
2. My brother asked me a silly question, do fishes know their owner (I think he meant the person who feeds them)?
<Fish can definitely learn who feeds them and respond by coming to the top of the tank. -Steven Pro>
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