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Nervous Fish

9K views 19 replies 5 participants last post by  xlinkinparkx 
#1 ·
Hey everyone, I have a 55G aquarium, its been running for about 5years and in it i have:
2 Blood Parrots
1 Full grown Male Sijica Chiclid
7-8 babies(about 1-2 inches)
2 SAE'S

These fish have been in this aquarium for around 2 years the babies must be around a year old now maybe even more. But for some odd reason all my fish have become very nervous, they are all constantly hiding when someone walks by I tried feeding them krill and they all hid and it is quite annoying. this has been going on for mabey 2 or 3 months dose anyone know what can be causing this?
 
#2 ·
There are a number of possible reasons for their changed behavior. The first one I would have to ask is what are your water params for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH? Changes in water chemistry over time, due to the growth of the fish, without accommodation of increased maintenance, can cause the behavior you describe. Fish that don't feel good don't feel safe.

As the fish grew did you increase the amount of decor in the tank to allow them to find larger territories to accommodate their increased needs? Fish that outgrow their environment can display the behavior your describe. You listed the fish, but you didn't list how big each one is? That makes a huge difference.

It is also possible that something spooked them at some point when this all started, and you may not even know what it was or that it happened... if it came from outside their tank, their behavior would make perfect sense. Until they feel secure again in their environment, the behavior will likely continue.

Foods being offered can also cause this behavior. What kind of variety do they have in their diet besides the krill? Do they react this way to all foods or just the krill? When a fish isn't finding proper nutrition in its food it will eventually lose interest and appetite for that food. With no reason to come out of hiding, they go about their business and find the addition of such foods as an intrusion instead of dinner.

Try approaching the tank very slowly, whether its feeding time or maintenance time. Every movement around the tank should be slow and steady, always controlled so as not to spook them. You can try taking 1 finger slowly to the glass and rubbing in slow small circles to teach them to come to you when you "call" them. This takes time and lots of patience, but I have not found a fish yet that can't be taught to respond if the conditions are proper and it is done right.

I hope this helps.
 
#4 ·
That was a perfect post thank you so much bettababy.

I checked the water and everything is perfect, I have to think its the decore because they eat as soon as I move away. I will post a picture, I am starting to plant my aquarium, The blood parrots and sijica chiclid are quite big and I dont really have any thing they can hide with out changing my aquarium around completly. Again thanks alot I will start my moving project right now:D
 
#5 ·
Sijica father= 6inch
Blood Parrots5-6inches
SAE's 5 inch
sijica babies=1-3 inches

I do realize the bigger fish only have 1 or two places to hide while the babies can hide in many diffrent spots, but I am debating re-doing my rock wall seeing as it will stress the heck out of my fish.
 
#6 ·
Sijica father= 6inch
but I am debating re-doing my rock wall seeing as it will stress the heck out of my fish.
As a general principal I try and regularly get my hands in all my tanks, cleaning out, re-arranging, etc, etc. Ideally a couple of times a week. The fish definately get used to it, and are therefore less stressed overall, as they become very used to me fiddling around in their tank.
Maybe it's something you could look at doing more often to acclimatise your fish to your presence.
 
#7 ·
Put food in my aquarium sat there for about 30 min no one ate a bite, but somethings I noticed, they do have many places to hide so what I said before is not true, But I do think plants would help and second, My Parrot and Sijica(largest of both) are displaying weird behaviour, both just swimming with their noses at the top of the water just floating along, it is now worrying me:S here is a picture of my aquarium as you can see NO FISH!!!

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#8 ·
What do you call "perfect" for water params? It would help if we had exact numbers and knew what test kits you used? What is the water temp? How often are you doing water changes and how much water each time? What type of filter are you running? (make/model) From the photo it looks like a canister... is that a power head in the front left corner?
 
#10 ·
Are both filters new? Did you add old/used media to either of them or start with all new media?

I would not be as concerned about the 10 - 15 nitrate as I would be the .1 nitrite. Nitrite is more toxic to the fish in smaller quantities. If there is .1 nitrite that means there was recently ammonia, which can easily stress the fish.

In regards to decor... I would suggest adding a lot more decor to your tank and at the same time rearrange the decor thats in there now, to create new territories and add more territories at the same time.

If the fish are coming out to eat the food after you walk away, that tells me there is too much activity of some sort going on around the tank when you approach it. Are you moving too fast? Are the lights on or off when you feed? Do you turn the lights off after you feed? What other foods are you offering the fish besides krill?
 
#11 ·
It might of been zero ammonia, is that possible cause like it was barely yellow, mabey I am calculating wrong.

305 has been running around 5 years now I recently changed the sponges and carbon, I changer the carbon probably every few months or something. 203 is completly new with everything in it also new. I feed them cichlid pellets and reugular flakes(both nutrafin) and I think I will keep a closer eye on the feeding.

I dont approch the tank quickly I just walk normally, its not in a very high traffic are, so I am thinking changing the decor will be the best idea. I mean the fish clearly get along, I see the male sijica chase the bigger babies away sometimes but really not too often the parrots and biggest sijica swim together when no one is close. So I really hope the decor change will help.
 
#14 ·
It might of been zero ammonia, is that possible cause like it was barely yellow, mabey I am calculating wrong.

305 has been running around 5 years now I recently changed the sponges and carbon, I changer the carbon probably every few months or something. 203 is completly new with everything in it also new. I feed them cichlid pellets and reugular flakes(both nutrafin) and I think I will keep a closer eye on the feeding.

I dont approch the tank quickly I just walk normally, its not in a very high traffic are, so I am thinking changing the decor will be the best idea. I mean the fish clearly get along, I see the male sijica chase the bigger babies away sometimes but really not too often the parrots and biggest sijica swim together when no one is close. So I really hope the decor change will help.

If you recently changed the sponges and carbon in the old filter, then it is possible that a portion of the biological filter was lost. New filter could also be struggling slowly,but surely to establish a bacteria colony.
This could result in ammonia and nitrite levels becoming elevated at some point during the day or evening such as possibly after feedings.
In a mature aquarium, the ammonia and nitrites will read zero all day ,every day and nitrAtes in the tank would be best kept at or below 20 ppm.
If readings are otherwise,you can throw all the medications you want in the aquarium but possible underlying water quality issues will result in medications having little effect.
Maybe taking a sample of your water to fish store and getting second opinion would be something to consider.
Maybe lighting has been upgraded lately to benefit the plants? This could cause fish to become skittish if lighting has suddenly been increased.
I might check to see that temperature is steady in the tank and that no fluctuations are taking place.
These are some things I might consider before using medications for ??
 
#12 ·
Is there any way some sort of chemical could have gotten into the tank? Is it possible you forgot to add water conditioner during your last water change?

If your tests are accurate I suspect maybe there's some other issue at play here, such as a chemical you're not seeing. It might not be a bad idea to run some activated carbon in your filter just to be sure.
 
#18 ·
After going back and re-reading , I would remind you that marble rock/chips can raise the pH in aquariums. While one rock in large tank may not have too much effect ,I would keep in mind that once pH becomes too much different than the pH of water you use at water changes,then fish can become stressed as their osmoregulatory abilities try to adjust to the change.
I don't know that one rock would pose such a threat, but would not add marble and would perhaps opt for flagstone.
Might check the pH of the tank and record what the reading is.Would then run a bucket of tapwater and let it set out for 24 hours and then take pH reading from the bucket of tapwater.
If there is a significant difference,then this could be contributing to problem.Can't offer much more at this point.
 
#15 ·
1077 is right... how can you medicate if you don't know what you're medicating for? Also, there are a great many meds that can turn toxic in the presence of any ammonia or nitrite... even that .1 nitrite reading.

The pale coloration may be stress induced as well... which means no medication is going to fix that. Its best to sort out what the problem is and fix the problem so you don't mistreat symptoms.

I also agree with the 2nd opinion on the water testing. Thats a very good idea at this point, considering the sudden escalation of symptoms/problem.

Something else you can do is to sit down with a pen & notebook, trace back everything you can remember doing to, with, in, around the tank since this began. Anything at all can be useful when you're looking for changes. Is there a new brand name of something you began using around that time? Something you stopped using around that time? Something that is regularly done but at spaced intervals... like was mentioned about replacing lights... if not increasing, maybe changing to new bulbs? Different bulbs?

One last suggestion is to watch the tank from a bit of distance after the lights go out. Watch how the behavior in the fish changes, watch who begins chasing who, nipping at who, pairing up with who, etc. Typically fish are settling into their dark time routine within 30 - 45 minutes of the time the lights go out for the night. That is the time to watch.

Keep us posted and don't panic and do something in a rush before you know what needs to be done. That could mean the difference between life and death in any/all of your fish.
 
#16 ·
Hey guys,

Yes brining the water to the petstore is a good idea. things that have changed in the past few months...
1) Added Marbel Rock
2) Added Filter
3) Took Out Bubbles
4) Babies are growing
5) Changed 2 out of 4 sponges, then 3 carbons, the bio thingys(white cylinders with holes in the middle) remained the same.

These are really the only things I have done. This aquarium has not had a problem in 2-3 years, This is why I am panicking. I have barley been paying attention to it, aside from water chages and feeding I havent had to go buy anything for this aquarium. Till I noticed they were all hiding.


Lastly, the big sijica and both parrots are constatly swimming near the top gasping for air which is really concerning me, school just finished so I will be doing some research.

I really appreciate all the help thank you.
 
#17 ·
After rereading all of the info posted, I am still wondering how accurate your test results are. The reason I say this is because for those parrot fishes to still fit into a 55 gallon tank with the other cichlids after 2 - 3 yrs... something is wrong. Those parrot fish should have outgrown that tank by now.

The gasping at the surface could mean low oxygen content in the water, or ammonia or nitrite burning the gills... or parasites in the gills... but this really doesn't sound like parasites. None of the other symptoms really match up to be parasites.

Try adding an air stone or 2, or a power head near the surface to help generate oxygen in the water. Spray bars from canister filters don't typically put out enough circulation by themselves to sustain larger or higher oxygen needing animals. I would suggest having the water tested as soon as is possible, but be sure to have them check all 4 basic tests.. ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH. Make note of what test kits the lfs uses and have them write down exact numbers for you. If they tell you "its fine" that tells you nothing, and it tells us nothing that we can use to help you. Also, be sure the water is being tested before a water change, not after, so you are getting the most accurate results.

I don't remember seeing the water temp listed here anywhere...??

I will try to stop back here later tonight to watch for updates to your posts.
 
#20 ·
Ok little up date I know its been a while but I have been busy with work school. So it seems that everything is back to normal here. I added the bubbles back in and the infected gills on my parrot seem to be gone and everyone is going wild when I approach the aquarium waiting for their krill:)

So I still plan to move some of the babies and possibly the blood parrots soon because its getting crowded, although it does break my hear to do so.I am keeping a close eye on these fish to make sure everything remains "normal".
 
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