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Why did my fish behavior change?

1K views 4 replies 2 participants last post by  DaughteroftheKing 
#1 ·
I usually am on the salt water threads because I am planning on switching over, but for now I am taking care of my FW tank.

I have a 75 gal tank and have had it for over a year now with no problems. I never had it heated because well, our house never got that cold. (Im in So. Cali) all my fish were all happy, I had platys (two moms who after having several little fry have now died) 5 baby platys, an algae eater, a molly, and a silver tipped shark. All living happily together!

Now the algae eater always hides behind the filter intake tube. the silver shark sits in the corner going in circles, and the platys are always hiding and the molly just hovers in one spot. They all used to be active and the algae eater used to go all over to to eat, and the silver shark was always swimming around.

What happened? I always do regular cleanings, and the temp is around 76. Do they just get bored and settle into their spots? do I need to add another fish to liven things up a little? Its not so pretty staring at plastic plants all the time, I would like to see fish.

Oh yea!!! the algae eater and silver shark will be active and come out when I turn the light off at night. Is that normal?

Please help me!
Thanks!
 
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#3 ·
The light I have is just a white fluorescent light. Thats all I know about it, my dad had to fix it when we got the tank.

I got the tank from my uncle who gave it to me. It already had everything in it to set it up. The decor is all fake plants and rock. Some are newer that I bought at walmart.

I do not have any reading on anything, my ammonia and Ph readers were no good anymore. but when I had them, nothing ever changed. so I thought maybe the tank was just balanced.

Is it common for a tank to be balanced for over a year then change? I guess I should look at some testers.
 
#4 ·
I recommend getting a good liquid test kit rather than paper strips or the in-tank monitors.

Has anything died in the tank recently? The behavior you're describing sounds like the fish suddenly got stressed out about something so I suspect that there has been a change in your water chemistry. If a fish died and was left in the tank for a while you might have had an ammonia spike or something like that, which could stress your fish out.

Are there any other recent changes to the tank you can think of? New fish, new decor, maybe you just recently cleaned the filters or something like that?
 
#5 ·
I think some fish might have died, I noticed last night that a couple are missing. Maybe dead under rocks? I'm not sure, I will check.

I was in Japan for two weeks and while I was there my little brother fed them for me, but he fed them everyday, I usually only feed every other day, would that change anything? Other than that nothing has changed.

I will look into some testers. and keep you updated

Thank you!
 
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