Fish behaving odd

The_Conductor

Ok- I've a fish that has started behaving in a very odd manner.
Have a decent enough sized Jewel trop setup- with a number of different species of community fish- including zebra dannios, platties, cichlids, a couple of goldfish (don't ask) and one plecotamus...... The tank is in good condition, with lots of hiding places, along with loads of real plants.

My Pleco (a type of catfish) has started behaving really weirdly. She starts at the bottom of the tank, speeds along the bottom, up the wall and jumps out of the water causing a splash. She only tends to do this at the end of the tank closest to the water filter. She used to be a shy fish- hiding under petrified bark if the light was turned on, and only feeding at night. Now that she has grown a bit (I'd say she is between 10 and 12" in length), her shyness is gone- and she does other odd things too. Another of her things is swimming against the current from the filter?

The glass is being kept clean, no fish are missing- and she is getting the regular pleco tablets.

Anyone any idea whats happening here?

Cheers,

Shane

Ciaran500

My big sucker fish (no idea of the name) does this at random times. Sometimes when someone would walk into the room, sometime when I'm lying on my be doing nothing. Not sure if its normal or something to be worried about but he has not done any damage yet so I tend no to worry.

Ruatha

I have 2 plecs in my 5x2x2 (450L) tank along with a couple of oscars and an arrowana. I have seen fish swim against the current from the filter before and I think it's fairly normal - they seem to like being in a strong current

As for the other behaviour, not sure. It could be that the tank is too small - you didn't mention what size yours is?

FranknFurter

AFAIK,
In their wild state, they would move from slower flowing water to faster flowing water as they get older. But it may be worth making sure the water is oxegynated (sp?) enough for the load.
I would suggest leaving one side of the tank without cleaning the glass on it for a while, algae wafers are good, but i always got the idea the pleco actually enjoyed scraping the side glass panel

How is hannibal btw? He behaving himself?

B

The_Conductor

Hannibal is in good form. He got renamed something that won't come out here

I hadn't given any thought to algae wafers- think I might give them a go and see if they help.

Ruatha- the tank is a 240 litre tank- its not got all that many fish in it, so I don't think its a case of over crowding. The rest of them seem to be happy little buggers- if they'd ever stop shagging each other senseless! Thats fish for you though.

tk123

I used to have fishies till I sold them all to sum1 on boards..it sounds like she's hungry - give her more food or treat her with some cucumber. My pleco used to be shy but once he got bigger and hungrier he'd be out and about more. I read somewhere that they speed up to the surface sometimes to get air for buoyency - eg if the want to hang out upside down...

The_Conductor

I never heard the tip about feeding cucumber before- will give it a try.
Yes, she does like to hand upside down- but I am finding it a bit odd the way she zooms up- splashes out of the water and then goes back down again. Hyperactive fish! Not too sure about her being hungry tbh- the other fish are getting more than enough flake, she is getting a few plecotumus tablets and there is tonnes of natural vegetation in the tank- so not so sure......

Hmmm......

Will give the cucumber a try and report back!

Cheers,

Shane

LegacyUser

FranknFurter wrote:

How is hannibal btw? He behaving himself?

B

I'm sure R will have a reply about how Hannibal is . Doing great .. growing into a big fishie now. Amazing to watch. Loves playing chasing, has a massive mouth. I think he is going to be hunting for a new tank soon. Thought he said around 350 litres .. cause of Hannibal and the massive pleko (also a boards.ie fish).

The_Conductor

Well fish have been mysteriously missing- so I guess its Hannibal by name, cannibal by nature.

The dark is worst- at least they can see her coming when the light is on.....

Spalk0

Ok i dont have fish at all but im gonna take a stab in the dark at this since noone else has mentioned it!
You the pleco is a 'She'! Could it be mating maturity thing?
I could be way off, i just thought id throw it in there anyways!

tk123

my pleco was a boy and he did the same splashy thing...?

Sysiphus

tk123 - The pleco - "The Big One" is doing fine.... more to follow in the post (all the others that we got vare fine too, bar two tigger barbs, one just went the other day, otherwise all ok)

Frank'n'furter - Hanibal is bigger, now between 6-7 inches, he's munched his way through about 10 goldfish, 8 glass cats, 10 tetra, 1 Tiggger barb, 1 Pearl Gourami, and possibly 1 Weather Loach (but he could be hidding!), and about 2 chickens!

SmcCarrick - The pleco I got from tk123 does the same, he hangs over the air stone in the current, also shoots from the bottom to the top flips, splashes and drops, I think it's just play and doing something different, but I do notice that it MAY be linked to weather and water temp. Check your water temp as that will make the whole possie come closer to the surface. Keep giving in the cucumber, definatly appreciated by the pleco. I've tried to ballance my tank with a very dense end to allow hiding and and open end for the pleco and oscar to move about in freely, seems to be working now, only prob being that you can't see most of the fish as they like hidding, so my tank just looks empty!!

Sysiphus

smccarrick wrote:

Well fish have been mysteriously missing- so I guess its Hannibal by name, cannibal by nature.

The dark is worst- at least they can see her coming when the light is on.....

de de, de de, de de de de de.............(bad jaws music!)

As per my previous quote, the Oscar is definitely a predator. Hang your finger over the surface with just the tip in the water, and feel the bite not joking, it will go for it!

Any time I put a goldfish in it lasts about 20mins before its either in half or gone altogether.

As for cannibals, I have another tank (tk123's) with feeder (for the oscar) and breeders (mollies, who's babies will be for the oscar!) but I recently bouth two knife fish, and poped them in there till they grew big enough to go in the community tank, however the damn goldfish and mollies took one when I was away! so much for the feeding blocks!!! I can't even be away for one night by the looks of it!!!

FranknFurter

Sounds like my old boys makin a pig of himself! lol

as for the loach, i often spent days thinking he'd been eaten till i realised he was hiding under the gravel and only coming out to feed in total darkness.

ya'll must post some pics of himself lol, I can see it now, maybe a thread of is own! "Hannibals Blog!" lolol, he certainly has the personality for it! lol

b

Sysiphus

Yep, will get the digi cam out and shoot the fish!!!!!

He'll be moving to a new home shortly (next six months or so) as I intend to get a 400l tank, but hit a setback after I hit my car into another and need to get a new one!! So, unless I can figure a way to attach wheels to the tank, the car comes first!

How'd the move go?

tk123 - Pleko is getting bigger!

tk123

Aww thanks for the update!!

The_Conductor

I've got a problem......

I put some cucumber in the water in early morning before I left for work- for plecy to feed on. When I got home the water had turned a milky white colour, there was an oily surface on the water, a terrible smell and half the fish had died......

I immediately removed the remaining cucumber (which just seems to have dissolved) did a 50% water change and doused everything in stress coat.

I've done another 50% water change twice (Thursday and again this morning) but the water is still cloudy- even if the remaining fish seem happy enough.

I have no idea what happened, or what my options are. Would appreciate any helpful suggestions that you might have......

Ps- do not want to attempt to restock until I get this mess sorted.

Sysiphus

I've noticed that the water can turn mutky if the cucumber is left for to long, I reckon no more than 30 - 60 mins at most.

What filter are you using, I've just gotten rid of my internals and replaced them with a big F.O. External, 1000p/h capacity, will see what rthat does for water. Got it for 66stg on ebay (post incl.)

So if you want another fluval 3 to increasew your filtration, you are welcome to it. It's not running at full whack but a replacement impeller will sort that.

There are various chemical interventions - P clear or B Clear for clearing cloudiness, just dont use both together.

You may be better going with a 50% change every 3 days, but with lots of Cycle in each change to keep the bacteria up.

Other than that, can't relly think of anything else.

The_Conductor

Ronan- I appear to be quite incapable of sending a PM- my account here seems to have been put through a food blender. Will try to send you an e-mail instead. Not sure if it will even let me post this message

Sysiphus

Sure ye didn't put cucumber on your keyboard????

boroughmal

Pleco's have a tendancy when they get big to search for bigger & better waters thats why he tries jumping. Normally at the filter output, However when he cant escape he returns to build his energy & try again.
Wild carp do the same. The only other reason for him jumping is the lack of oxygen diluted in the water. This may be very low (sometimes due to atmospheric pressure). Increase your bubble blower or change that blown out airstone. This will help more oxygen to disperse.
Fish are natural creatures of instinct If your conditions are not right then just like a prisoner he will try to escape. Wild carp jump out on the banks of lakes sometimes duuring severe winds & storms. In pippingford park in sussex england it was not unusual after a storm to rescue a fish in a puddle, still alive & kicking. slipped back in the lake they didnt die.
The two things you may wish to purchase instead of a new tank are an undergravell filter & a decent hi blow air pump(dont mind the noise) This wont cost as much so you can fix the car.
Dont want to appear a bighead but this question comes up quite often, try andre's aquarium faq's