My F8 has changed overnight, he hangs at the back of the tank just surfing the glass and wont come to the front of the tank when I feed him which he always does and really wont eat anything at all.
He also hangs around the bottom of the tank a lot as well, his belly is white and his color is good. Tank parameters are...0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 20 Nitrate pH is at 7.0, water is basically still FW I am doing slow BW changes each week with 1.002. Water temp is 80 F, tank is crystal clear, filter is running great and I'm banging my head against the wall! He has been a very active and curious fish until a day ago, cant figure it out. Any thoughts?
F8 Demeanor Change
Forum rules
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Read this before posting!!
Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.
1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.
2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.
3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)
4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.
5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.
We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.
While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.
Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
Re: F8 Demeanor Change
Thinking that my pH was a little low I just rechecked my pH using the liquid kit and its 7.8, threw the paper strips in the garbage!
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Pufferpunk
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Re: F8 Demeanor Change
Forget about pH. Get the SG up to 1.005 & the nitrate <20.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32776
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
Re: F8 Demeanor Change
Forget about pH. Get the SG up to 1.005 & the nitrate <20.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Re: F8 Demeanor Change
Yes was going to do a 50 % W/C and replace with 1.004 but nervous about crashing my tank, you think that its a safe range and not cause a problem?
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
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Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
Re: F8 Demeanor Change
That's fine. How large is the tank?
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
Re: F8 Demeanor Change
its a 20 gal tank
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bertie 83
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Re: F8 Demeanor Change
Yea get the sg up over the next 2 week or so, I assume you are at 1.001? If so jump to 1.003 now and then 1.005 next week and he should be good
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
Re: F8 Demeanor Change
Thank you! I'll post how things are going over the next week.
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bertie 83
- Moderator
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- My Puffers: lineatus R.I.P, South American puffer. Valentini puffer, porcupine puffer.
Non puffer
Danios, Tetras, Redtail Rasporas,
Harlequins, CAE's, Yoyo
Loaches, Clown loaches ,Eels, various shrimp, tangs,wrasses, damsels, chromis - Location (country): Brighton, England
- Location: brighton , england
Re: F8 Demeanor Change
Yes please keep us posted, don't raise your sg by more than 0.002 per week or you risk crashing your tank
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
Re: F8 Demeanor Change
Good evening everybody, I just did a 50% W/C and got the tank SG to 1.002. How long in your experiences should it take for me to see a difference in my little buddy? Thanks again for all your guidance!
Re: F8 Demeanor Change
AM update, no change seems even more lethargic constantly surfs the back of the tank very slowly up and down, doesn't swim around the tank at all. I soaked his bloodworms in a little crushed garlic this morning and then dropped a few right in front of his face, he looked at them and totally ignored them, his color has seemed to fade a little, not as pronounced as it was, belly is still nice and white.....very frustrating to see him like this! Like I said in my earlier post he has been super active and a crazy eater just two days ago and nothing changed in his environment at all except the addition of two ghost shrimp for dinner which again he totally ignored but they seem happy anyway!
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RTR
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Re: F8 Demeanor Change
Why didn't you move up to 1.003 as Pufferpunk suggested? The fish need a bit higher density and more stable alkalinity. Do you have a liquid-based test kit for alkalinity/carbonate hardness? Check out the alkalinity of your tap water after 24 hours standing. If your tap water is not at least high moderately hard to hard, you may need to supplement the sodium bicarbonate. Stable alkalinity is as important as stable specific gravity and direct application to the tank is moderately high risk. Too many hobbyists kill fish by osmotic shock trying to adjust alkalinity in the tank rather than via the make-up water with partials. If your tap water is hard you should have no alkalinity issues.
HTH
HTH
Where's the fish? - Neptune
Re: F8 Demeanor Change
API test of pH for tap water after 24 hrs. is 7.5, never see a fluctuation in pH at all as I test it at least once/week when I test all other parameters. I do weekly W/C of 40 to 50%, this morning my water test results are 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites and 5.0 Nitrate. SG is currently 1.002, I will increase to 1.004 next weekend when I do my W/C.
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32776
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
Re: F8 Demeanor Change
pH is not the same as alk. I think going up to 1.004 will help. Please continue to test other parameters. Something is off. Any sprays, paints (or similar chemicals) used around the tank? Try some live worms.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"