fahaka not doing much???

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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.
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indie
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fahaka not doing much???

Post by indie »

i added a bubble thing to my tank last night to help break the water surface as i was getting lots of floating algae.

anyway, i noticed today my fahaka puffer isnt moving much at all. he keeps clamping his fins. i put some bloodworm in for him and he wasnt interested. normally he would zoom around the tank trying to eat as much as possible.

could he be sulking because of the change? i tried turning it off for a while but it made no difference.

all water stats are fine:
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 10
ph: about 7.5
temp: 28 degrees
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Boxermom
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Post by Boxermom »

Hmm... normally when my are pouting, they don't clamp their fins, they just sulk behind shrubbery and darken up a little. Have you done anything else to the tank? When did he start acting funny?
Tina

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Post by manutius »

IOt could be a reaction to the noise. What was your reason for adding it as they are not really essential
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indie
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Post by indie »

well hes darkened up for sure and not swimming about as much as usual.

i added it to get some surface agitation cos i seem to have lots of algae floating and as theres very little agitation from my spray bar that i positioned too low, i thought the bubbles might help. my plecs have also been coming up for air alot too, so thought it might help get some more oxygen in the water.


it is quite noisy, so i find it quite annoying, but the algae is a bit annoying

i havent changed anything else in the tank. well i added a huge piece of bogwood a few days ago but he didnt seem to mind that. it only literally happened after i added the bubbles
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Post by manutius »

Can you angle the spray bar up at the surface to increase the agitiation? I would lower the temp to 26 as higher temps reduce the waters ability to hold O2. I found droping my temp helped this problem of darting catfish :D
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Post by Boxermom »

Surface agitation isn't really going to do anything to help the algae problem, IMO. Algae is caused by a nutrient imbalance in the tank. If you don't have enough fast growing plants to suck up the excess nutrients, you'll have algae issues.

Did you prepare the bogwood in any way before you put it in?

Try taking the bubble wand out and see if he goes back to normal. If so, then that was the problem. If not, then its something else.
Tina

Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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Post by indie »

theres a few plants in there, but the tips are all turning yellow, so i dont expect much plant growth. whats the best way to get the plants growing without spending a fortune?

much to my suprise he just came racing to the front of the tank when i was cleaning some algae, so hopefully hes getting back to norm. the plecs have stolen his usual bogwood hideout.

i didnt soak the bogwood before hand, however the bigger piece i got came from a tank already.
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Post by Pufferpunk »

Well, that's an easy one--take the bubbles out & see if he cheers up.
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!"
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Post by Boxermom »

http://www.aquariaplants.com is a very good site on plants in aquaria and has a chart on various deficiencies, how to diagnose them and how to treat them.
Tina

Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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Post by manutius »

Indie have you added any plant food? I can send you the recipe to make your own or if you know someone with a rabbit the pooh can work wonders
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Post by Boxermom »

The problem with that manutius is not all plants have the same needs due to the varying water conditions. I no longer use ferts at all and have very healthy plants. When I did use them, I had nothing but algae issues. It depends on the TDS in the water and what the plants require.
Tina

Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
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Post by Pufferpunk »

I swear by Yamato Green! Fantastic food. I also put Jobe's Plant Spikes down by the plant roots, every 6 months. I have 4 bulbs over my 90g:
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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!"
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Post by Myaj »

Jeni, you need to take a photo of that tank without the flash, its just breathtaking in person. The flash makes it look too harsh.

I use Yamato Green when i remember to order it :blush: but I don't keep any demanding plants. My anubias loves it though, there is a HUGE difference in the blooms and growth when I use YG verses not using it.
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