My fish are JUMPY! :(

[tarzan]

Hi!

Im doing my daily wc'es, but sometimes my fish gets VERY jumpy when im cleaning the gravel, and banging pretty hard on the windows.. this takes about 5-7 secs. and after that they sit in a corner ALL black.. some of them have nasty "white" scratches on them too. All this is BEFORE i add new water to the tank..

Are there some way that i can prevent this ? Am i doing something wrong ?

Daily 1/3 WC
PH: 8.0
ms: 500
Nitrit:0
Amon:0
Nitrat:low
Taking out the chlorine with some Seram stuff..

[dkokes]

Hi

I had the same problem. When I was cleaning my tank they were like crazy. You have to move and do everything very slowly then they will get used to it. I did about 4 or 5 WC's and it's fine now. Build them some hiding places or something it will help. Now they are really curious when I clean the tank. ;D

[Shari]

I always keep one or two plastic plants to the opposite side when I'm vacuming - they dart over behind them and watch me from safe distance....then as they got used to me they drive me nuts because they won't get out of my way now and I have to hand scoot them around to get to the gravel under them.....but yeh..move slow as it helps alot !! And don't forget the banging on the glass to them would be like a gunshot going off in your ear drum!

Some Discus are alot more sensitive too I've noticed. I have one large one that has taken to almost laying on his side, somewhat dark and won't move until I'm done -and I have to scoot him around this way because he's stubborn - just be gentle about it all.....five minutes after I'm done he's hand feeding and letting me pet him !!! I love it!! ;D

[ronrca]

Hmmm! So no ammonia/nitrites yet very skittish! Do you age your water? And do you treat for chlorine/chloramines before doing the water change (meaning in the container/barrel where you are aging the water)? Or do you treat for chlorine/chloramines in the tank when doing the water change (adding water into the tank with chlorine/chloramines)?

Btw, how big is the tank?

It may also depend on what type of dechlor you are using! Id recommend Seachem Prime.

What about ph of the water you are adding? And the temperature? Are they very close to what is in the tank?

It may also depend on how recent you got the fish. They just have to get use to you. ;)

[tarzan]

Hmmm! So no ammonia/nitrites yet very skittish! Do you age your water? And do you treat for chlorine/chloramines before doing the water change (meaning in the container/barrel where you are aging the water)? Or do you treat for chlorine/chloramines in the tank when doing the water change (adding water into the tank with chlorine/chloramines)?

Btw, how big is the tank?

It may also depend on what type of dechlor you are using! Id recommend Seachem Prime.

What about ph of the water you are adding? And the temperature? Are they very close to what is in the tank?

It may also depend on how recent you got the fish. They just have to get use to you. ;)


Hey Ronrca,

I've just tested.. no amon/nitrit!

Right now im adding the water directly to tank (same temp.) my tap is pH 7.5, tank is 8.0. I remove chlorine directly in the tank.
I know this is bad.. but is it THAT bad? :) Will this explain why _some_ of my fish is so shy, and sometimes freaks out on me?

Im getting my new barrel in 1 week, which means that i can age my water with some air+thermo overnight..

[ronrca]

Right now im adding the water directly to tank (same temp.) my tap is pH 7.5, tank is 8.0. I am quite certain that both these factors are contributing to your discus being skittish! Fish are sensitive to chlorine therefore when adding chlorinated water directly to the tank, the fish do notice it. Once you get your barrel, that problem should be gone. The ph difference would also be affecting them and again, once you start aging your water, you should not have that problem either. ;) ;)

[tarzan]

Hi ronrca,

Ok! time will tell :) thanx for your answers! ;D

[tarzan]

I just called my waterwork, and here are the values:

Mono-kloramin mg/l As low as possible
Ammonium mg NH4/l 0.05
Nitrat mg NO3g/l 50
Nitrit mg NO2g/l 0,1
Klorid mg Cl/l 250
dH 5-30

They say that chlorine is VERY low.. and no chloramines at all!

[TKD-MAN]

Tarzan :wave:,
if the light is on when you do W/C, turn it off.
It works for me ;).

[Mykiss]

Tarzan, could it be that the pH is too high that they get skitish? If the water quality is good, and you lower the amount of lighting, then try the pH. That might help.
PT

Am I reading this correctly??? Your tap water has a Nitrate level of 50 mg/litre?? :o
Thats EXTREMELY high! If those numbers are accurate...that would be your problem right there...Normal levels would be between 5-10 mg/litre.(ideal would be below 5)

Tony

[ronrca]

Thanks Tony! I agree with Tony! Double check your nitrate level in your tap water!

PH probably is not the case unless it is changing at wc's. All my discus are at 7.6-7.8 with no problems! ;)

[tarzan]

Hey All!

Ahh, i was typing wrong.. my Nitrates are very low - sorry!

But i think i have gill-flukes...

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=13111;st art=0#lastPost