just a while ago i checked on my convicts, and surprisingly they were no where to be seen. i found the male hiding in a cave an the female in another. When the male noticed me he swam crazily across the back of the tank and hid again, which he did a few times. the femal just stayed in her cave. now the male is in the cave with the female and seems to have calmed down. the female has lost her color. just earier today these fish were fine and active, swimming around like usual. Whats going on?
Strange convict behavior
- Thread starter nmrsco
- Start date
Plecosterone
We don't need no stinking badges!
there are no other fish in the tank. Now they seem to be allright, swimming around more, but they are acting very timid and hide often. has anyone experienced this? what could be happening? the female is still strangely pale
Could be something in the water, higher ph than normal, high nitrates or something else causing the fish to stress out and lose color, possible disease in the tank, could be a number of things.
When my convicts are spawning they are ususally at there brightest.
The pale colour and skitish behavior is usually due to stress.
Do you have a cat?
Have you had some kids visit?
Has the tank been disturbed?
Has your heater broken?
Check your water and makesure nothings going on with it (take a sample to your LFS if youdont have a test kit)
Id do a 25-33% water change straight away just in case.
My heater went on the fritz a couple of years ago and while they were cold my females went very pale.
It sounds most likely to me that something has spooked them. They should be ok in a day or two.
If they dont improve make some more observations and repost.
Good Luck
The pale colour and skitish behavior is usually due to stress.
Do you have a cat?
Have you had some kids visit?
Has the tank been disturbed?
Has your heater broken?
Check your water and makesure nothings going on with it (take a sample to your LFS if youdont have a test kit)
Id do a 25-33% water change straight away just in case.
My heater went on the fritz a couple of years ago and while they were cold my females went very pale.
It sounds most likely to me that something has spooked them. They should be ok in a day or two.
If they dont improve make some more observations and repost.
Good Luck
thanks for the information guys. ok today they seem better, the female has regained full color and the male has brighter color than i have ever seen on him before. The female is once again gaurding her favorite cave and i think that there may be eggs in there, because she often examines the side of the cave and it appears that she is fanning. I cant tell for sure because the cave is in the back of the tank, she is looking at the side of the cave that i cant see, and she has done this sort of thing before. The male is still a bit timid, but almost normal. He spends his tim just cruising around the tank, picking at stuff like usual. If they spawed i thought that he should be gaurding the cave. When the male passes close to the cave, the female comes out and flares and nips a little. once again they have done things like this before, so if anyone has experienced this i still appreciate advice
It does seem they may have spawned, the male is not always the one to guard the fry. it seems like the female see's him as a threat to the fry and would be the reason for flaring up at him when he gets to close to her cave. It could also just be she is protecting her territory from him and doesnt want him near her cave.
I figured something spooked them too. I dont have a cat, I have younger brothers who know to respect the tanks, from what i know the tank was fine, and the heater is fine(that was the first thing I checked). thanks for the help it is greatly appreciated