Help! erratic behavior

Ranger

Ranger

AC Members
Jun 20, 2001
117
2
18
Everett, WA
Help! fish killing it self

I have a pictus cat that appears to be killing itself. I have had it for about two months with no problems then about three days ago I noticed it was swimming around that tank very erratically almost spastically. It did not show any signs of disease and there haven’t been any changes to the tank parameters or new fish added. It’s pretty beaten and bloody now and I don’t think it will live through the night. I’m getting concerned because one of my Siamese algae eaters is starting to display similar behavior. It’s not as severe but seems to be more active then usual and swimming differently. Any suggestion? Is this associated with some type of parasite or infection?
 
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/badger

If you don't mind, could you give us a couple of pieces of information?

First, what size is the tank?

Second, what are your water parameters? (Ammonia, NitrIte/NitrAte, Ph, etc.)

Also, what other fish are in the tank with these guys?

Is it possible that there is a bully in the tank?

Are the fish swimming with clamped fins, or flipping their bodies against objects (flashing)?

/badger off

There's a lot of possibilities here. Might need a little more information before any educated guesses can be made...
 
Sure;

45g tall heavily planted with Co2 (25ppm approx.)

no detectable ammonia or nitrite

pH is 6.6, KH is 70ppm, NO3 is 2.5ppm, PO4 is 0.25ppm.

No apparent bullies, has lived contently for last 2 months with no problems only fish added 1 month ago was a green knife, none since

No clamped fins, no flashing or any other sign of infection (as I stated above) just swam back and forth (non-stop for four days) at all depth ranges smashing into the sides and decorations. Appeared it simply beat it self to death. SAE is no longer acting oddly (perhaps it was just reacting to the pictus behavior).
 
Sharyl C:

No I don't think so; all the hardware (heaters ect) is in the filter sump. The only current that might be suspicious is magnetic, from the ballasts on some of the light, but I would suspect that would only be localized near the top of the water. BUT I wondered if the green glass knife hunted by current impulses like other knifes and that might have upset the pictus over time, just a thought. All the other fish are doing fine and it’s been almost a week so I am beginning to think it wasn’t an infection.
 
It sounds like you are doing about all you can do with out having more clues to go on.

Fish can suffer from "stroke" and tumors, as well as infections. So whatever caused the cats loss of control was hopefully specific to the cat, and may have to be chalked up to just one of those things.
 
Ranger, these fishes are reacting with panicky behavior to something in the water, and since you are diffusing carbon dioxide, I think it may be that. Your pH you say is driven down to 6.6 with the CO2. I don't trust the calculations that give people a CO2 estimate by judging the pH and the KH-- too many other acids in the system to throw off the figure. I'm sure you already do substantial water changes weekly, so I don't think that figures much.

Why don't you reduce the CO2 until your pH is jbetween 6.8and 7.0 and see if your fish are less stressed?

Or see whether a splash (5ccs per 10 gals) of hydrogen peroxide, added slowly to the filter outflow when they are acting up, seems to bring them back to less-stressed behavior.
 
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