No longer free swimming. Wonder why?

[jagarundi]

Hello all. Alright, here's the scenario: I bought a couple of feeder goldfish for my big boys awhile back. Through some small miracle, two of them survived and grew to be almost as big as the lords of the tank. Well, about two weeks ago, things started to get ugly, with the aggressive fish constantly biting and chasing the two goldfish until finally, they started to develop cottony growth where they were bitten and I had to put them out of their misery. Now, without the goldfish in the tank, everyone else just seems to stay in their own part of the tank, without any free swimming going on, except when it's time to chow down. Anybody know what's going on?

[downloader]

get some dither fish, like tin foils, silver dollars, etc...

www.bluewhippet.net

[jagarundi]

get some dither fish, like tin foils, silver dollars, etc...

www.bluewhippet.net

Are you serious? I'm talking about the tank that holds the Oscar and Pacus! Those fish you mentioned will become dinner in a second.

[SnakeIce]

not after they grow up. grown silver dollars would be to tall to fit easily in the oscars mouth, not to mention that they wouldn't be easy to catch.

tinfoil barbs get huge, no possibility of being eaten when grown.

[jagarundi]

not after they grow up. grown silver dollars would be to tall to fit easily in the oscars mouth, not to mention that they wouldn't be easy to catch.

tinfoil barbs get huge, no possibility of being eaten when grown.

Yeah, but what about in the meantime, while they are still small? I don't like to buy grown fish. I prefer to raise them myself.

[roliva]

How big are your oscars and pacus. Unless you can grow the dithers in another tank I think you're out of luck. Be careful with the pacus, they are known to be gentle giants when they are bigger but can behave very aggressive when young. Hopefully you'll be planning to move the pacus later or they will break your tank.

[jagarundi]

Well right now, the Oscar is around 6 inches and the GT's are around 4 inches. The Pacu's have grown like crazy and currently are the biggest things in the tank. Another 3 months and I'll be looking for another tank. My question is, why aren't they swimming around freely now?

[roliva]

Are they all behaving that way? If so, try checking your water paramters. If only some are not swimming, then you may have a territorial issue and some are being stressed.

[jagarundi]

Well, it's funny but when I walk out of the room, they all start to swim. As soon as I step back into the room and make a sound, they all go back down to the bottom and sit there. The only ones that don't do that is a little marble Oscar I bought recently.

[sman91wing]

They're not free swimming cause their dither fish is gone, although it sounds like the goldfish were more of target fish.

[roliva]

Yeah, hopefully there's no aggression going on. It sounds to me as if they're just a little timid. Give them some time and being in the room often helps them get used to you. Strange to see oscars behave that way though. But then again, every fish has its own personality. Is there anyone in your house that might torment the fish, such as banging on the glass? Just a thought.

[SnakeIce]

they saw you take the gold fish out right? they are not dumb ;) they are aprehensive of the same happening to them. so when they see you they hunker down.

do they do the same thing when someone else goes into the room? or is it just you.

[jagarundi]

Roliva, the oscar really doesn't act timid but the others will. Also, I just moved them out of a 90 gallon tank on Saturday into this 120 so that can have a lot to do with it as well. When I'm in the room and I sit back on the couch to look at them, that's when I notice them starting to move and swim freely. As for banging on the glass,etc, I'm the only in the house so that's not happening.

[jagarundi]

Please explain to me what 'Dither' fish are? What types of 'Dither' fish can I purchase to put in there?

[roliva]

Read this article on 'dither fish': http://www.theaquarians.net/ArticlesandWallpapers/dither_fish.htm

So the move to the 120 might explain their timid behavior. I've heard a story once that someone moved their pacus from a 4 foot tank into a 6 foot tank and they would only swim the 4 feet of tank that they were used to for a short while. I think your fish are just adjusting. Give them some time and spend time with them.

[jagarundi]

I just came back from the lfs and I picked up 6 gold tin foil barbs. I put them in the tank and the rest of the fish came alive. The drawback here is that the Oscar has had a least 4 of them in his mouth and continues to stalk them around the tank trying to eat them! If he succeeds, I think I'll go for a 10 fish school of Tiger barbs.