GSP acting strange

MsPuff

aquaholic
May 28, 2008
156
0
0
41
Saint John, NB Canada
I have a gsp about 2.5" in length, he is currently in a 33 gal with a tiny balloon molly and a knight goby ( i know the goby isn't compatible with the gsp's adult SG, but he will be getting his very own home as soon as I have the money to get another 20g as the spare 10 I have now is too small for him.) SG is currently at 1.012.

I did a large water change of about 15g yesterday and took out all decorations to rescape and stir up the sand, which i do about every 3-4 weeks. Usually this stresses him out for about half a day. I can't test my params as things are tight and my test ran out not too long ago but he was fine before the water change. The tank has 2 filters, an aquaclear 70 and a aquatech 15, cycles approx 14x per hour.

It has been about 24 hours since the change and he is now lying on the bottom of the tank, belly dark grey and is only moving when I go near him with the net. I thought he was dead so i put a net near him to see if i would get a reaction.

He ate the snails (3 common pond snails) and most of the mussel I put in last night, but he is usually up and swimming about at this time of day.

Could he just be stressed still from the massive rescape and cloudy water that followed? or have eaten a bad snail or mussel?

not the best pic, but he was not impressed when I put the camera near the glass and is now hiding behind the plant.

DSCF2216.JPG
 
Last edited:
I'd give it another day to see if he returns to normal. Mine will vary from its normal schedule once in a while, but usually returns after a day or so. As long as its willing to eat, I wouldn't get too worked up.
 
good to know, I always worry about him as I lost my other gsp that I got at the same time as him to gill flukes. He's been in great condition for the past 3 months, but I would hate to lose him.
 
15g of 33g is not a large WC for these fish. I do 50-75% weekly on all my tanks. Are you only doing WC every 3-4 weeks? Then that is a lot for him, as you have drasticly changed the parameters. Is his eye bulging out or is that just the pic?
 
his eyes aren't bulging, I do a wc that size every week, just a large rescape every 3-4 weeks to get under the decorations and clean the sand really good. He seems to be okay now anyways, was swimming around last night and ate a bunch, so i'm not too worried. He did go back to the bottom again after that, but he was just full and wanted a nap. I'm still keeping a close eye on him just to be sure.
 
AquariaCentral.com