I have just transferred my 4 firemouth cichlids to a smaller tank (60 litres) from a 200 litre tank and they have all gone extremely quiet, lost their appetite and colour. Anyone with any information as to why this is pls let me know. Could it be that they got stressed out from the net catching activity or the low amount of oxygen in the smaller tank (had a faulty pump and didnt realise :S)
Sick Firemouth
- Thread starter nichaqui
- Start date
They may just feel out of their element. It often takes 48 hours for them to get comfortable with their new surroundings. Were the water conditions in the new tank the same as the old? If the chem-levels, temperature, or other are drasticlly different then they could be in shock by the sudden change. I actually moved my 2 firemouths from a 30gal to a 180gal just one hour ago!!! I made sure that the water perameters were the same. They are already perky! If they don't show improvement after a couple of days then something's definately wrong.
It's already been a couple of days and the water chemistry is fine because i just tested for nitrates and everything else. It's all 4 so im a bit worried because everything seems ok in the tank. I have a feeling its the lack of oxygen they sustained in these past couple of days and the stress they induced while i was trying to catch them because they're quite perky.
You think i should put them back because the only reason i moved them was to entice breeding
You think i should put them back because the only reason i moved them was to entice breeding
If the pump is working properly now then you might try moving two of them back and leaving the other two. This way they wouldn't be competing for oxygen as much in that small tank. They usually like higher temps when breeding so if you raised the temp for that reason then there would be less oxygen because warmer water can't retain as much oxygen as cooler water. But don't drop the temp to rapidly or that could stess them. I can't see them for myself but if they look REALY bad then it's probably best to move them before things get worse. If you do decide to move them again make sure you take any objects out of the small tank before the net goes in. This way there is nowhere for them to hide, you'll be able to catch them faster, and that will stress them out less. Those little boogers sure do like to hide from my net.