I have a 29 gallon planted tank. 55 watt CF, EI dosing macro's and micro's DIY CO2 and an AC110. The oranda "Fish" was the primary resident before planting. Planted the tank, and added 3 neon tetras and 2 blood fins to the tank. My other 10 gal. had to go. Well before it was planted, when Fish would sleep/rest he would just hang about either on the bottom or in a corner, just relaxing. Now he hides under some of the larger anubias leaves, and kind of tucks him self in for a nap. Is that normal? More often I actually find him upside down in the corner between the heater and the wire from a powerhead...like a bat resting quietly. Not belly up, tail towards the surface and head down towards the substrate. Not on the substrate either mid level in the tank. I've seen him do this alot, get himself there on purpose, and out when he's done resting. Is this a normal behavior as well? Thank you for any info.
Strange Oranda resting/sleeping behavior.
- Thread starter Tim S
- Start date
I have no answer for you, I am new to aquarium keeping and my fancy fantail, Tango Mango, does the same thing so I am interested in a response as well. My kids and I are wondering if it is sleeping?
might have a swim bladder problem, allthough it doesnt sound bad. it might be perfectally normal, it's hard to tell. i can tell you that he's no sleeping though as fish dont sleep. basically they have like two sides to their brains and every 12 hours the other side takes over allowing the other half to rest. and they dont have eye lids...
legendaryfrog
Tactical Refreshment Action
I would say this is quite normal; One day I planted a few cut-offs from my planted tank into my 150g goldfish tank. My black moore went into the same position as yours very frequently. This behavior continued until .....the other goldfish ate the plants!
I have no clue, my oranda never stops moving. He is constantly moving around the tank and cleaning.
GoldLenny
Senior Member? Do I get a 5% disc.?
As long as he is active otherwise, it could be "normal" or it could be a mild swim bladder issue and he's using the plants, etc. as a way of keeping him down while he's sleeping/resting. Do you see him tending to float a little and having to swim down during normal activity? If not, then it could just be him trying different sleep positions. You could feed him some pea "meat" which is good to feed goldfish at least once a week anyhow as it cleans them out and keeps them "regular". (Green peas. Pinch the skin to squeeze out the "meat". If small goldies, smoosh the "meat" so the two pieces aren't too big for them to choke on.)
I feed him peas every once and a while. When he's moving theres no struggle or facing down while swiming either. Actually sice I first posted this he's stopped the upside down sleeping and now rests his lower mouth/belly on the leaves of my Ludwiga repens plants but still in the upright possition. Kinda like a pillow. Strange little creature. He has been a bit lethargic lately though, I just have to keep an eye on him.
GoldLenny
Senior Member? Do I get a 5% disc.?
Check your CO2 levels. http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm
Goldfish put out lots of CO2 compared to other fish and if you are dosing the CO2 as if it's in a regular tropical tank, it could be getting too high. Also, most folks who dose CO2 also do things to limit surface agitation to keep the CO2 from outgasing but this also lowers the O2 levels and goldfish needs lots of O2 in their water. You may have to experiment with increasing surface agitation and adjusting the CO2 levels to cover the amount lost to outgasing.
Most goldfish tanks are not planted with hard to grow plants that need CO2 as the goldfish are likely to remodel and eat many of the plants on a regular basis. I just have some crypts and anacharis in my tanks.
This page has some recommended plants for goldfish tanks although mine still eat most of them. http://www.azgardens.com/habitats_goldfish.php (Note - While I use the AZGardens site for information, I have read online complaints about their shipping costs and failure to disclose the costs up front so always get their fees in writing if you order from them.)
One last note, your 29G will not be large enough for long term housing of a goldfish.... regardless of what so many sites say... unless you plan to stunt the goldfish so it does not grow to full size. Of course, intentional stunting by keeping any fish in an undersized/overstocked tank will cause it many health issues and an early death... in most cases.
Goldfish put out lots of CO2 compared to other fish and if you are dosing the CO2 as if it's in a regular tropical tank, it could be getting too high. Also, most folks who dose CO2 also do things to limit surface agitation to keep the CO2 from outgasing but this also lowers the O2 levels and goldfish needs lots of O2 in their water. You may have to experiment with increasing surface agitation and adjusting the CO2 levels to cover the amount lost to outgasing.
Most goldfish tanks are not planted with hard to grow plants that need CO2 as the goldfish are likely to remodel and eat many of the plants on a regular basis. I just have some crypts and anacharis in my tanks.
This page has some recommended plants for goldfish tanks although mine still eat most of them. http://www.azgardens.com/habitats_goldfish.php (Note - While I use the AZGardens site for information, I have read online complaints about their shipping costs and failure to disclose the costs up front so always get their fees in writing if you order from them.)
One last note, your 29G will not be large enough for long term housing of a goldfish.... regardless of what so many sites say... unless you plan to stunt the goldfish so it does not grow to full size. Of course, intentional stunting by keeping any fish in an undersized/overstocked tank will cause it many health issues and an early death... in most cases.
Unfortunatly for me, my AC110 pretty much removes all the co2 out of the tank so its kinda pointless on my part to be injecting co2 anyway. I need to get a new filter this one is a bit much. I've blocked the output of the 110 to redirect the flow under the surface but theres too much agitation in the filter its self. Im also only using a DIY setup for the co2 so its not too much anyway. At least twice a day I have to go fishing for loose stem plants to replant, especialy after pruning and replanting. He kinda just swims straight through a bunch to clean the substrate and in the process rips everything out. The plants dont even slow him down. Luckly he doesn't eat them. I definatly wouldn't recomend a goldfish for a planted tank, it just kinda worked out that way, I have no more room for another tank.