New Fish Not Doing Good

[Tommy]

Hi everyone, today I have put 2 empire gudgeon in my tank. This was at around 5-30 they seemed ok swimming around, Ive just been to check on them and they are both up at the top of the tank in the corner above the heater and they don't look to be doing too good. Is there anything I can do? Would a water change help or would that make it worse? Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[MirandaB]

What other fish are in there and how did you acclimatise them?

 

[Tommy]

What other fish are in there and how did you acclimatise them?

Hi, I have 2 Australian rainbows and 3 boesmani rainbows, and 1 fire red apistogramma, I acclimatized them by putting small ammounts of water from my tank into the bag over an hour. They seemed ok when I fist put them in.

 

[MirandaB]

Have you noticed the rainbows chasing them at all,seems like they might be taking refuge.
When you say they're not looking so good,how do you mean exactly?

 

[Tommy]

Have you noticed the rainbows chasing them at all,seems like they might be taking refuge.
When you say they're not looking so good,how do you mean exactly?

No the rainbows were ok with them, they were swimming together, not looking good in that they not swimming around.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Would a water change help or would that make it worse?

Yes, change some water, it never does any harm.

Have you noticed the rainbows chasing them at all,seems like they might be taking refuge.

No the rainbows were ok with them, they were swimming together,

Might be the Apistogramma, it may feel all the bottom of the tank is his territory as he has been the only bottom dwelling fish.

Is it a tank with CO2? If it is I'd turn off the CO2 and see what happens. I might try adding an air pump as well in the short term, that will out-gas any residual CO2.

cheers Darrel

 

[Tommy]

Hi all, Yes, change some water, it never does any harm.Might be the Apistogramma, it may feel all the bottom of the tank is his territory as he has been the only bottom dwelling fish.

Is it a tank with CO2? If it is I'd turn off the CO2 and see what happens. I might try adding an air pump as well in the short term, that will out-gas any residual CO2.

cheers Darrel

Hi, I will do a water change then, yes Im using co2 I knocked it off about an hour ago just in case that was the issue. I have a chirihos doctor 3 for the air. Yes the apisto is the only bottom fish, I did have 2 peacock gudgeons but Ive not seen those for a couple of weeks, they could still be there though.

 

[Conort2]

Hi, I will do a water change then, yes Im using co2 I knocked it off about an hour ago just in case that was the issue. I have a chirihos doctor 3 for the air. Yes the apisto is the only bottom fish, I did have 2 peacock gudgeons but Ive not seen those for a couple of weeks, they could still be there though.

I'm only guessing here but I recon it's the apisto attacking them, empire gudgeon and peacock gudgeon are pretty similar in many ways to a dwarf cichlid. Keep an eye on them, I could be completely wrong but it make sense if all the other fish are fine and not up the top gasping for breath.

Cheers

Conor

 

[Tommy]

I'm only guessing here but I recon it's the apisto attacking them, empire gudgeon and peacock gudgeon are pretty similar in many ways to a dwarf cichlid. Keep an eye on them, I could be completely wrong but it make sense if all the other fish are fine and not up the top gasping for breath.

Cheers

Conor

Ive not seen the apisto do anything, I will keep an eye on them.

 

[Tommy]

Ive done a small water change 70ltrs out of 240, will do a big one at weekend. One of the empires has been out in the open with the rainbows and apisto, there was no aggression towards the empire. The other is swimming head up still in the top corner, I hope Im wrong but I don't think he will make it. These fish were not cheap at £15 each so if it does die and I cant find the body I will lose my money. I hope the fish gods are shinning down on my tank tonight.

 

[zozo]

yes Im using co2

That's most likely the one... You need to shut it off and wait 24 ours for the CO² to disappear out off the water before introducing new fish.
And than slowly build the CO² contents up again.

The aquariums in the LFS are all low energy and a lot of them use giant trickle filter behind the scenes filtering the all the aqauriums in the shop. That water is highly saturated with oxygen, than if you only aclimatize a fish to temperature and drop it in CO² saturated water it suffocates because of the lower amount of oxygen it isn't used to.

Imagine it would be the same as if you where dropped on top of the mount everest in a split second.

Than you should do an immediate water change as much as possible to get oxygen in the water.

I once made the same stupid newbe mistake with my very first high tech tank. With a school of 12 Black Neon Tetras.. They all went upside down at the surface within a minute.. Luckely from experience i recognized suffocation.. Did shut off CO² and an 80% water change to get the pH up again to normal value. And they all swiftly recovered and lived a long happy live.

 

[alto]

The other is swimming head up still in the top corner, I hope Im wrong but I don't think he will make it.

In a situation like this I just scoop the stressed fish into a large net and rest it diagonally across the tank corner - this means the fish is supported (can rest) and isolated from any other fish interference and is in an area of good flow with decent oxygen levels ... sometimes they even recover though usually once a fish is up in this corner position, health issues are significant and often terminal
At least this ensures body recovery
And I prefer not to feed tank inhabitants sick fish

If possible I add some plant etc cover

Once upon a time, I could purchase a net “breeder” that did the same job as the large fish net (more stable and more spacious) but not seen one in years

As Darrel mentioned, one can seldom go wrong with a water change - it’s always my first step if I notice anything amiss

 

[Andrew Butler]

How are they this morning @Tommy ?
Agreeing with a lot of the above but even if they've sorted things out just to add something in; something as simple as not turning the lights off can cause these things.
I very much doubt this was the cause but here did you have the bag with the new fish in while you added existing tank water? - I always float my bag of new fish in the tank while I acclimate so the temperature adjusts also.

 

[Tommy]

Sorry for the late reply guys my internet went down and Ive just received a temporary router, fish have survived and are looking fine, I think it was the co2 tat caused the problem, I did a water change and I am sure that it saved the lives of these fish. From now on its co2 off before adding new fish. Thanks for all the advice really appreciated.

 

[Tommy]

Thought I would update this thread, fish are doing great and have really settled in however the colours of the male over the last week have been dull so I did some research and found out that the males only colour up in the presence of a female. So on Friday I got a female to go in, she settled in right away and the next day this is the result of her presence.

The males are flirting all time, they are very interesting to watch and Im so pleased I had the chance to get these beautiful fish.

 

[alto]

Though a second girl only seems fair!

 

[Tommy]

Though a second girl only seems fair!

Indeed, I was going to get 2 females but the only other fish was too small to put in my tank with the rainbows, and I wasn't able to sex it. My lfs are going to try and get some more in January so I hope to get another then.

 

[Tommy]

Hi everyone, am I right in thinking empire gudgeon are wild caught fish? they don't seem to have an interest in flake food or don't recognise it as food.