Scarlet Badis glass surfing

[AquaNewb]

Hi,
One scarlet Badis I have had (for 1 week) is constantly surfing the glass and corner of the glass.. At one point he was running the corner so hard he jumped out of the water and got stuck on the glass briefly.

Sometimes, all 3 large male scarlet Badis will do it, especially in the morning

The guppy will also do it sometimes, especially in the morning. He's been in the tank for much longer

The 10 CPDs for the most part do not, but they are very preoccupied with each other

One smaller scarlet Badis has extremely bad coloration (white, pale) that hasn't improved... Did it come in with parasites? This one seems to act normally, but eats less than the others. Maybe this is actually a female, I've seen it doing some sort of weird dance with what might be a subdominant male (greenish coloration, small faint bars) This pale one sure looks ugly though lol.

I have caught all the fish flashing occasionally, except the CPDs

5 Badis in total .
10g
Parameters: 0-0-25
Does the tank sound unhealthy? Or normal. Basically, the most concerning thing is the one that constantly runs glass and jumped.

 

[flchamp89]

5 badis plus guppies and cpd in 10g ?

 

[AquaNewb]

Yes, 1 guppy

 

[flchamp89]

5 badis
1 guppy
10 cpd

Too much for a 10g....overstocked. There many reasons for glass surfing. Obviously you need make sure params are good. But I would imagine the stocking has a lot to do with it.

 

[AquaNewb]

Okay. So what do you think is appropriate stocking for 10g - mostly species only? Either around a dozen cpd size schooling fish or around 6 or fewer Badis?

 

[flchamp89]

10-12 cpd would work yes...badis can be territorial. A pair is good for a 10g. 5 badis meaning 3/2 split would need a larger tank imo a 20g would work. Badis need heavy plant mass

Guppies/endlers are great for a 10g. 5 or 6 would work.

Remember guppies will have different params than others.

 

[AquaNewb]

Thanks. Yes I think you are right it is over stock which maybe is why it is primarily the dominant territorial Badis having issues
The tank is heavily scaped/planted which is why I thought it may be OK
In addition to each other, I think maybe the guppy is especially stressing them, since he is so big and active and constantly utilizes the whole tank, including the bottom.

 

[flchamp89]

Yes guppies are active that why you cant put as many in a 10g. Stress leads to disease.

As your fish grow it becomes harder to manage parameters. With so many fish in a small amount of gallons even proper feeding is of concern due to 16 fish.

Btw...I have a 10g. So not picking on ya lol