funwiththefish
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
My adult (8") green severum, Nom, is currently on a mad rampage, apparently dashing herself on sharp objects in the tank.
Parameters are as follows (before my water change): Ammo - .25, nitrites - 5.0, nitrates - 5.0, temp - 76, ph - 7.6.
This is a 55 gallon tank. I do about 15% water change weekly, and these are the numbers right before the water change. I know my ph is high for severums and that it could be contributing to Nom's behavior.
I've got an Emperor Bio-Wheel 400 running in the tank, and the only other tankmates are a juvenile severum (<2"), a rusty african cichlid (2") and an upside down catfish (1").
I've had Nom for about 4 weeks, and in the first week, she spawned (probably triggered by a temp change between the lfs and my tank). Last week, she spawned again, as the temp in the tank went down to 74 degrees when I changed the water. Both egg batches were duds, and I removed the rock they were layed on as soon as egg fungus began to develop.
The first time I took the rock out, and put it back, Nom made the adjustment with no noticable distress. This time, she was extremely aggressive when I took the rock out, and now that I have the rock back in, she has dug a 3" pit in the substrate behind the rock and mutilated herself on the other objects in the tank. She's got a large, 1/2" gash on her forehead, flesh showing, because the scale actually tore downward on her face (similar to when you rip a toenail off, and it rips into your flesh). There are a few other scratches on her one side, with damages scales, but the wounds don't look deep, merely scratches.
I don't know what caused her to get so upset this time. I know my ph is high, but can that be the only cause? My NO3 and NO4 are up a bit, too, but I think my biological filter is having a hard time. Ammo has been low all the time, temp is constant.
I treated the water to get those nitrate and nitrite levels down immediately, and I'll get my ph down as soon as possible. I'm going to change my water here in a minute, but wanted to get this alert on the board.
Perhaps there is something I don't know about severums or their parental behavior (even when they aren't parents). I've never had a fish spawn before, until I got Nom, so perhaps I'm doing something wrong.
Thanks for any help, guys!
Parameters are as follows (before my water change): Ammo - .25, nitrites - 5.0, nitrates - 5.0, temp - 76, ph - 7.6.
This is a 55 gallon tank. I do about 15% water change weekly, and these are the numbers right before the water change. I know my ph is high for severums and that it could be contributing to Nom's behavior.
I've got an Emperor Bio-Wheel 400 running in the tank, and the only other tankmates are a juvenile severum (<2"), a rusty african cichlid (2") and an upside down catfish (1").
I've had Nom for about 4 weeks, and in the first week, she spawned (probably triggered by a temp change between the lfs and my tank). Last week, she spawned again, as the temp in the tank went down to 74 degrees when I changed the water. Both egg batches were duds, and I removed the rock they were layed on as soon as egg fungus began to develop.
The first time I took the rock out, and put it back, Nom made the adjustment with no noticable distress. This time, she was extremely aggressive when I took the rock out, and now that I have the rock back in, she has dug a 3" pit in the substrate behind the rock and mutilated herself on the other objects in the tank. She's got a large, 1/2" gash on her forehead, flesh showing, because the scale actually tore downward on her face (similar to when you rip a toenail off, and it rips into your flesh). There are a few other scratches on her one side, with damages scales, but the wounds don't look deep, merely scratches.
I don't know what caused her to get so upset this time. I know my ph is high, but can that be the only cause? My NO3 and NO4 are up a bit, too, but I think my biological filter is having a hard time. Ammo has been low all the time, temp is constant.
I treated the water to get those nitrate and nitrite levels down immediately, and I'll get my ph down as soon as possible. I'm going to change my water here in a minute, but wanted to get this alert on the board.
Perhaps there is something I don't know about severums or their parental behavior (even when they aren't parents). I've never had a fish spawn before, until I got Nom, so perhaps I'm doing something wrong.
Thanks for any help, guys!
