Something wrong with my male cacatouides

[blizowman1]

Bought a male and female pair maybe two weeks ago and they've been fine till I went to my lfs yesterday and bought some plants to add to my tank and came home and rearranged my plants so I could add the new ones. I also added a dwarf grouami yesterday before I added the plants. This morning when I woke up and went I feed my fish my male was hiding behind a rock and his body has turned a real dark color along with his fins that aren't red are black now instead of see threw his reds are still real bright but he's worrying me is he sick or just mad cause I was messing around in the tank so much yesterday

 

[jpchin]

i have heard that stress can cause them to darken. i would observe the tank and make sure that the gourami isn't bothering him. how large is the tank? is there plenty of room for the fish to stay out of each other's way? you might have to re-home the gourami if he's picking on the othe fish. it also might just be the "messing with the tank" syndrome and give it a few days to see.

 

[blizowman1]

Its a 29g pretty decently planted and I don't think it's the gourami cause it just minds it business and swims all over and the apistos are pretty used to having fish around them cause my tetras hang out around mid to bottom level of te tank they all pretty much hang out together

 

[blizowman1]

so when i got home tonight i decided to change some water in case something got out of wack when i planted the new plants while i was changing the water my male decided to come out of hiding so i decided to take some pics to show how hes acting. he just kind sits on the bottom but swims just a little.

im starting to get worried he might have accidently got hurt during all the hustle of getting my new plants situated

 

[blizowman1]

Well now I'm even more worried I saw my female swimming around the day I noticed my male acting funny but now I can't find her anywhere she didn't even come out to eat this morning

 

[jpchin]

did you test your water parameters? what are the readings for ammonia, ph, nitrite and nitrate? hopefully you have a liquid test kit to get the most accurate measurements. post your results and we can go from there.

 

[blizowman1]

Ok so here is my test results on my water
PH- 7.2-7.4
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 10-20

I keep my tank at 80F and change about 50% of my water every week to two weeks depending on if I have to work seven days or not

 

[Sharkbait54]

These guys are notorious for contracting dropsy is he pineconing?

 

[blizowman1]

No he is just real dark and ive started to notice when he's kinda sitting around on the bottom of the tank he kind seems to float weird ways like his head will start to float up or hell kind float onto his side like in the pics I put on here I'm worried he's not gonna make it and it's really starting to bother me that I can't find the female at all after I just seen her yesterday

 

[Sharkbait54]

Thats how mine started before pine-coning. It might be something else though.

Do a water change tomorrow and look for her.

 

[blizowman1]

I did a water change last night

 

[Sharkbait54]

I did a water change last night

And still nothing??

 

[blizowman1]

Nope can't find her anywhere

 

[blizowman1]

Do my water levels look ok though

 

[Sharkbait54]

Is it a planted tank?

My lfs told me that the wild cockatoos were just really weakend and would all get some sort of a disease soon after they arrived. But that was here in Nashville...

Sorry I'm not much help.. How is the little guy doing?

 

[Freakgecko91]

I keep cacatuoides and have the same parameters as you (except my pH is higher) and I have no problems. He's probably just stressed from moving the tank around. You may have mixed up his territory and now he feels lost?

 

[blizowman1]

Yea it's a planted tank

I got mine in Nashville at aquatic critter I paid 40 bucks for them and my German blue ram I bought lasted longer than these two. I am starting to think I'm not gonna be buying anymore cichlids. I just wish I could find some thing hardy and nice looking some thing more than tetras. I'm starting to think he might not make it I think there is something more than stress wrong with him. And I'm wondering if the female might have been hurt or died and wa eating by my bristle nose pleco

 

[Sharkbait54]

Yea it's a planted tank

I got mine in Nashville at aquatic critter I paid 40 bucks for them and my German blue ram I bought lasted longer than these two. I am starting to think I'm not gonna be buying anymore cichlids. I just wish I could find some thing hardy and nice looking some thing more than tetras. I'm starting to think he might not make it I think there is something more than stress wrong with him. And I'm wondering if the female might have been hurt or died and wa eating by my bristle nose pleco

Well there you have it thats what the lady at aquatic critter told me. They were just weak and prone to sickness just like the gold rams they got 50% died in the store.

 

[Freakgecko91]

Mine go missing here and there but show up a couple days later, remember, they're masters at hiding! Don't give up on cichlids!

 

[siva]

Apisto caca's and many other dwarf cichlids will be lighter at sometimes and darker at others, so that's not necesarily a sign of distress. Some are also very reclusive. I had one in my heavily planted 55 that I would rarely see. Hopefully this is just normal apisto behavior you're seeing.