Elephant nose

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admonoga

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jun 3, 2003
Messages
2
Location
New York, NY
Hi all,
I just got an aquarium a week ago, and have never had one before.
Now, my new elephant nose is rubbing the side of its body against objects and plants in the aquarium every night as it leaves its cave. There are no visible spots on the fish that may indicate a disease, and I wasn't able to find any reference on the web for such a behavior.
Any ideas?
Another problem is that it doesn't eat. I wasn't able to get live worms so I tried flake food and frozen blood worms, and it seems to ignore both foods. Is there a relationship between the not-eating and the body-rubbing? any feeding tricks you may know of?
Thanks!
 
Hi admonoga

These are signs of stress which are caused by so many things but as it is a new tank I suggest the following:

Do you do water tests to keep an eye on the levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, hardness and water temp?

I was the same as you and got a tank and some fish before really knowing anything about keeping fish but don't despair....When you set up a new aquarium you need to understand what is happening to the water. The tests outlined above will help you understand that the fishtank is going through the nitrogen cycle and must go through it before your tank will be healthy for your fish.

Basically the fish waste and leftover food in the tank turns to harmful ammonia but gradually bacteria increases to turn this ammonia into nitrite which is also harmful. The bacteria builds up again and turns the nitite into nitrate which is not as harmful as ammonia & nitrite but still needs to be monitored. The other factors like pH and water hardness and water temperature add to the effects of each of the chemicals.

Other than testing the levels you will need to take action depending on the results, things like water changes of about 20%, minimising the amount of food given to the fish etc.

There are quite a few artilces on this sites homepage for you to read to get a better idea on the whole subject.

If you need more help pls ask :wink:

Louise
 
My friend had an elephant nose before. He added it to a well established tank and it only lived for a few weeks. He got another, same thing. You say its not eating, was it eating at the store? I always ask to see a fish eat before I buy it.
 
Thanks

Thanks for the replies. I will keep you updated.

(Today, BTW, the catfish decided to clean the elephant nose's home, and the poor EN was out in the bright light all day, with just its head barely inside its home. Trying to kick the catfish out of there was unsuccessful.)
 
elephant nose

I bought an elephant nose 2 wks ago, and he is doing great, I made sure he was eating at the store and healthy and he was. The only thing is I have a home for him and he won't go in it. Its a ghost tube, so you can see him, since they are nocturnal. Maybe he doesn't like it. But he is eating the frozen black worms, I just drop it in his tank, at night so the other fish can't see it, and he eats. For the first 2 days he did not because of the stress. How long have you had your elephant fish, and did you allow your tank to settle before putting in any fish?

I hope things will go better for the little guy, because they are amazing, I am going to be placing 2 electrones, and hook up to my ampifier and then you can hear him. They sound like a dolphin

I would bring your fish into the pet store and have someone who specializes in diseases, just to make sure he doesn't have anything else serious. I did for my cae, and since I caught his bacterial infection early, he is doing excellent now.

Good luck
 
When I first got my elephant nose, I had to wave the thawed bloodworms right in front of him with my tongs to get him to take it. I also had to make sure he got his share since he didn't compete with the other fish for food. Later he became much more comfortable and eats well now. I agree that the itching is probably a water quality issue. Sometimes just a change to a different type of water (harder or softer, etc) can make fish itchy.
 
sad

My elephant nose died yesterday at the pet store where I bought him, I had him for 3 wks, and he stopped eating, and it look like he was getting holes around the side of his head. They were treating him for internal parasite, and he still died, and I am upset, because I lost an expensive fish, and they only will get your money if its been a wk, well diseases sometimes don't show up, till later. I was really hoping he would have made it. I am hoping its not my water, we tested it and everything is great where it should be.

I am baffled I don't know what to do?
Shelley
 
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