Pristellas not adapting to tank

[kaaikop]

I recently got a school of 24 pristellas for my 150g tank. The first few
days they were looking great, swimming in formation, but since 2-3 days
they act like they are not feeling well. My water parameters are okay,
and this is a heavily planted tank. Some of them stay hidden under the
shade of plants, so my guess was that they do not appreciate the
intensity of the lighting (3 WPG). My lights are on timers and switch on &
off gradually, just before the last one goes out, they come of of hiding.
The others just stay together in one corner of the tank.
When feeding time comes, though, they give quite a show, they like a
bunch of piranhas...

I'm a little surprised since pristellas are known to be fairly hardy, while I
have schools of neons & rummys which are doing fine... Could it be just
because of the light? I play around a lot in the tank, pruning &
re-arranging plants, maybe this is what stresses them out?

Any experience?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Could it be just
because of the light? I play around a lot in the tank, pruning &
re-arranging plants, maybe this is what stresses them out?

Anything else in the tank with them? I see you are cycling in your sig. Are you ammonia levels still 0? What are the exact parameters?

When you say acting funny, are you talking about just from them hiding and not forming a school? That isn't neccesarily a bad thing. Schooling is a thing fish do when they feel threatened, or unsure. It's for safety really. If your fish feel all comfy in their new tank, them splitting like that may not be a bad thing.

My rasboras stopped really schooling a while ago, until I get up to the tank, then they sorta hook together again.

Just my two cents. HTH 8)

 

[kaaikop]

Params: pH: 6.6 KH: 50ppm, CO2: 25ppm PO4: 0.25ppm
NH3: 0.1ppm NO2: 0.1ppm, NO3: 5ppm, temp. 25C
Unless there is something else which I cannot test for, I don't see what's wrong...

They "act funny" in the sense that they just "sit there", barely moving. It they
would not use their fins once in a while, they would just drop to the bottom of the
tank I have to say this is the first time I ever kept pristellas, so maybe as
you suggest, this is normal. But the first few days, they were swimming all over
the place, exploring the tank, was kinda cool!

 

[kaaikop]

Actually, after further observation, the ones which I thought were "hiding" under
plants, seem to actually "protect" this particular area, chasing away other nosey
fish (territory kind of thing). When fed, they will come out to eat, but resume
their position afterwards... this is getting really interesting, looks more like
"breeding" behavior than stress to me... I have not seen any eggs however.
(they've only been in my tank for a week... but maybe they are "preparing"...)
Maybe this thread should be moved to the Breeding area!