Spastic Rummynose

[jessipanda]

Hi all! I've had 15 rummynose in a 10g QT since the 2nd (about a week). They've been doing great, every morning they swarm where they see me in anticipation of their breakfast, and then throughout the day in hopes of extra food. All look healthy and colorful; all act completely normal. Until about 3 hours ago. My daughter was walking by and noticed they were all hiding in their log so she said something. Obviously if she thinks it's strange then this isn't normal for them. The ONLY time they have ever hidden at all was the 1st hour they were in the tank and when I did the gravel vac/wc on wednesday. I saw the temp was normal (78°F) and immediately tested the water, but everything appears normal. Ph 7, amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate about 10 (all in ppm w/ api liquid test). Used a test strip and got same results, with kh and gh same as always. Then I got some water for a wc getting ready in a bucket with prime and a heater. I watched them for about 10 mins before turning off the light and they kept hiding and acting spastic on the bottom of the tank. Once the LED light was turned off, they slowly went back to normal and began begging for food again. This is the same LED light that I've had on this tank for nearly a year and never had this issue with previous fish or these fish prior. What the heck?!

I've not done the wc yet, but I have turned the light back on to see if they'd do it again and they did so I shut it back off. Once the temp matches, wc will commence... But seriously, wth??? :?

 

[Nils]

Hmm, very strange indeed. Maybe put a weaker light on to see if it helps? I'll be following along to see if you find an answer.

 

[jessipanda]

Thanks Nils. Don't have anything small enough for this tank, and they're only there until they finish QT then going into the 55g community tank so I don't plan on purchasing a new lid/light. For now, I'll just keep it off and see how it goes. Tank gets a little indirect sunlight from the livingroom window anyways (not much but enough for us to kinda see them).

Trying to find info online, but not finding anything...this is just really strange.

 

[jessipanda]

Just did a 50% wc and turned everything back on. Fish are acting a bit more normal...seem to have lost a bit of color likely due to stress. Gonna give them a bit more time and see how they're doing. No idea what might be going on...

*also removed a couple decorations that were in the middle to give them a bit more swimming room.

 

[jessipanda]

They were still hiding. I read that they prefer shaded light, so I added an extra silk plant I had that pretty much filters the light. Still hiding. Turned the lights back off and they came right out. They're still staying mostly low, but they're not hiding when the light is off. I'm so confused...

 

[jessipanda]

Still fine without the lights on... Guess I'll find out in the morning when I turn it back on to feed them...

 

[jessipanda]

Well, no idea what was going on last night to make them act like a shark was in the tank with them, but they seem normal this morning. Turned the light on, they were all there to greet me, all ate like the little pigs they are, all look completely normal with their colors back. Watched them for awhile, didn't see any abnormal behavior. Took a video too just after they ate. Can't see their colors in the video, but they all have their red faces and striped tails back. They've even calmed down more since I took the video sine they're not schooling nearly as tightly right now.

https://youtu.be/uDy7A9tIg2U

 

[Delapool]

Only thing I could think of was there was another thread where I believe there was an electrical fault or grounding - something like that which was similar. Just in case useful.

 

[jessipanda]

Hmm...how could I check that? The filter and heater are both submerged in the tank. Def. don't wanna fry my fish!

 

[jessipanda]

I have a voltage meter, but I don't understand how to use it....There's so many settings on it :/

The fish have been hiding again for the last 1-2 hrs. Tried unplugging each piece of equipment for the tank one-by-one but nothing changed their behavior other than the light being off. ??

 

[Delapool]

Could be OK - it was just an idea to check. I did something similar of switching off gear for one ages ago where I had water back-filling into an aquarium air pump. I'd like to know myself with using the voltmeter. I've tried it but never understood results. I guess if a bucket of water gives same results, then case closed?

Another one we had as kids was the house earthing wire wasn't set up right on our grandparents house. We were getting a slight shock where we had scratches from climbing mulberry trees. Bare skin was fine. Anyways just throwing ideas out in case of use.

 

[jessipanda]

Any ideas are better than none. I don't get shocked at all with my hands in there, and there aren't any dead fish, but that doesn't mean there isn't a small “voltage leak” somewhere. I'm going to move the rummynose into the community tank today just to be safe, then I'll work on testing the tank vs. bucket. If nothing is different, i may just do a 100% water change, squeeze the filter, and then go from there. I planned on emptying this tank anyway to use as a QT only (if my daughter lets me...)

 

[jessipanda]

Any ideas on how to move these guys with out causing too much stress? Still haven't moved them because I did my wc on the 55 yesterday and wanted to let it settle since the rummies were acting normal again. Since I've been leaving the light off, they've been fine. QT is up on sat anyways. Should I just wait? What would be best for them?

 

[Delapool]

Imo I'd wait if possible and they are doing ok.

 

[jessipanda]

That's a good idea. My lfs qt's 3 weeks, but they've only been qt'd at my house for 1.5 weeks. That's why I'm hesitant to move them yet...

Should I start qt over since they were acting strange? No deaths or obvious illnesses

 

[Delapool]

Just another thought but could it of been reflection or noise or anything external? Like sometimes when the light was on there was also a TV program or something that reflected on the glass, etc, etc.

 

[Brookster123]

I'd get them in the display tank as soon as safely possible. They're kind of sketchy fish. If I drop the lid down by accident they're all hidey for an hour. If the color is washed for a period if time than It may be something in the tank.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[jessipanda]

It's possible that the multiple reflection thing was going on. Each time I was working in the kitchen while my daughter watched tv, the kitchen light hits their tank, but the tv is on the same wall facing away so I don't think that would affect them.

Brookster, their color only washed away the two evenings they were hiding but returned each morning immediately. Now, they're back to normal. All I'm doing different is leaving the hood light off.

 

[jessipanda]

Found out my heater wasn't working properly. May have been shorting out. Kept the tank consistant, but not at the temp it was set...I had it set to 76°F, and it was staying at 79-80. So I moved them into the community a week early

They settled in quickly...I watched them for about an hour and they seemed to really enjoy being with the other schooling fish with more space. Never even lost their color during the move! (That had me tickled! )

But I wanted to update you on them, as well as say a BIG THANK YOU for your help! Since I'm still new, I'm still learning and the people on this forum have been awesome! So...

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

 

[Delapool]

Grand news they are settling in well
That's what I like about here - everyone chips in and I've had a lot of help myself.


I'll have to dig the voltmeter out of the garage and have another go at it....