Hello, I am not sure if this should be in 'unhealthy fish' or not, but its a rather... odd behavior. Recently, (Five days ago) Two of my young Pictus Catfish died from a cause i do not know of. Both were found, in the same day at different times, in the upper left hand corner of the tank in front of a cave made of stacked rocks (A popular catfish "hangout"). Both were laying on their sides and slowly opening and closing their mouths, but not responding to touch; even when scooped out with a small, plastic cup. Once in the cup, neither fish responded to any movement. Both simpl lay at the bottom, in the same position not moving and slowly opening and closing their mouths. The previous day, both Pictus were healthy and very active. Four days later, the cave was taken by my small, Striped Raphael Catfish. Every other fish in the tank (multiple species of Tetra, Rosy feeder fish, bandit Corydoras) were all huddled up against the mouth of the cave with the Raph inside. My Ancistrus (spelling, I apologize) did what he did, swimming along the back wall happy as can be. Night came, the light went off and the fish slowly spread out to rest. This morning, I turned the lights on and all the fish were back at the cave. only in the back was my "healthy and happy" Ancistrus laying dead next to my Striped Raphael who didnt seem bothered that he was sleeping with a corpse
. The little suckermouths tail was badly chewed up from his peaceful tank mates who took advantage of him (not that I blame the fish, that is perfectly natural behavior). I took the poor little guy out and gave him a thorough look over just to make sure he was dead: he was. After burying the little guy, I came back to the Aquarium (maybe twenty minutes later) and all the fish were still huddled up with the Raph, as though terrified of some unseen being on the other end of the tank. i removed the 'cursed' rock cave and watched with suprise as the fish quickly entered back to where the cave used to be, exposed yet still huddled up. The Raph went off to find another cave, but even my overly active Corydoras refused to budge. I fed the fish, they ate as usual and all went back to the EXACT SAME SPOT. I assumed it was a problem with the water, and a water test revealed that the only cause for concern was Nitrate, and that was at roughly 20 (The test stripes tell me that is still safe, but I dont know). I did a water change just to be safe (25%) and the fish still hung out in the same spot. The fish no longer are huddled up against the bottom, but they still refuse to leave that tiny corner of the tank. I find this behavior to be very odd, since up until yesterday all my fish were very active. The temperure is at a healthy 79 degrees (fahrenheit) and there appears to be no problem with the water. I am concerned since i have lost three fish in five days (That NEVER happens to me, my friends look upon me with both envy and concern with how much I care for my animals, especially Fish). Sould I be doing something else to take care of my beloved fish? Does anybody have any advice or experience with this? if you do, i would love to know (Apologies for the long, long post- i wanted to be as descriptive as possible)
~Thanks in advance
. The little suckermouths tail was badly chewed up from his peaceful tank mates who took advantage of him (not that I blame the fish, that is perfectly natural behavior). I took the poor little guy out and gave him a thorough look over just to make sure he was dead: he was. After burying the little guy, I came back to the Aquarium (maybe twenty minutes later) and all the fish were still huddled up with the Raph, as though terrified of some unseen being on the other end of the tank. i removed the 'cursed' rock cave and watched with suprise as the fish quickly entered back to where the cave used to be, exposed yet still huddled up. The Raph went off to find another cave, but even my overly active Corydoras refused to budge. I fed the fish, they ate as usual and all went back to the EXACT SAME SPOT. I assumed it was a problem with the water, and a water test revealed that the only cause for concern was Nitrate, and that was at roughly 20 (The test stripes tell me that is still safe, but I dont know). I did a water change just to be safe (25%) and the fish still hung out in the same spot. The fish no longer are huddled up against the bottom, but they still refuse to leave that tiny corner of the tank. I find this behavior to be very odd, since up until yesterday all my fish were very active. The temperure is at a healthy 79 degrees (fahrenheit) and there appears to be no problem with the water. I am concerned since i have lost three fish in five days (That NEVER happens to me, my friends look upon me with both envy and concern with how much I care for my animals, especially Fish). Sould I be doing something else to take care of my beloved fish? Does anybody have any advice or experience with this? if you do, i would love to know (Apologies for the long, long post- i wanted to be as descriptive as possible) ~Thanks in advance
