Some funny fish behaviour

[LondonGman]

I have a few fishes that do not behave according to the “book”. When they did it the first time it worrid me but I have now gotten used to them

Playing Dead.
This is the name I have given to my albino peppered corydoras when it decides it is having a break and refuses to move. If it stops on a slope it may actually come to a rest on its side. The first time I saw it do the “act dead” thing, I was about to reach for the net to “bury it at sea” (flush down toilet) when it I noticed slight movement in its gills. I watched for awhile when it sudden got up and moved around the tank like nothing has happened.
I read somewhere, (please correct me if wrong) that some catfishes have “underdeveloped” swim bladders which allow them to scurry about on their bellies and they have to use greater efforts to swim upwards. Hence they need to take a break. It has been doing this ever since I bought it 3+ months ago

Lazy pleco.
Due to advice from here, I got driftwood for my bristle nose pleco. It loves going underneath it and sucking on the wood upside down. However sometimes it looses its grip and lands on its back and refuses to move. So I end up with a pleco under my driftwood on its back sucking water. That often worries me but the cory often disturbs the pleco who then scurries off to suck on something tangible. Stupid fish LOL

Fake Cardinal tetras
The light on my tank is on a timer and they go out just after mid-night. The room light is usually off earlier. If I put the lights on in the tank half an hour after they have been off, I find that all my lovely blue and red cardinals have lost all their red colouration. They look like cheap plain fish. However in the mornings the red strip is back. Weird. Must do a quick search in google after I submit this.

is it me or dose anyone....

 

[Allivymar]

Dunno bout your corys, but your plec is a dork LOL that's hilarious!

As for your cards, pretty par for the course. Cards and neons will lose coloration overnight and in the dark, and will regain it in the light. Maybe a protective response? Although red isn't very visible in the dark...Anyway, its not ususual

 

[TankGirl]

If this cory is by itself, its behavior could be indicative of loneliness. They do breathe air and will zoom up to the surface for a gulp and right back down again, which is a normal behavior, but what you describe does not sound typical, at least for my peppered corys. They are schooling fish and prefer companions. The cardinal coloration is totally normal, as Allivymar said. I don't think the pleco is doing anything particularly weird, necessarily, provided your water parameters are in good shape. My rubbernose pleco has some very odd behavior that I have grown accustomed to!

 

[William]

The only odd one I have is a female fiddler.

Since hammer died she has felt she is king of the tank, and even fights with males in atempt to assert her dominance.

The funny thing is, the only one in the tank that dosn't back down is, ironicly enough, my poor little fiddler that I rescued [ missing 2 legs and his small, feeder claw ] who brandishes his little claw [ so cute, less than half an inch long ] at her and pushes her away.

 

[Terry]

I think Tankgirl has solved your cory behavior, your cory is lonely. Allivymar is right about your cardinals as well, they loose there colour during the night. It is one of there defence mechanisms so that they don't get eaten. Neons and cardinals can also stun themselves so that they look dead.

As for your Ancistrus Bristle nose, they can do all sorts of weird things. the only thing i would be worried about is, i had a chap in the shop the other week who said his plec was doing simular sorts of things. he said the plec was sucking on his bogwood and then would fall off for no reason, after investigating we found that he'd had a high Nitrate for quite a while and i think that is what affected his plec. we got his nitrates down and he said the plec didn't do it anymore.

I am not saying that is your problem, your plec might just be nutty.

 

[Allivymar]

Either that, or your plec has been getting into the liquor cabinet

 

[Scottw68TN]

My yoyo loaches play dead too. All at the same time. They rest on leaves, driftwood, the substrate, anywhere. I reached for the net one day as well.

 

[Sinuhe]

I had some cories in my tank some years ago, and they'd often "play dead" as well. I don't know if it's normal or not, but it did bother me quite a bit!

 

[William]

Well, My Peacock eel " plays dead " [ sleeping ], I knew he was asleep however I did reach for the net because family was so incistant that " Hes dead! Hes dead! get him out! hurry! "


Should have seen the look on their faces when the Peacock jumped up and darted away

 

[TankGirl]

I think the cardinals would be gone from high nitrates before the bristlenose would show signs of suffering from it. The cardinals are like a canary in a coal mine, so to speak. I don't know what could be going on with the ancistrus, as I have not seen them do that before, but if there are no water quality issues then there is not much to be done, other than put him in a Q-tank and observe.

 

[LondonGman]

So I am not the only one, relief.!!!
My cory does not really play dead often. Only about 4 times since I got him months ago. Anyway I got another cory today to keep him company after all the advice from this forum, (I do listen), and within the hour the new cory does its first “play dead” thing. I was just about to fish him out to return to the shop with a few choice words when it goes scurrying around the tank mentally.

Anyway the two corys finally bumped into each other. They said a very brief “Hi” to each other” and went off there separate ways. They have not gotten the hang of the “schooling” thing yet. I am not buying a load of corys just to see them schooling. Maybe I have the non schooling variety of corys. Stupid fish LOL