57 replies to this topic

[Sean Phillips]

Salt may be a good idea as well.

Good idea, would 1tbs per 5gal be good? I thought sunfish were slightly sensitive to salinity but I guess not.

[Sean Phillips]

Well their health does seem to be declining. Not ONE fish ate tonight, they literally sat their motionless for a solid 10 minutes while food past inches from their faces! I need to medicate with something soon, but what since I don't know exactly what it is...

[sbtgrfan]

Salt for sure, 1 tbsp per 5 gallons is a pretty good rule of thumb I think.

Formalin possibly, but I'm not sure it would do anything for internal problems.

It's difficult to suggest a medication for infections if you don't really know what it is. There are several products you can get at the fish store that may or may not help. As gzeiger said, not the best idea to throw a bunch of meds in and stress fish more without knowing what you're dealing with exactly. I would try to limit the stress on the fish for awhile. No water changes, no feedings, no freaking them out as you walk by the tank. Just let them be for a day or two and see if their hunger comes back. Hopefully their immune systems take over.

I doubt I'm of much help here, but I'm trying to use my brain on this. I would have guessed, as others said earlier, the sucker was bullied and developed a secondary infection as a result. Your other fish may not be sick just because they don't eat. Fast them for a couple days and see if they'll eat afterwards.

[Sean Phillips]

I've been doing 33-50% WCs very 2-4 days and treating with 1tbs of aquarium salt per 5 gallons with not much success. The chubs had some odd white marks on their heads (2 of the 3 chubs that is) which are starting to slowly fade. I've noticed that their behavior is actually quite personable and greeting when the tank and room lights are off (the lights from the other tanks provide enough light in the room to see well since some of the lights are reading lamps without covers. But when the room light is on they're a bit skittish, when the tank light is on they hide under the driftwood and sponge filter motionless until I turn it off. They will eat all the time when the room and tank lights are off and they eat most of the time when just the room light is on, no go with the tank light. Hoping they're getting better but I don't have my hopes to high yet.

[Sean Phillips]

Update. Not much has changed, they're all eating very well but the chubs are still skittish and it takes a few minutes before the sunfish becomes comfortable around me. The chubs still have those weird white marks on their heads and I'm not sure what that's about. Been doing 50% WCs weekly.

[Sean Phillips]

Good news! The white marks are all but gone with just a few remnants of them left! The chubs and sunfish are once again feeding voraciously and the chubs are finally handfeeding again! Going to keep up with weekly 33-50%s and add salt to the new water. I'm still nervous to turn on the light though because I don't want them getting freaked out again, any ideas how to ease them back into the tank light?

[strat guy]

I have my fish in the basement where its pitch black. I ease them into the light everyday by turning on the room lights about 30 min before turning on the tank lights. You could try that.

[Sean Phillips]

Tried turning the light on two days ago. I even put upside down egg crate under it to diffuse the light. Within seconds of turning it on they were all hiding motionless under the driftwood or sponge filter and very extremely skittish. About 5-10 minutes after turning the light off they were all out begging for food again. Not sure what to do at this point.

[Sean Phillips]

Going to try a light again, but differently is time. I took off the 30" hood-light and put it on one of my 20s instead. That way I could take the reading-lamp light I used for that 20 and put it on top of this tank as it's not as bright and lights less of an area. I also out egg crate under it to diffuse it until they get used to it. The tank is even brighter with no light now because without the hood, more natural light comes in through the top. Fingers crossed this will work.

[Sean Phillips]

They're handling this light better than the last one but they are sticking to the darker side of the tank and those that do wander into the light stay there for only seconds before darting under the driftwood or back to the dark.

[Matt DeLaVega]

They're handling this light better than the last one but they are sticking to the darker side of the tank and those that do wander into the light stay there for only seconds before darting under the driftwood or back to the dark.

This may not be what you would prefer in a tank, but it is fairly normal and natural behavior. Have to hide from those kingfisher's.

[Sean Phillips]

This may not be what you would prefer in a tank, but it is fairly normal and natural behavior. Have to hide from those kingfisher's.

I can understand that point if I had just brought them into captivity, however I've had the sunfish since may and the chubs since August and they've been 100% fine with the lights until recently, their old light was much brighter even. They do seem to be getting more used to it though. If I peek in the room, occasionally I'll spot a lone chub just sitting under the kigh, anybody walks in though and they're all hiding (when the lights are on that is, they're all begging for food when the lights are off).

[Matt DeLaVega]

No chance of stray voltage from the lights?

[Sean Phillips]

No chance of stray voltage from the lights?

I don't see how that would be possible with the way it's rigged up. Here's a picture.  image.jpg   80.44KB   0 downloads

[Evan P]

I think Matt may be onto something with stray voltage. The filter could be the culprit.

[Matt DeLaVega]

I have had it happen. The fish behaved much as you describe. It could be almost anything, but it may only happen while lights are on if there is a faulty ground somewhere. I am not an electrician, so I cannot really help much more I only figured my problem out when I was standing barefoot on the basement concrete, had a cut on my hand and stuck my hand in the water. The voltage was too low to actually shock me, but it stung like heck on a cut. I started unplugging things one by one until it quit stinging my hand. It was a submersible pump.

You may have a similar problem, and though it irritates the fish all the time, they freak out more when the lights stress them.

Cut your hand and stick it in there.

Edit: Kind of joking about cutting your hand. It would be safer to use a voltmeter and put one probe to a ground and the other in the water. Have someone else around with a stick to knock you away if you do get shocked.

[Michael Wolfe]

Cut your hand and stick it in there.

 

That cracks me up... but I have to agree with it... although not safe... I have had it happen to me on a few occasions... any chipped knuckle from working in the basement will certainly let you know if you have any current leakage. 

[smilingfrog]

I had a stray voltage incident on an aquarium that was caused by the fluorescent light on top of a glass lid. I measured 2.5-3 volts only if the light was turned on. Lifting the light away from the aquarium caused the voltage to decrease as it was pulled away.