8 replies to this topic

[ToothyCritter]

I've had both the pickerel and bass for 2 full days. They are in separate tanks that were set up at the same time. Checked the ammonia/nitrite levels as well every day.

The Pickerel Tank; 29g (30" x 12" x 18"). Live plants. Flora Sun max plant growth 5000K high intensity light from ZooMed with peak emissions in blue and red regions. 74°F with a 7.3-7.5 pH level.

The bass tank has fake plants and a Tropic Sun 5500K daylight light. Similar temperature/pH level to the pickerel.

DAY 1/most of Day 2; Pickerel act normal, sitting still along the weeds, then floating downward head first towards the bottom when they see something that looks like food. Not breathing too fast or acting out of the ordinary.

Last night into today; they (I have 4), are doing the glass dance almost constantly... Last night it was just 1 pickerel now it's 3 contantly, with the 4th joining in occasionally.

The 2 things I wonder; could the lighting be bothering the pickerel somehow? Or, could the water flow be the causation of the stress? I know pickerel like slow moving water, but I'm using a fluval aquaclear power filter that I've had for a decade. I don't know if this is too much noise/current for the pickerel or not.

Lastly I have not fed the pickerel or bass yet because I'm quarantining the feeder guppies first, (until I get convicts or guppies to breed) and I've always felt it's best to let fish or reptiles/amphibians a couple days to settle in before introducing food.

Does anyone have any advice on why the pickerel were fine the first day but are showing clear signs of stress? What can I do to fix this?

[Matt DeLaVega]

I would turn the lights off like you mentioned. Can pickerel see bass? how large are pickerel? If they are in a fast growth stage of life, they need food almost constantly. Not much else is coming to mind.

[Matt DeLaVega]

No chance of stray voltage? Check that decade old filter. Ammonia nitrites and nitrates within bounds?

[ToothyCritter]

The pickerel can see the bass if the bass are at the top of their tank, so I'm going to put something up so they can't see each other. The pickerel are 2 - 2.5" long, I'm going to feed them today. I'll have to check the filter soon, never thought about the potential of stray voltage.

The ammonia went down before I got the pickerel, the nitrites show up on the test, but I'm using seachem stability and seachem prime to speed up the good bacteria and to detoxify the nitrites. The bass tank has some nitrites too, so I put seachem prime in there as well but they show no signs of stress or glass dancing.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Pickerel don't compete well with Centrarchids. The bass may be making them uneasy, but I am not really confident in saying that is your problem. Stray voltage can happen with any submersible pump or powerhead. I will mess fish up right away. I am not a huge believer in chemicals taking place of proper cycling. I hope you solve this and let us know.

[Michael Wolfe]

If your chemistry is not horrible, I would focus two likely problems:

 

1) 2-3" pickerel are prey and large fish are probably scary to see (I will never forge the experience of putting a crappie that was only 3-4 inches into a stream side display tank with a bunch of minnows... they know what that body shape means and they all huddled to one end... I put him in a photo tank to get a nice picture and they all investigated and swam around like fish).  Predators are scary and we know em when we see em.

 

2) 2-3" pickerel are ALWAYS hungry.  In the wild at this stage they get in the weeds with the gambusia and just live life in constant buffet mode.  After two days these guys are definitely looking for those baby guppies! 

[ToothyCritter]

I'm not sure if the pickerel are stressed because of the bass, since they like to hang out on the left side of the tank (which is closest to the bass tank), but I put up a fake background just in case.

The good news, is I just fed them and they devoured their minnows. Now they are acting just like they did their first day here. Sitting around the weeds and just above them. It must have been the lack of food. Luckily I still have enough minnows left for the next couple days till the live blood worms and live brine shrimp get delivered next week.

[PBK]

If you like to keep SMALL pickerels as pets you might consider setting up a gambusia tank or even better a pool outside (depending on the weather). Provide some floating plants for the gambusia babies to hide in and you’ll have constant supply of feeders for your pickerel.
Get at least 20 gambusia to jumpstart production and PLEASE DONT RELEASE THE GAMBUSIA INTO THE WILD.

[gzeiger]

Where are you? Even this time of year, feeder Gambusia can be readily collected in the wild within their range, although the further north you go the harder it will be to find small ones.