Halfbeak acting strange

[Elisabeth83]

I bought some halfbeaks from a shop near me and the guy didn't really know how to tell the difference between the sexes so he took a brightly colored one thinking it was male and a duller one but with the same faint markings as a female.

I've had them for about one and half months now maybe a little longer and the more colorful one has always been the dominant one chasing the other less colorful one sometimes but does no harm. He's always been box shaped looking since I got him but more so the last week. I just thought thats what males must look like and maybe he was eating more bloodworm than the other one.

Well the other day the male started swimming kind of tail down more and towards the bottom of the tank more often. I couldn't figure out what was going on.

Anyways today I come home from being out and I notice he's doing weird circles in the tank towards the bottom and then I see what look like 2 tails hanging out. She (now known as a she) looked like she was in a lot of stress so I gently netted her out and gently pulled one of the tails. It came right out and it was a quite long fry. I pulled the other tail and it too came gently out it was shorter and smaller than the other one though.

The now female is still acting weird though still swimming kind of tail down towards the bottom in a frantic manner. She is a lot thinner now too.

I did lower the temp in the tank the other day by a degree or two and I didnt have salt in the tank..could that be the problem or do you think it's related to giving birth or well having a hard time giving birth?

I upped the temp in the tank and added some salt now.

The fry dont seem like they are going to make it..I think they were stuck inside too long. One swimming but it's back looks a bit bent..the other just is sitting on the bottom in the breeding net.

My other halfbeak is acting her usual self. Now though I'm not even sure if that one is a she and which species she is

 

[Ddraig Goch]

What type of Halfbeaks are they?

If it hepls the females are usually larger.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Hi, no these are celebes halfbeaks Nomorhamphus liemi or also known as Nomorhamphus celebensis.

I'm thinking it has something to do with difference in ph, low oxygen and temp change. It seems they are quite sensitive to these 3 things.

I'm not sure if there is anything that can be done though..the one seems to of lost it's balance. Maybe I should euthanize it?

I read something about tail walking "microsporidian Pleistiphora" but I can't find much information on it..don't know if it's a disease ..if theres a cure or what. My halfbeak hasn't gone pale though and this "disease" seems to affect mostly tetras.

 

[Ddraig Goch]

I have found some info on these fish but I don't know if it will help you......

Temperature 22-26*C (72-79*F) the lower end being preferred, no salt is required as they come from mountain regions. Up to 10 large fry can be produced over several weeks, following a gestation of between 4 to 9 weeks.

Fully mature males have a pronounced black, fleshy, downward-pointing hook on the lower jaw.

It does sound like she had a very difficult birth so the problem could be down to that. Is it possible for you to put her into another tank?

 

[Elisabeth83]

Yeah that's the info I found on the net too. Thanks for taking your time to look it up though

Well I watched her all day long in hopes she would get better but she just acted the same and I felt sorry for her. She would spend almost all her time swimming tail down in circular motions throughout the tank So I decided to euthanize her. I don't know if she would of been able to live like that but I don't think it would of been a great life even if she could. Besides acting like that she looked healthy and did eat some bloodworm and flake.

I hope I made the right decision..I feel terrible wondering if she could of gotten better...maybe I acted too soon

One of her fry died pretty much straight away but the bigger one looks strong and healthy. It did look a little crooked for awhile but now it looks straight. I guess it might of been like that because it was inside the mom for so long.

I'm not sure what I'll do with them..I don't know if I want to get more or not. I can't keep the single female on her own. They are meant to be in groups of 5 or more. I was thinking of calling a good place near here and asking if they would take the single female and raise the single fry.

 

[Ddraig Goch]

It was probably the best thing to do I hate to watch them struggling, could have been a problem with her swim bladder.

Whatever you decide I hope they both live long.

 

[afireinside]

Ya, it probably was the best disision. Euthenising is hard though. I'd have the worst time doing that.

But, on the other hand, I hope your babies are healthy.

 

[nmonks]

Elizabeth,

Funny we were both talking about halfbeaks a week or two back -- my halfbeaks also had babies, and I posted a message and some pictures to this thread yesterday.

I once had a halfbeak jump out and land on the carpet. I didn't spot it for about 20-30 minutes. It was almost dead, but I did manage to resuscitate it from being completely stiff to swimming fairly well by holding it in front of the filter current so water washed over the gills. It eventually died the next day, so this therapy wasn't completely successful, but I think there is a bit more latitude with halfbeaks than we suspect.

Anyway, I am absolutely convinced the thing that gets halfbeaks is heat / water chemistry changes. I increase the temperature (for breeding) by a degree C per day. I do very small water changes (around 5-10% per week). Before I did these things, I lost 4 out of 6 halfbeaks, since doing this, I haven't lost any.

In other words, I wouldn't add salt or change the temperature, at least not rapidly.

One thing I've noticed with halfbeaks is what I call "water shock syndrome": This is where you get a gradual darkening of the body, an upwards flexure of the spine, and rapid breathing. Sick fish loose condition quickly, and invariably die within a few days.

Supposedly, Celebes halfbeaks inhabit soft, acidic water. I don't think this is that important (mine definitely mated in hard, alkaline water; babies were born and are simming in moderately hard, slightly acidic water). Probably, a modest amount of hardness will actually be useful by buffering against rapid pH changes. My guess is these fish are less tolerant of changes than absolute values.

When they were born, they were swimming fine but definitely slightly 'crooked'. They are completely straight now. Reading up on this, they are folded up when in the mother, and unfold once born. So I wouldn't read too much into your babies being crooked.

My litter was 14 babies, most at once, but one more in a few hours later and another at some point overnight.

Some of my halfbeaks have damaged themselves in fights, and this particular mother had some pretty nasty finrot. It cleaned up fine, and the other fish, mostly males, seem to heal quickly. I used the Interpet finrot/fungus all-in-one remedy. Broken beaks eventually heal, but my males fight so much this doesn't happen. But there's no sign of mouth-rot or anything nasty. In retrospect, having 3 males in one tank is not a good idea.

By the way, my halfbeaks turned out to be Nomorhamphus ebrardtii. The distinguishing feature is the straight beak and fins that are basically red or orange with just a bit of black at the edge. Nomorhamphus liemi liemi has some blue spots on the fins and a curly beak.

Hope this helps!

Neale

 

[Elisabeth83]

Hi Neale, well you'll probably be disappointed in hearing this but I ended up taking my one female halfbeak and one surviving halfbeak fry to a shop that I know will look after them properly. I felt terrible for what happened and felt like it was my fault for not caring for them properly. I think I made quite a few big mistakes with them.

I'd like to try them again one day. I just need to make sure I have the right set-up for them. Make sure temp is stable, ph is stable meaning small water changes and keeping them with the right tankmates.

I saw your thread and was so happy to hear about your new little fry. They look exactly like the surviving fry I had. Have the brine shrimp hatched yet? Besides the brine shrimp I didnt have anything else to feed mine or well it wouldn't take anything else.

I wish you good luck with yours and maybe within a couple of months I'll try them again. I just feel too bad right now to try them again.

 

[nmonks]

Too bad you had to take them back, but it sounds like the right choice. I'm not sure halfbeaks are difficult fish, but I've sure had to learn a lot about them!

Re: my babies; I bought some live adult brine shrimp but they are too big for the babies to eat. The baby brines haven't hatched yet, but I'll try them when they do. But some midge larvae seem to be being eaten, so they'll do for the time being.

Cheers,

Neale