Not An Emergency Per Se'..

[RustedKnight]

As i'm always so worried about my fish, i'm likely overthinking this;

The fish I got today (pair cockatoo cichlids) and introduced to my community tank (no quarantine tank set up yet, it is still cycling )

They've "flicked" a couple of times each, flicking about some sand in the substrate, or flicking against some plant leaves.

This isn't happening very often, but i've taken concern.

I see no signs of ICH, and the water parameters are all fine, No3 a little higher than I would like (around 45ppm) but thats not an immediate danger.

Will be doing a water change tomorrow morning, unless otherwise told.

So, am I correct in thinking this is just routine stress behaviour from being introduced into a new tank after a days travelling in a box, and setting up new territories??

 

[elisew]

I think the fact that your tank isn`t cycled yet is possibly a reason for it, it probably would have been better to wait until the cycle was fully completed, however we all have times of being impatient.

I`d like to ask what steps you took to acclimatise them though?

 

[RustedKnight]

You misunderstand, they missed out on going to the quarantine tank, as thats not set up yet, and went straight into my community tank, which IS set up.

Reading, it's for winners

To acclimatise, I floated the bag, added some water, and let them adapt to the temperature for about 10 minutes, then fished them out with a net, into the tank.

 

[ian]

how long has this tank been set up?

do you have any stats?

 

[RustedKnight]

Tanks been up and running for 6+ months, no idea exactly.

No3 - 45
No2 - 0
Gh - 15d
Kh - 8d
Ph - 7.3
Co2 - 0

and my ammonia has run out, so cannot test that, but I havent had any more than trace signs of ammonia really since tank being set up.

 

[elisew]

You misunderstand, they missed out on going to the quarantine tank, as thats not set up yet, and went straight into my community tank, which IS set up.

Reading, it's for winners Sarky!

To acclimatise, I floated the bag, added some water, and let them adapt to the temperature for about 10 minutes, then fished them out with a net, into the tank.

Yes you`re right, I did misunderstand by not reading properly but hey it`s late and normally I would be making steps towards my sleep time.

The change between Kesgraves parameters and your own, with a stressful transportation in between has been a tricky time for them, I personally think a much longer acclimatisation period would have been more sensible. We all learn as we go and it`s the mistakes we make that make us remember not to do the same things again, but in the future I`d suggest acclimatising new fish by very slowly adding your tank water to the bag over a timescale of about 1-1.5 hours

 

[RustedKnight]

You misunderstand, they missed out on going to the quarantine tank, as thats not set up yet, and went straight into my community tank, which IS set up.

Reading, it's for winners Sarky!

To acclimatise, I floated the bag, added some water, and let them adapt to the temperature for about 10 minutes, then fished them out with a net, into the tank.

Yes you`re right, I did misunderstand by not reading properly but hey it`s late and normally I would be making steps towards my sleep time.

The change between Kesgraves parameters and your own, with a stressful transportation in between has been a tricky time for them, I personally think a much longer acclimatisation period would have been more sensible. We all learn as we go and it`s the mistakes we make that make us remember not to do the same things again, but in the future I`d suggest acclimatising new fish by very slowly adding your tank water to the bag over a timescale of about 1-1.5 hours

Ah my bad, it's the first time I've ever taken fish through delivery, everything else has been a 10 minute trip in a bag from the lfs. I'll make a mental note to take my time with it next time, there WILL be a next time. Need some more girls.

And don't mind the sarcasm thats just me being friendly.

 

[elisew]

No problem, it takes more than a touch of sarcasm to upset me

We all make mistakes, it`s human nature. As long as we learn from our mistakes it`s not all bad and hopefully those regular water changes will see your Apistos through.

One thing that would slightly concern me based on the experiences I`ve had with Apistos is the Gh of your water. I may be completely wrong and I hope I`m corrected if that`s the case but I have been made aware by the guys at MA that Apistos can struggle with hard water and I guess it`ll depend on whether or not they`re tank bred or imported as to how they`ll cope with it

 

[RustedKnight]

Cool, so basically they're just stressed from transport and being lumped into my community tank a bit quick.

They've only flicked 3-4 times all day, so nothing terribly worrying, was just something that I'd rather check up on just in case. Water change in the morning then, followed by a glass clean and more photo's. Will compare how well they've coloured up since delivery.

 

[elisew]

Cool, so basically they're just stressed from transport and being lumped into my community tank a bit quick.

They've only flicked 3-4 times all day, so nothing terribly worrying, was just something that I'd rather check up on just in case. Water change in the morning then, followed by a glass clean and more photo's. Will compare how well they've coloured up since delivery.

Another tip for you.......if you know you`re going to be adding new fish it might help to do a water change a few hours before you add them, it saves stressing them out again whereas they can just be left alone to get used to their surroundings if you`ve done a wc first

Let us know how they`re doing tomorrow

 

[RustedKnight]

Cool, so basically they're just stressed from transport and being lumped into my community tank a bit quick.

They've only flicked 3-4 times all day, so nothing terribly worrying, was just something that I'd rather check up on just in case. Water change in the morning then, followed by a glass clean and more photo's. Will compare how well they've coloured up since delivery.

Another tip for you.......if you know you`re going to be adding new fish it might help to do a water change a few hours before you add them, it saves stressing them out again whereas they can just be left alone to get used to their surroundings if you`ve done a wc first

Let us know how they`re doing tomorrow

heh, was planning on doing one this morning, but posty was really early. He usually turns up betweem 12 and 1. He was here before 10! Ruined everything haha. But meant hours less travel for the fish, which is good news.