I purchased a 6" grass pickerel online and received it on wednesday. It has not eaten a single bite and just goes back and forth rubbing its mouth on the glass and has rubbed himself raw. It is in a 125 gl tank with a pleco. I have put in live guppies, ghost shrimp .5", minnows .75" to 1", and they are all still in tank swimming around. I have turned off the lights and the room is not well traveled but is lit by sunlight. I believe he is stressed out. I put in aquarium salt to help with his raw lower jaw. Should I cover the tank with a blanket to reduce the sunlight and make him feel more secure, or just wait for him to get accumulated to the new surroundings. I would think that 3 days is enough to get him settled in. I am going to catch crickets and junebugs to see if he is more uset to insects. Any additonal suggestions is will be greatly appreciated. Feel free to comment on my current actions as well.
Help! New Grass Pickerel won't eat.
- Thread starter 03ltrain
- Start date
Do you think I am on the right track. I did put a blanket on the tank to block out the light. I think this might calm the fish down. I have used this method on S.A. cichlids before. Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated. I was thinking about putting him in a smaller tank that would restrict his movement but I want to give the blanket a try. I would guess that hunger will motivate it to eat what ever is in the tank so I will wait and see. Thanks in advance.
Does he have any cover? What is the temperature? I have never kept pickerels, but almost all fish adapt to new tanks better if there is some form of cover in the tanks, even if it is just a few plastic or silk plants floating around?
Also, plecos are tropical fish, while i beleive pickerels prefer cooler water. I would think that removing the pleco and lowering the water temperature to 68 or 70 F would help him settle in.
BTW, as i said, i have never kept pickerels, but the above things have helped with getting other fish to eat
Also, plecos are tropical fish, while i beleive pickerels prefer cooler water. I would think that removing the pleco and lowering the water temperature to 68 or 70 F would help him settle in.
BTW, as i said, i have never kept pickerels, but the above things have helped with getting other fish to eat
just keep the water at room temp and if you have a coomon pleco i wouldn't worry about removing it, but you need some type of floating cover so the pickerel can hide under it and feel a little more secure
Thanks for the input. I will go and get some floating plants for it to hide under at the surface. The water temp is 83 and I just lowered the heater to 65 to cool the water to room temp. I took these pictures of the current tank setup. There is no real cover, but that will change today.
83
coldwater fish.........
room temp will be good, i dont think temp matters as long as it donest get above 80 as the water can get pretty warm for picks
you need alot more cover in that tank though, picks are pretty shy fish, and like alot of submerged weeds to chill in
coldwater fish.........
room temp will be good, i dont think temp matters as long as it donest get above 80 as the water can get pretty warm for picks
you need alot more cover in that tank though, picks are pretty shy fish, and like alot of submerged weeds to chill in
i keep my 4 grass pickerel in a tank with gambusia (the pickerel are about 2-3" right now) its a HEAVILY planted tank, with tons of cover and no heat at all, the tank stays 60-70* year round, on 90* days outside it gets upto 73-74 inside.
matthew
matthew
Nice overflow.
My grass's eat voraciously.
Throw some tall, grass like plants in.They love hovering in tall plants.
My grass's eat voraciously.
Throw some tall, grass like plants in.They love hovering in tall plants.
