Wild Caught Heros Liberifer clamped fins

[jandb]

Hello, I just got 5 liberifer the other day. They're about 2.5" and I have them qt'd in a 20 long at 83*. They're real shy so far but will crush whatever I feed them. They are staying around the bottom and I stop shy of saying they're clamping their fins but are pretty close to that. I've been soaking their food in metro. What else would you do? Thanks.

 

[ryansmith83]

Pictures/video would help. Is there any ammonia or nitrate in your water?

 

[jandb]

Pictures/video would help. Is there any ammonia or nitrate in your water?

I was hoping you'd chime in Ryan. It's a cycled, sponge filtered dedicated qt tank. No ammonia and nitrate probably less than 5ppm. Looks basically what's on a test strip. Here's some crappy pics.

 

[ryansmith83]

It's hard to tell. It's not uncommon for newly imported fish to come down with something bacterial or protozoan. Do the fins look milky? Do you see any weird dusting/slime/texture on their sides and fins if you look at them head-on from an angle? Are they scratching on anything in the tank?

 

[jandb]

It's hard to tell. It's not uncommon for newly imported fish to come down with something bacterial or protozoan. Do the fins look milky? Do you see any weird dusting/slime/texture on their sides and fins if you look at them head-on from an angle? Are they scratching on anything in the tank?

I don't see any of the milky/dusting, etc. I did notice some scratching though. What would you treat them with?

 

[FishKing5]

I don't see any of the milky/dusting, etc. I did notice some scratching though. What would you treat them with?

I feel that since they're wild fish that they're just taking time to settle in to an aquarium and have gone through multiple shipping processes now in a short amount of time. Don't start treating them with a bunch of meds. Just let them settle in for a few weeks. Sit in front of the tank for a while each day so they know you're not a threat. They just seemed stressed from being scared of everthing they've gone through since taken out of the wild

 

[neutrino]

I feel that since they're wild fish that they're just taking time to settle in to an aquarium and have gone through multiple shipping processes now in a short amount of time. Don't start treating them with a bunch of meds. Just let them settle in for a few weeks. Sit in front of the tank for a while each day so they know you're not a threat. They just seemed stressed from being scared of everthing they've gone through since taken out of the wild

Definite possibility.

Also: I prefer to feed new fish lightly to moderately at first. With wild fish they're potentially adapting to strange new foods; also, fish have a fairly tight energy budget and stress hormones can sap some of this energy and can also affect digestion in other ways, with the potential for additional health effects.

The other obvious questions are what's your ph (and hardness if you know it) and how does your water compare to the ph and temperature they came from? A not so obvious question that sometimes relates to scratching pertains to salt, which I've seen be the unsuspected cause of scratching, especially at the levels aquarium salt containers typically 'recommend'.

 

[jandb]

Welp. After several months of good health and growth I transferred the heros to a larger tank (60 gallon). They were shy the first few days and I didn't think anything of it. The new grow out is cycled and the parameters are identical. The fish have been in there for 2 weeks now and have regressed. They have clamped fins, are shy, very little appetite. I treated again with quick cure and have been doing daily water changes. I also started metro today. Last time they perked right up after the quick cure but not this time. Any thoughts?

 

[ryansmith83]

Are there any tankmates? They can be shy fish if they are in a large tank alone. I had a small pair in a 55 once and they hid from me constantly. I moved them into a 150 with a bunch of other cichlids and it was like night and day. They were out, eating from my fingers, never hid, spawned, etc.

 

[jandb]

Are there any tankmates? They can be shy fish if they are in a large tank alone. I had a small pair in a 55 once and they hid from me constantly. I moved them into a 150 with a bunch of other cichlids and it was like night and day. They were out, eating from my fingers, never hid, spawned, etc.

They are by themselves. Good thought. I'll get something in there with them. My concern is/was that if they have something I could transmit it to whatever I put with them?