Bleheri acting weird

[Euge]

Hi everybody,

I just got two 2inch channa bleheri's, been in the tank for abt 3 days now. Still kinda shy, they'll rarely come out if i'm in the room. And if they do i'm usually sat a foot away from the tank, they come right up to the front of the tank and stare at me then if i move they dash back in.

Here's the weird thing. And idont know if this is normal. One of them (the smaller one) sometimes kinda freaks out and starts bashing him self in to the sand. I dont really know how to explain it clearly. He'll swim then dash towards the gravel, hit the gravel with the side of his body then swim back up again. in a kinda upside down arch. He does this a couple of times and then stops. They're both eating pretty well. anyone have any ideas?

 

[Euge]

bump

 

[T]

the bumping thing is actually scratching. my fish do that too. i remeber i read somewhere it is because of ick. but then my fish dont have ick.
and just give it time to get used to you. my discus used to be scared just by me goin next to the tank but once i take off the hood they know its feeding time and they all swim to the top and now they arent scared at all. so fishes do weird things but u gohta deal with it.

 

[RobD23]

bump

Ya scatch you'll probly have to treat them for some kind of parasite ...probly ick. If they are scratching alot it's definately ick, look for white dots on the body if these show up the fish have ick and you have to treat it with 1/4 the recomended amount of medication that the bottle indicates... Most bleheri are being sold with parasites, me, and a couple other guys on these site know first hand... Treat them and they will be fine.

 

[Euge]

Are all the bleheri's in the world from the same dealer? Why are they being sold with parasites? Thanks for the replies. I got a red finned black shark and a banded loach yesterday. They're doing well in the tank, the shark swims around a lot and the loach usually chills with the snakeheads, and roams around a bit. Will post pictures as soon as they come out more...

 

[MarlboroMan]

I had a bleheri that did the same thing (hitting the gravel), one day I saw it doing a face stand in the gravel, not with its face inside or anything, but standing on its face, turns out to be a swim bladder problem.

 

[Euge]

oh geez.. He looks alright. hasn't done the bumpbing thng in awhile.. I thought that he maybe itchy or something and was trying to scratch himself. I had a RBP that use to do that and got ich and died. Hopefully he'll be ok.. thanks for the replies