Claustrophobic babies?

[DaveB]

I brought home a big batch of geophagus orangehead juvies last night and set them up in a 20g long breeder. I had to put it on the counter though because it was about 1/2 inch too big to fit into the space below their eventual big tank. Unfortunately, that didn't fly with the girlfriend, so I had to dismantle the tank (which I was so excited to bring home) and put them into a 10g instead, which fit underneath.

They were fine and happy in the 20g, and I filled the 10 with the same substrate and the same water from there. Same filtration, aeration, everything. They ate bloodworm from my hand after going in there, things seemed OK. But this morning I came out and opened the cabinet to see them all breathing rapidly - extremely rapidly - and darting about. They're schooling together and still sifting sand, but everything they do seems to be in fast forward. They have eaten happily five times today and school together and seem otherwise healthy. Their breathing has slowed some but it's still pretty quick. I have done two water changes today - one immediately upon finding them this morning and one an hour ago. When I'm not near the tank they spend their time swarming together near the glass like a puffer would when it's bored... looking for a way out, almost. It's like I have little tiny fish on speed.

I suppose I need to go get an ammonia test kit, but the same water and (established) filtration was on the larger tank and they were fine, plus I've been on top of the water changes. Still, they've been going pretty hard all day, so I'm pretty worried.

Are my fish just angry that I downsized the tank? Or upset that instead of interesting surroundings they get the boring dark interior of a fish cabinet? They really are just acting claustrophobic and stressed out.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Could be the tank is too small for them, could be bad water quality, if they are gasping for air. I really dont know for sure, but test the water as soon as you can. You can add an airstone to add some circulation and oxygen. Also try and keep the lights out for them if you could for a little while. They may just be stressed from being moved around alot in a short time.

 

[WeeNe858]

a 10 gallon with a "big" batch of geo's or anything for that matter is not good. the amount of oxygen is not supporting the fishes that are in the tank and so the best thing to do now is to aerate the tank asap and do a water change. keep and eye on the tank to make sure the water quality can keep up with the fishes.

 

[TwistedPenguin]

Since you used a cycled filter here's hoping the water is ok, but definitely test for ammon and nitrites. I gotta tell ya though.....if my husband had a fit about a 20 g sitting on the counter HE would go into the dark 10 gal in the cabinet :-/ It was only temporary, that's too bad she didn't let it slide just knowing how excited you were.

 

[DaveB]

It's her house, is the thing. I've already set up 3 big and 2 small tanks... the kitchen counter was just too much. Didn't want to push it. I'm much more angry about the fact that I pulled a 110g out from the wall to try to wedge the 20 under it and the supports got in the way just enough... another half inch and it'd have fit.

The tank is already well aerated, same amount of air as was in the 20, and the water is fresh and clear... I can say for sure there's no nitrates even without testing. It's the same filter they grew up with - I bought the fish, tank, filter, and heaters all together (not that I really needed it all). I did up the temperature a few degrees though. But again, that happened when they were in the 20 and they were OK with it.

The lights have been on all day... that can't be helping. Good point.

The double move they did certainly can't have been fun for them, but it definitely seems like an awfully long time to be stressed from it. I've got another 10g I can split half of them up into if you all think they're just too crowded. They're not very big yet and there'd be plenty of space if they actually spread out a bit, I'd think. Only problem is the other 10 would have an uncycled sponge filter, not an AC50 like this one.