Dorado turned shy

[sarboih]

Hello MFK. I've got a 25cm dorado, he used to be very active, eat right away anything I put into his tank, even algae, even nip at my hands at maintenance time.

But one day, I have to put a bunch of large paintings leaning in front of his tank, completely cover it from view for about a month until I finally got to move the paintings. But now he is changed, he is now not as active as he used to be, not even touching his food (feeder catfish) I've put in his tank unless I go to sleep and the next morning they are all gone (fortunately, this means he is still eating). One thing I noticed is when I put the feeders in, he still rushing to them, then nip at one and leave them immediately.

What caused this and what should I do to make his behaviour back to active?

 

[moe214]

He hasn't seen people in a month. He's scared and unsettled. Give him time to readjust

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Yea, it may simply need some time. I'd check the water too to make sure nothing funny is going on.

It may not revert to the old behavior either. As fish grow, their behavior changes, often times unpredictably in captivity.

That's an unusual diet. My dorado loves its pellets. Feeding live carries great risks. Unwarranted imho. So another possibility is your dorado might have picked up a pathogen fro the feeders and that often changes behavior and appetite to various degrees of severity, from hardly noticeable to lethal, from short-term to long-term.

 

[sarboih]

He hasn't seen people in a month. He's scared and unsettled. Give him time to readjust

Well, I am just sad he don't come up to glass when I am in front of his tank anymore.

Yea, it may simply need some time. I'd check the water too to make sure nothing funny is going on.

It may not revert to the old behavior either. As fish grow, their behavior changes, often times unpredictably in captivity.

That's an unusual diet. My dorado loves its pellets. Feeding live carries great risks. Unwarranted imho. So another possibility is your dorado might have picked up a pathogen fro the feeders and that often changes behavior and appetite to various degrees of severity, from hardly noticeable to lethal, from short-term to long-term.

I've already checked the water, thinking it maybe something with the parameters, but nope.

Yea, I keep changing his feeders, from clarias catfishes, tilapias, iridescent sharks, pellets, beetle larvae, shrimps, sometimes goldfishes.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

It'd be desirable if you specified your locale in the stats. I am guessing you are in SE Asia?

That's a perfect, wonderful diet from the standpoint of diversity but it's risky and sooner or later the dorado will pick up a pathogen it won't be able to handle. Experience shows.

 

[sarboih]

It'd be desirable if you specified your locale in the stats. I am guessing you are in SE Asia?

That's a perfect, wonderful diet from the standpoint of diversity but it's risky and sooner or later the dorado will pick up a pathogen it won't be able to handle. Experience shows.

Ah yes, I am from Jakarta actually.

Yea, I know the risks. But to be fair, none of the LFS in my area sell any carnivore pellets, they only sell turtle and koi pellets. I must order it online, and wait about 3 days before it arrived.

Meanwhile, there is a national ornamental and consumption fish market near my home where I could get around 250 5-7cm iridescent shark for the price of 100g hikari carnivore.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Wow. That's amazingly cheap live feeder fish. That's very tempting, I agree. Proper freezing (temp and time) would kill at least all parasites they carry.

I don't feed my fish hikari or similar foods as a staple either. They get fancy stuff as a side dish and a treat.

We have lots of members from SE Asia. They manage somehow. I know India produces a lot of affordable dry fish foods, some of them appear to be far superior to what's available in the US and EU at the same price or even cheaper.

 

[sarboih]

Wow. That's amazingly cheap live feeder fish. That's very tempting, I agree. Proper freezing (temp and time) would kill at least all parasites they carry.

I don't feed my fish hikari or similar foods as a staple either. They get fancy stuff as a side dish and a treat.

We have lots of members from SE Asia. They manage somehow. I know India produces a lot of affordable dry fish foods, some of them appear to be far superior to what's available in the US and EU at the same price or even cheaper.

So you think if I somehow buy the feeders and then freeze them up it will get rid of the parasites in them? If this could work, then I'm gonna go this route. I know he would readily accept frozen fishes before he was shying up, but now I am not sure. Should I starve him before trying this? If so, for how long?

Also, do you think a couple of dither fishes like tinfoil barb would help his shyness?

Oh yea, I forgot to ask. What is the brand of this Indian made pellets you are talking about?

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

So you think if I somehow buy the feeders and then freeze them up it will get rid of the parasites in them?
*****It's a well known fact. Proper freezing at sufficiently low temp for a sufficient time kills all parasites, AFAIK. I don't freeze mine like that but use the usual household freezer temperatures and relatively long times, on average a few months. I am sure I don't kill "all" but surely most and have been doing it for a decade and so far ok. But I freeze marine bait fish, the majority or almost all of SW parasites perish in FW anyway - that's my safety margin.


If this could work, then I'm gonna go this route. I know he would readily accept frozen fishes before he was shying up, but now I am not sure. Should I starve him before trying this? If so, for how long?
*****Let's hope you won't need to. If you do, I'd think a few days to a few weeks would surely do it.


Also, do you think a couple of dither fishes like tinfoil barb would help his shyness?
*****IDK. In theory yes but in theory there are few fish as brazen and nasty-tempered as dorado is. It shouldn't hurt to try.


Oh yea, I forgot to ask. What is the brand of this Indian made pellets you are talking about?
*****Check out this thread, mid page Shovelnose (our esteemed Indian colleague) and I touch on that. This is just an example. IIRC, Shovelnose said they make pellets like that in India with protein content of 75% and higher, maybe 99%. http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37166&hilit=shrimp+feed

 

[sarboih]

So you think if I somehow buy the feeders and then freeze them up it will get rid of the parasites in them?
*****It's a well known fact. Proper freezing at sufficiently low temp for a sufficient time kills all parasites, AFAIK. I don't freeze mine like that but use the usual household freezer temperatures and relatively long times, on average a few months. I am sure I don't kill "all" but surely most and have been doing it for a decade and so far ok. But I freeze marine bait fish, the majority or almost all of SW parasites perish in FW anyway - that's my safety margin.


If this could work, then I'm gonna go this route. I know he would readily accept frozen fishes before he was shying up, but now I am not sure. Should I starve him before trying this? If so, for how long?
*****Let's hope you won't need to. If you do, I'd think a few days to a few weeks would surely do it.


Also, do you think a couple of dither fishes like tinfoil barb would help his shyness?
*****IDK. In theory yes but in theory there are few fish as brazen and nasty-tempered as dorado is. It shouldn't hurt to try.


Oh yea, I forgot to ask. What is the brand of this Indian made pellets you are talking about?
*****Check out this thread, mid page Shovelnose (our esteemed Indian colleague) and I touch on that. This is just an example. IIRC, Shovelnose said they make pellets like that in India with protein content of 75% and higher, maybe 99%. http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=37166&hilit=shrimp+feed

Thank you for the replies Viktor, cheers.