Flowerhorn sulking

[Chaory]

I moved my 4 inch Flowerhorn to a larger tank, by himself. While before the move, I net him and place him into a fish bag with water and tied it up. He was in the bag for about an hour. The reason why it took a while, is because I had to move the tank setup he was in to a different area in the livingroom, then move his new tank into the spot his old one is at.

The move was done on Monday, today is Thursday, and he is still bottom sitting and sulking. Also he sometimes freaks out when I get close to his tank and not really eating. The last time he ate was on Tuesday, while also was being cautious around me while eating. He came up yesterday to try to grab a pellet that I dropped in, but darted quickly to the other side of the tank while after missing the pellet.

Water perimeters are normal, Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and nitrates under 10 ppm. I did a 50% water change on Tuesday night and a 25% yesterday. Hoping to help boost his hunger. This morning he is still sulking. I place a mirror next to his tank, in hoping to get him aggressive and up again. He came slowing towards the mirror. I left the mirror. Will see if he is a bit more active when I get back in a few hours. I was also thinking about getting a plant pot for him to hide in. Right now the tank only has gravel.

Anyone experience the same thing before? What did you do? Do you just wait it out? I was thinking about trying live food and see if that gets him going again, but then again I don't like using them as they might carry diseases and parasites. Never had to deal with a sulking this long.

 

[Chaory]

It's been about 4 hours since I placed the mirror on the side of his tank. He is now off the gravel and staring at his reflectionary on the mirror. Not much action, but just slow staring and movements. Will keep with the updates.

 

[Man-made Monsters]

It sounds like he is just really stressed out. I would keep the lights off on his tank. Sometimes Flowerhorns settle in with 20-30 mins of being moved but other times it will take several days for them to settle in to a new tank. Don't worry if he's not eating yet. The fact that he is darting up towards pellets and then hiding at the bottom is indicating that he is just scared. If after a week he isn't eating then I would be concerned. If you have any decorations or plants from his previous tank that you can add I would do that as it will help him settle in. Only use the mirror here and there, I would not make it a permanent decoration. DO NOT USE FEEDER FISH to try and get him active. You already know why not to use feeders. Just give him time.

 

[Brandonclark88]

Give him time. I've noticed with most cichlids that they do not do well with change lol. Keep the lighting down low and give it some time

 

[Chaory]

It sounds like he is just really stressed out. I would keep the lights off on his tank. Sometimes Flowerhorns settle in with 20-30 mins of being moved but other times it will take several days for them to settle in to a new tank. Don't worry if he's not eating yet. The fact that he is darting up towards pellets and then hiding at the bottom is indicating that he is just scared. If after a week he isn't eating then I would be concerned. If you have any decorations or plants from his previous tank that you can add I would do that as it will help him settle in. Only use the mirror here and there, I would not make it a permanent decoration. DO NOT USE FEEDER FISH to try and get him active. You already know why not to use feeders. Just give him time.

Yeah, I'm probably not going to feed him any live foods. I took the mirror away after an hour when I got back home. Everything in the tank is exactly how it was in his previous tank. He started swimming slowly, but cautiously around the tank, so I think it's some progress. Will see how he does tomorrow.

 

[Chaory]

Give him time. I've noticed with most cichlids that they do not do well with change lol. Keep the lighting down low and give it some time

Haven't put the tank light on since the sulking. Yeah these guys are such big babies, lol. Even I had Oscars before and they didn't sulk this bad, lol.

 

[Chaory]

Oh yeah, last night I add some aquarium salt to the tank. About 1 tbsp per 5 gallon. Did half yesterday and half today.

 

[Chaory]

Okay, so the sulking continues, but then today I decided to sit right next to his tank. So that way he will again get used to me. After a while, he started to move around the tank, but everytime I move he startles or backs up. I try raising my hand up towards the top of the tank on hoping that he will come up as if I was going to feed him. A few times he back up, but there were 1-2 times that he moved up a little.

I open the glass top, so that I can drop a few pellets in, but then he got startle and back off again. I then try slowly with the hand movement again and he came up a bit, so I threw in a few pellets, then he came up quickly, and ate the pellets. I then proceeded with continiung feeding him.

After eating, he seems much more relax. Started swimming about the aquarium now and started digging again, as I sit next to the tank. I guess the best thing to do was to show him that I was no harm to him and to earn his trust again. Hope things gets better from here and hope his colors comes back. He's been pretty dark, since the sulking.

 

[Coryloach]

While before the move, I net him and place him into a fish bag with water and tied it up. He was in the bag for about an hour.

He's stressed and I hope he recovers for you. Stress like that can trigger disease.
But why put him in a plastic bag? Do you not have a large enough bucket or a plastic container? It just seem extremely unnecessary to me to put a fish through stress like that when there're plenty of better options...It will be probably a while until he starts trusting you again, and the less he sees of you, the better for him right now.

 

[Chaory]

He's stressed and I hope he recovers for you. Stress like that can trigger disease.
But why put him in a plastic bag? Do you not have a large enough bucket or a plastic container? It just seem extremely unnecessary to me to put a fish through stress like that when there're plenty of better options...It will be probably a while until he starts trusting you again, and the less he sees of you, the better for him right now.

I had a bucket, then I was using it for the water changes. My 10 gallon was use to hold my goldfishes for the move, so the only thing left was the fish bags. He is eating today, but still gets startle. As long as I stay near the tank, he swum around, but if someone gets up and move around, he gets startle.

I have to do his weekly water change today. I also painted a black background this morning on his tank. Hope that also helps a bit.