Hello MFK, I recently purchased a 7" Jardini from a LFS. He swam back and forth with no concern at the store. I bought him and introduced him to my 150Gal. the 150 has been established for about a year now. He was definitely afraid from the move due to the fact that it was a 4 hour transport. He got used to my tank and showed the same personality as he was at the store. He was pellet trained and was getting used to me. I did weekly water changes of 25%. But recently when i changed my water i rearranged a lot of things. So now he's completely terrified of me. Especially when i get up from my seat he'll dart to the other side. He used to swim up top of around the middle, now he swims lower middle and sometimes sits in the corner. He used to eat my pellets (hikari carnisticks), now he'll eat one or two, and spit out the rest. I've also noticed that when i turn off my Flourescent lightbulb he'll be active for awhile, then sit in the corner for long periods of time. When I turn off the light, he'll swim all around the tank. To ensure he was eating i bought a couple of GF to see if he'll even eat them. He did end up eating all of them. He is the only fish in my tank besides a 6" common pleco. I have driftwood and live plants in my tank. I continued with my regular water changes, Nitrates and pH are fine. pH is at 7.6 and i've read that regular ranges are from 6.5 to 7.1 and i've also heard of 7.8 being regular. I have these expired test strips, they said that my water was "hard". I don't know what that means but i've grown plenty of cichlids with similar water conditions. I've scene no physical signs of disease in my tank. I am running a canister filter Via Aqua 650, 2 heaters set at 78F. My main concern is how to get him eating and acting regularly again. I purchased a UV sterilizer and will be coming in soon. Some of my plants decayed and i left them in there. Should i rinse out my filter to void the crap in my water being spread around? What should I do to help him adapt to me. I would really appreciate the help!
