My fish are all spastic

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
T

ThePBM

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 26, 2007
602
1
0
Hawaii / Wisconsin
All of a sudden, one of my moonlight gouramis starts swimming funny. Well, it swims fine and normally, but it kinda twitches its head to either side once in awhile. Then it swims alongside one of my plants, and then seems to whack it with the lower side of its belly and darts away. It does this several times.
I haven't changed anything in the tank except remove a couple live plants to put into another tank of mine. Could the decrease in foliage upset the fish? Is it something bad like disease making it a spastic jerky retard? Is it some kind of mating ritual? Could it be a result of adding too much salt to the water?
Not sure if it's time for me to take my gourami and smash it against a table. btw, this isn't the gourami that i tapped with my finger to learn him some manners. that one is doing just fine.
 
Ummmm.....Pretty much just the smash on the table comes to mind....(jjk) What is the temp?
 
I don't like it...Temperature, again? very high, I guess? and PH? has it dropped?
 
i don't have a heater in the tank or even a thermometer, but the temperature's been between 78-90 F here, and i don't have A/C or anything.
it seems to be a behavioral thing because it's not constant. idk.
pH is fine. as we speak, all 3 of my gouramis are completely motionless, just hovering in the same spot for the past 10 minutes i've been watching them. occasionally, the one in question swims around the tank around the other two and they don't budge at all.
 
I had an oscar that did that! but then it went away after a few days. (This was before I found mfk) I am interested to hear what it is. I thought it was just something he did and grew out of it.
 
yeah i don't see how a parasite could make a fish enact a certain behavior like hitting the same plant in the same spot repeatedly. it's like futurama brain slug fictionality.
 
Do your research...that's a prime indicator of a parasite.

Check to make sure there isn't an electrical problem, a bad pump or something else causing a current leakage to the water will effect fish in a similar way.

And "smash it against a table" is not an acceptable form of euthanasia for a fish, possibly an fish keeper, but not a fish. :nilly:

Dr Joe

.
 
the smashing was in reference to what someone said in that other thread about the worst thing you've done to fish.

anywho, that tank in question is running 2 hydrosponge filters. and they are the 20-gal models. so, it's a 10 gallon tank with 40 gallons worth of sponge filtration. in other words, nothing electric going into the tank. i did recently introduce MTS to the tank though.
 
sounds internal parasitic to me, usually indicates a problem when flicking. Its not the fish acting up. A treatment is worth a shot, and the temp sounds kinda high might be worth investing in a cooler or something.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom