Strange things are afoot in my Poly tank

[wolfsburgfanatic]

One of my senegals is acting strangely and I hope someone can shed some light on it for me. Long story short, it has spent the entire day basically motionless, just gulping constantly and either floating on the surface or in one of the silk plants. He will not eat either. This is completely out of character; normally he's darting around the tank like a madman. There has been some discoloration the last week or two, but now I don't see it. My albino senegal and african butterfly fish are in the same tank and seem perfectly fine.

First pic is from tonight, second pic is from a couple days ago...

I double checked the water params and they all seem okay:

Temp - 80 degrees
Ammonia - 0 mg/l (tetratest)
Nitrite - <0.3 mg/l (tetratest)
Nitrate - 12.5 mg/l (tetratest)
Ph - 7.4 (wardley)

I did a ~25% water change anyway. The PH is strange to me since our tap water is 7.2 and the driftwood tannins should lower the ph, not raise it correct?? Eitherway something must have changed in our water supply becuase it always used to be 6.6-6.8

Another possible culprit, I noticed one of my pieces of mopani driftwood was developing a strange, white, cottony growth all over it. I didn't boil that piece before I put it in the tank (2-3 months ago), but its boiling as I'm typing this. I couldn't get a very good shot of it, but here it is...

Any ideas whats happening to my senegal? Could it just be stress from the albino pestering him or is it more likely disease or something about the water? Hopefully I'm making a mountain out of a molehill but this is my favorite fish and I sure don't want to lose him (or her). I can have my QT tank set-up in minute, but I don't want to move him if the problem is stress related. Thanks in advance for any help

 

[cudamaster13]

soften the water and get more driftwood small driftwood begin to lose tannins and their ph lowering ability

 

[wolfsburgfanatic]

soften the water and get more driftwood small driftwood begin to lose tannins and their ph lowering ability

I am planning on adding more driftwood or perhaps some african rootwood, but according to the primer bichirs can tolerate up to a ph of 9, so I don't think thats the problem...

Water chemistry
In their natural occuring range West and Central African rivers,lakes and swamps
bichirs are found in water conditions varying in pH values between 6.5 to almost 9.0.
And water hardness varying between2dH to almost 20dH.
And tempuratures ranging from mid 70'sF to mid 80'sF
with a dissolved oxygen content between 3.3 parts per 1000 by volume
and 2.50 parts per 1000 by volume.
3.3 parts per 1000 by volume is common in aqauria kept at 75 F
These water parameters will flucuate thruought the year as dry season gives
way to the rainy season and rivers rise and swamps flood often lowering water temps
for short peroids of time.As you can see they are tolerant of a wide range of water
conditions.
Brackish bichirs?
Bichirs are freshwater fish and, though some are found in rivers near where they empty into the ocean, the water they inhabit is fully fresh.
Polypterus ornatipinnis and Polypterus e.congicus are sometimes found in Lake Tanganyika which has hard, alkaline water but are rarely, if ever, found in the lake itself. Instead, they inhabit the swampy areas where river water empties into the lake proper.

 

[dbcb314]

You should not be reading any nitrites. Either your test is wrong or your tank isnt cycling

 

[wolfsburgfanatic]

You should not be reading any nitrites. Either your test is wrong or your tank isnt cycling

<0.3 mg/l is the lowest reading on the scale with the tetratest kit I have. Tank has been established for awhile now, running two aquatech 330s, one of which I crammed with pot scrubbies for BB to colonize. I'm pretty certain they are at zero. But is there kit you can recommend thats more accurate?

Thanks for the reply

 

[wolfsburgfanatic]

anyone? He seems a bit better today, I did manage to get him to eat a couple pellets, but still gulping and hanging out for the most part?

 

[gmachine19]

I think he's perfectly fine, mine like to sit around all day and do nothing, sometimes they look dead but they're not. Sometimes they just float on the top.

 

[Noto]

I don't know what to tell you about the fish, but the growth on your driftwood was a harmless fungus. It'll probably come back after you boil it; they are colonizers that get a good foothold before the bacteria do, but die back as the saprophytic bacteria become established.

 

[wolfsburgfanatic]

I don't know what to tell you about the fish, but the growth on your driftwood was a harmless fungus. It'll probably come back after you boil it; they are colonizers that get a good foothold before the bacteria do, but die back as the saprophytic bacteria become established.

thanks for the info! I thought I had seen something like that on here before, but since it happened to coincide with my senegal's behavior change, I figured better safe than sorry.

Hes a bit more active today and eating better but hes still gulping constantly Checked the water again and params are still good