Zamora woodcat concussion?

andyroo

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Greetings.
Three fabulous zamora woodcats, recently moved from 12gal QT with 5x silver dollars. From day 2in QT they were very active, eating kibble & prawn bits in the daylight, fat-tummies, growing etc.

Last week I moved them into the guppy/swordtail holding @ ~55gal, plenty of bamboo, wood, almond leaves, plants, snails, tubifex, etc etc (incl. tasty & baby guppies) and a generally more mature system. Through capture they got very unhappy & energetic, unfortunately making audible bonk contact with the glass on several occasions. No external/physical damage, at least not that I've been able to see.

They've sort of settled into the new home, hides etc, but aren't eating. One pays passing attention and grabs what falls directly in front of his/her mouth, but the others are really not interested at all. Not favourite kibble, not prawn. Not eating the guppies incl. baby either it seems, as bellies are getting flat. They are cruising slowly about in the evenings, but not interested in food- at least not nearly what they were. No gasping or indicators of poor water quality or low 02.

Concussion? I'd ask if the tank-mates were too active, but the previous SD's were more so... though less of them.

I've swapped 30% water 48hrs ago and will do so again now, just in case. Will add a pinch of salt also.

Annoyingly it's an office tank so feeding them specifically at night is an issue; i try to leave a few larger prawn bits on the bottom at go-home-time, and some are still there in the AM. And no full/fat-tummy as before. Not looking gaunt, but I prefer pudgy as they're still ~3" & growing.
 
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kno4te

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Greetings.
Three fabulous zamora woodcats, recently moved from 12gal QT with 5x silver dollars. From day 2in QT they were very active, eating kibble & prawn bits in the daylight, fat-tummies, growing etc.

Last week I moved them into the guppy/swordtail holding @ ~55gal, plenty of bamboo, wood, almond leaves, plants, snails, tubifex, etc etc (incl. tasty & baby guppies) and a generally more mature system. Through capture they got very unhappy & energetic, unfortunately making audible bonk contact with the glass on several occasions. No external/physical damage, at least not that I've been able to see.

They've sort of settled into the new home, hides etc, but aren't eating. One pays passing attention and grabs what falls directly in front of his/her mouth, but the others are really not interested at all. Not favourite kibble, not prawn. Not eating the guppies incl. baby either it seems, as bellies are getting flat. They are cruising slowly about in the evenings, but not interested in food- at least not nearly what they were. No gasping or indicators of poor water quality or low 02.

Concussion? I'd ask if the tank-mates were too active, but the previous SD's were more so... though less of them.

I've swapped 30% water 48hrs ago and will do so again now, just in case. Will add a pinch of salt also.

Annoyingly it's an office tank so feeding them specifically at night is an issue; i try to leave a few larger prawn bits on the bottom at go-home-time, and some are still there in the AM. And no full/fat-tummy as before. Not looking gaunt, but I prefer pudgy as they're still ~3" & growing.
Check that water quality. Maybe didn’t acclimate but would check the water first. Don’t think it’s the former tankmates that resulted in the decline.
 
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andyroo

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So concussion likely isn't the concern, more likely to be a shock/stress: check.

No reputable gear nor facilities to check WQ around here, so swapping the water- it's all from the same tap, and was more or less fresh-new (48rs) when they went into QT. A quarter Monday, a quarter today, a quarter Friday, add a little salt and watching. There'd be a difference in salt from the QT to the new, but I can't think of what other differences beyond fish count (but not per-gal fish load as previous was 1/4 the volume). Swapping water anyways.

They had no issues with the silver dollars (former tank mates)- they'd grub in the gravel for kibble all together.

If there's further decline I'll think about moving them them to the brand newly set-up 100 & back with the SD's... and also a big'ol rainbow shark, which is the issue.
 

thebiggerthebetter

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Are you not able to get an API liquid kit by mail? But in any case, it sounds like the 55 gal has been running awhile and is stable and inhabitable.

I'd think it is the stress of the rehoming and the head bumping that has added to it. They are exuberantly energetic feeders when comfortable. I think they just aren't yet.

Perhaps knowing the difference in pH between the QT and the 55 gal might shed some light. Bumping into walls may indicate a state of shock from some parameter being vastly different.
 

Fishman Dave

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Certainly worth checking that ph. Woodcats would prefer ph 6-7 (acid to neutral and softer water) whereas I would be surprised if the guppy and sword tank was not potentially a higher ph and harder water.
and as for salt, not sure the Woodcats would like that adding!?
 

andyroo

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pH should be <7 as there are a few almond leaves in that tank, along with driftwood & bamboo - there's a tannin stain in place.
Bottom is a marine (calcium) "oats" sand and local water is hard: same conditions as QT.
Pinch of salt was in the previous QT as general preventative, so looking to emulate.
 

Fishman Dave

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You might want to check with a few others but I would be concerned using the marine calcium sand in a tank you are trying to have a ph of less than 7 on. The nature of the calcium sand will always be to negate the effects of the acid water. I use my marine calcium sand and coral gravel to increase my ph in m big cat tanks and pond as the acid reacts with the calcium and increases ph. So any effects of your wood and leaves will be being cancelled out by your marine gravel in my view. ( my layman non chemist view sorry)
but that's a different matter. They may just be settling in. Just niggling in my head that you might be getting swings of readings.
 

andyroo

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Buffering is certainly happening, but the times that I have been able to test the pH it's always been at or below 7 in my planted and/or established systems. Adding the leaves should force this somewhat.
They're a headache to get, but I always use this oats sand - I love the look of it :)

The fish were put into a nearly new QT system of established/wet (oats) sand & tap-water, in which they were gobbing all & sundry. I'm really hoping they're just finding their feet, from which they'll fill their bellies with tubifex & kibble & baby guppies until the 250's ready in Jan~Feb.
 
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andyroo

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they'll be "acclimatizing & de-stressing for" getting well beyond a week, so I may chicken-out and move them to the 100 with all of it's drama (growing arowana, grumpy RBS) over the weekend as I'm pretty sure that water's about perfect. If the "moving" is/was the issue, then this'z just dumb, though. This is not fun anymore...
 
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