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January 5th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| can fish get consussions?
So... apparently weather/dojo loaches jump. I've heard that once they get big, you have to tape down the hood of your aquarium so that they can't get out. I have 3, maybe a few months old. They've always squirggled around the top, half in and half out of the water, squirming around the edges of the tank. I keep the water level a bit low, so that they can't reach the hood, or the filter outlet, and figured I'd be ok until they got bigger. But today one of them shot up from the bottom and cracked his head on the glass hood. So loud I heard it from across the room, scared the heck out of me. He lay on the bottom for a few minutes after that, but perked right up when one of the other loaches went over to sniffle him. I can tape down the hood, I'm not worried about them getting out. But can smashing into a glass hood with your head hurt you (if you are a fish)? He seems ok this time, but if this is the beginning of the jumping... should I just let them smack against the hood, or is there something else I can do? | 
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January 5th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| My fish have dazed themselves a few times from hitting the sides of the tank.
I had an Oscar bail from my 55, and he's still alive & well. 
I'm not sure how to prevent the jumping...I'll be curious as to what other members advise. | 
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January 5th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| Poor little loach  Unless you can get a fish sedative, I'm not sure how to prevent the jumping. | |
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January 5th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| I'm not above putting bubble wrap on my hood, if hitting the glass hard is dangerous for them... | |
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January 5th, 2010
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| | Moderator
| All jokes aside, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Hopefully he learned his lesson. If not, eventually it'll "sink in" that jumping isn't the best idea. | |
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January 5th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| are your tanks cycled? although loaches can and will jump, they wont do it to that extent unless they arent happy in the tank or it was feeding time....
if you have ANY ammonia/nitrites, many fish will act out like jumping and such..its their way of telling you something is wrong with their water.....
are you still using test strips, the product cycle, and melafix?
can you post your current readings for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates ? that way that can at least be ruled out.. | |
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January 5th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Back in the OLD school days they said that a jumping fish met your water wasn't right and they wanted out of it..I have also scene fish slam in to the side glass so hard it killed them. | |
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January 5th, 2010
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Goldwing_Don  Back in the OLD school days they said that a jumping fish met your water wasn't right and they wanted out of it..I have also scene fish slam in to the side glass so hard it killed them. | some "old school" methods, still do exist 
and maybe this is one of them .... | |
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January 5th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| My ammonia readings, using a test strip, fluctuates b/n 0.5 and 1. I haven't used melafix in about a week in a half (I was using it for a different loach that needed help regrowing his fins which were eaten in the LFS). I haven't used cycle in maybe 6 weeks. My tanks are all cycled. It was actually the time of day that I usually feed my loaches (right when I get up), it never occurred to me that that might have something to do with it. None of the other fish in the tank have ever jumped (comets, sarasa, rubber lip, guppies [no longer in the tank]), and I'd never even seen the loaches actually jump before, just sort of... stick out of the water when I am near the tank. I'm on my way to feed them again now, so we'll see what happens... | |
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January 5th, 2010
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| | Fish Helper
| If you have an ammonia reading, your tank isn't cycled. If you can get a hold of one, the liquid test kits are a lot better. If your sure your tanks are cycled though, it could just be the strips being their usual... unreliable. | |
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January 6th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| Well, the strips read high when I first started the tank, but I've never seen them read below 0.5, even when I tested distilled water... I'm guessing this is why everybody tells me they're so unreliable, isn't it? | |
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January 8th, 2010
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| | Fish Helper
| Yeah. I didn't get my kit until a little while after I started. It seems like a big investment to make, but when you think about it, it is kinda like insurance on the bigger investment (tank and fish). Thats how I finally convinced myself to get it. I hope you get everything figured out though. | |
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February 20th, 2010
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| | Fish Keeper
| well, i stopped scrubbing the algae off my tank walls, and got a live plant, and now while it doesn't look as nice, the ammonia readings are 0. although I'm not sure that was what was making the loaches jump... do they court at all? As far as I can tell, I have 2 females and a male, and they keep twisting around each other and racing around the tank. They also seem to like to chase each other to the top. | |
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February 21st, 2010
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| | Moderator
| Sorry to step into this so late (didn't see the post). Dojo Loaches (weather loaches) are very active fish, even more so when a change in weather is coming. Mine are always on the go and all over the tank. They chase each other and look like they are playing tag
They do court and they do spawn in home aquaria occasionally but not often. In case you haven't seen it here's a little information on them http://www.loaches.com/species-index...guillicaudatus
Carol | |
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