kwesdog

I am just wondering if anyone has ever added a bubble stone and then have their fish become skittish.

There aer 2 things that may have comtributed to them being scared that I am think of and I can pretty much eliminate one of them.

My 55 was very heavily planted. So much so I wanted to cull it down a bit because you really couldnt see anything except plants.

I took out quite a few of the plants and rearranged the driftwood and plants. It sat that way for a week and I saw no noticeable change in the fish behavior other than one of my loaches got sluggish. He didnt look sick just sluggish so I thought that with the removal of so many plants that the O2 level was going down so I added a long bubble stone. I dont have the thing shooting out bubbles like crazy as to make air jetting into the water. Just a nice easy flow of small bubbles.

The loach perked right up and is more active than ever but the other fish in there now hide the second anyone walks into the room which they never did before. (The loach doesnt care who comes in the room)

Do you think I should replant some smaller stuff like micro swords or dwarf grass to keep the growth down and remove the bubbles or do you think the fish will get used to it.

I dont want to stress them out if I dont have to and since they havent acted like this until the bubbles were added it worries me.

Thanks

Harry

Llama

Well its quite possible the bubbles scare them.

If you want to put plants back, I suggest that you plant the BACK and leave the front free, that way you have a swimming area for them where you can see them. That said I don't think the aerator is really necessary, even if you removed the plants. Unless you're overstocked or have the temperature way high (to remove ICH for example) I doubt you'd NEED an aerator.

kwesdog

The plants I took out were anacharis and those things grow like wildfire (I kept some of the smaller ones in there and clipped down a ton).. I have some onion plants in there for tall background plants. I have a few micro swords and dwarf hair grass along with the anacharis. What other plants do you think would go along well that will grow fast just not as fast as the anachris does?

I like the fast growers because it keeps the water levels pretty much pristine without having todo water changes all the time but at the same time trimming them down takes alot more time than water changes so its a sacrifice one way or another. I am not lazy about it but basicly I dont like throwing plants away is what it comes down too.

Thanks

Harry

Shawnie

I think its the removal of the plants made them loose their security and hiding spots but if it was me, id leave them out in the hopes that I could get them use to humans and interacting and showing themselves more ....although plants are amazing in tanks, if you dont see the fish it doesnt seem as fun ....what other fish are in there that hide all the time?

kwesdog

This tank is a 55

2-flame DG's (Hides)
2-Mickey mouse platys (Was 3 but my fav female just died yesterday) (Now hides and didnt before)
5-Peppered Cories (Never hid before but now does)
1-BN Pleco (Always hid cept at night)
1-2.5 in Clown loach (doesnt care and does its own thing)
?- amano shrimp. I am thinking there is a dozen or so in there

When the clown loach gets big I plan on moving it to a 125 gallon but have to move into a new house first (Job is keeping me here for now but might move in the next year or 2 so I dont want to set up a 125 just to break it down in a few months.)

The flames never hid before either and would spend all day making bubble nests in the corners but havent since I added the bubbles.

I may just take the bubbles out and add a ton of foreground plants but I dont want to go too crazy because it makes cleaning more and more of a challenge to get the python into all the nooks and crannies without tearing up the leaves and stems.

Harry

Shawnie

do they all come out at feeding time? alot of the fish you named in the tank, arent very social with the exception of the cories and platys..the rest do like to hide...although ive not had any experiece with loaches so not sure on those guys....maybe its just a change in their home and they need to get use to it?

kwesdog

It depends on what I feed them. If I drop bloodworms in the tank all of the fish cept the bottom feeders go crazy and come out of hiding.

If its flakes or anything floating the platys might come out but not always. If I leave the room or go to the otherside of the room for something else I soon hear clicking as the gouramis are wolfing down the flakes along with a bunch of air.

Whats stange is the platys. Those things used to swim up when anyone came in the room because they knew it was getting close to feeding time but now they hide.

I would think its got to be some type of stressor because they didnt do this till I added the bubbles.

I am going to try and see what they do without the bubbles for a couple of days to confirm if that is the problem.

Thanks so much.

Harry