How To Detect Stress

Hello! I've got a blue crayfish and he's been healthy and very active, but I noticed a darker spot between his eyes and I'm not sure if he had that before. My ammonia broke the other day and I have 0.25 ammonia, .75-1 nirtite, and 10ppm nitrate.

I've done a 50% water change this morning to bring my nitrites lower until my filter starts cycling that, I was wondering how can I see stress in my crayfish and any signs of anything negativity? I've been worried since I saw my nitrite that high, my other fish aren't at the top gasping for air, they seem extremely healthy, no burn marks and they're eating perfectly.

 

I've never had crayfish or dwarf lobsters, so this advice could be way off, but I'll try to base it off my shrimp knowledge. Do water changes to really get those parameters down, remember that a 50% only gets rid of half the nitrite. Do another 50%, possibly tomorrow if you are concerned about rapidly change, and do whatever % works until the spike fades. The inverts will show symptoms before fish, but I like to base my observations on behavior, because otherwise I'll freak out and wonder if my shrimp has an extra leg or something At least in my shrimp, stress presents as them swimming around rapidly, bumping into the tank walls, staying much more still thank normal, or losing coloration. It's possible that the dark area could be stress, but honestly you just now might be noticing it because of your own stress. Even if it is a sign of stress, it doesn't mean it's too late or anything. Just try to get the levels down with water changes.

 

I've never had crayfish or dwarf lobsters, so this advice could be way off, but I'll try to base it off my shrimp knowledge. Do water changes to really get those parameters down, remember that a 50% only gets rid of half the nitrite. Do another 50%, possibly tomorrow if you are concerned about rapidly change, and do whatever % works until the spike fades. The inverts will show symptoms before fish, but I like to base my observations on behavior, because otherwise I'll freak out and wonder if my shrimp has an extra leg or something At least in my shrimp, stress presents as them swimming around rapidly, bumping into the tank walls, staying much more still thank normal, or losing coloration. It's possible that the dark area could be stress, but honestly you just now might be noticing it because of your own stress. Even if it is a sign of stress, it doesn't mean it's too late or anything. Just try to get the levels down with water changes.

My crayfish has swam backwards repeatedly a couple times which was concerned me, he did that once before I had nitrites and twice after my nitrites.

I'll do another water change today to lower it to a safe number, my cycle is almost over thankfully. All my fish still eat and so does he, thank you for the reassurance.

 

If he is still eating, that's actually a really good sign. And when I first got some ghost shrimp I thought my tank was totally cycled, and I could just do some water changes to get rid of lingering nitrites. Then I found out that you can get a false positive for nitrates if you have nitrites. The shrimp ended up being just fine, even after acting pretty weird. If you've only seen him do like one weird thing, he's probably fine

 

I did another 50% water change just now, my nitrites should be lower. I'm waiting for the bacteria to grow to conver them faster into nitrates, I do have some nitrate thankfully but I have more bacteria for ammonia -> nitrite than I do nitrite -> nitrate.

Thank you Rtessy for the reassurance, I'm still learning so hearing experiences always helps me and others as it gets passed on as a community. I'm going to test my nitrites again later once the new water has had the chance to go through the filter and everything get mixed in nicely.

 

We're all still learning, and this is a great site for learning. One thing you could do is buy some tetra safe start plus and dump it all in, but you're at the tail end of the cycle anyway, so I don't know that it would be necessary. Seems like you're doing everything right, and I'm sure everyone in the tank will be fine.

 

We're all still learning, and this is a great site for learning. One thing you could do is buy some tetra safe start plus and dump it all in, but you're at the tail end of the cycle anyway, so I don't know that it would be necessary. Seems like you're doing everything right, and I'm sure everyone in the tank will be fine.

I dumped in the same bacteria water from the same filter my fish came in on day 1 (I got a squeeze from my local pet shop) and a few days later I poured in Tetra Safe Start, I'm very close to ending the cycle. I sure hope my fish will be all good, I've been doing 30% water changes daily and every other day doing 50-60% trying to keep the ammonia & nitrites at low levels.

 

Sounds like you did everything great, they'll be fine! Good job!

 

It seems like my cycle is nearly complete, I woke up and decided to test my water parameters right before a change. I had 0ppm ammonia, 0.25 ppm nirtite, and a little darker than 20ppm nitrate.

I decided to do a 10-15% change to account for the 0.25nirtite but finally after daily 30-50% changes my filter is starting to take over. My crayfish I've noticed has been a lot more active and coming up to the side of the tank to look at me since the lower nitrites, and that dark spot seems to have disappeared. Thank you for the help everybody

 

That's great news! And I just wanted to add something, just in case type of thing. Most invertebrates like the nitrates below 20ppm while for most fish it is below 40ppm. Good luck!

 

That's great news! And I just wanted to add something, just in case type of thing. Most invertebrates like the nitrates below 20ppm while for most fish it is below 40ppm. Good luck!

Thank you for that, I plan to have a planted aquarium soon so hopefully I won't have to worry about nitrates anymore. Thanks for the tips!

 

I don't know if it's entirely appropriate to follow up after a while, but I was wondering how everything went. Did it turn out alright?

 

I don't know if it's entirely appropriate to follow up after a while, but I was wondering how everything went. Did it turn out alright?

Yeah he's doing great now, my nitrites went down to 0 and his dark spot went away. He's a lot more active now after 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite, going to do a water change to bring my nitrates below 20ppm. Thanks for the concern of Dirk! (crayfish)

 

That's great!

 

Hey OP, I hate to be a "Debbie Downer" but, I think you will find having plants with the cray will not be very easy. Also, most likely, he will eat your fish as well. I have read a few stories of being able to keep these little devils in a community tank and decided to give it a go. While he was small everything was going well. Then, 2 molts later, he started to decimate my plants, and my fish. So, I moved him to his own tank and, although he was mad at me for a couple of weeks for moving him away from the buffet, he has come around and greets me at the door all the time now. I hope it works out for you, but I did feel the need to give you the little warning in case you are really close to your fish.

BTW, I have never noticed the dark spot on mine, but I will be looking for it in the future. Thanks for the pic!

 

Hey OP, I hate to be a "Debbie Downer" but, I think you will find having plants with the cray will not be very easy. Also, most likely, he will eat your fish as well. I have read a few stories of being able to keep these little devils in a community tank and decided to give it a go. While he was small everything was going well. Then, 2 molts later, he started to decimate my plants, and my fish. So, I moved him to his own tank and, although he was mad at me for a couple of weeks for moving him away from the buffet, he has come around and greets me at the door all the time now. I hope it works out for you, but I did feel the need to give you the little warning in case you are really close to your fish.

BTW, I have never noticed the dark spot on mine, but I will be looking for it in the future. Thanks for the pic!

I'll keep this in mind, I will probably get him his own tank if this is the case with some fast moving fish that he can't eat up. Thank you for the info! Also I've noticed it is indeed stress, I've just had a nitrite spike from a water change (I have no clue why) and that spot re-appeared.

 

This is great information, I am still new to keeping these blue devils myself. Thanks. Also, don't rely on fast moving fish either. They sleep when your cray eats!

On another note why are you getting Nitrite spikes from a water change? Have you tested your source water for Nitrites?

 

This is great information, I am still new to keeping these blue devils myself. Thanks. Also, don't rely on fast moving fish either. They sleep when your cray eats!

On another note why are you getting Nitrite spikes from a water change? Have you tested your source water for Nitrites?

My water has chloramine in it (Chlorine + Ammonia solution) and it just causes a big ammonia spike that my filter has to break down, and for some reason my bacteria that converts the nitrites to nitrates isn't there anymore or it's being slow... It was 0 right before the water change now it's been stuck at 1ppm for a few days. I have absolutely 0 clue as to why, I slowed feeding down a bit and went out and got StressCoat+. (Was a few dollars show for Prime)

 

My water has chloramine in it (Chlorine + Ammonia solution) and it just causes a big ammonia spike that my filter has to break down, and for some reason my bacteria that converts the nitrites to nitrates isn't there anymore or it's being slow... It was 0 right before the water change now it's been stuck at 1ppm for a few days. I have absolutely 0 clue as to why, I slowed feeding down a bit and went out and got StressCoat+. (Was a few dollars show for Prime)

Make sure to check the ingredients for anything you add to the tank. Your cray will not tolerate any amount of copper...

 

Make sure to check the ingredients for anything you add to the tank. Your cray will not tolerate any amount of copper...

I have no copper in the foods I feed him (primarily algae wafers, zucchini, and he likes to eat the wood in there), I have some nitrates so I have a little bit of bacteria to break down my nitrite. No clue why it spiked so aggresively though

 

I have no copper in the foods I feed him (primarily algae wafers, zucchini, and he likes to eat the wood in there), I have some nitrates so I have a little bit of bacteria to break down my nitrite. No clue why it spiked so aggresively though

I was referring to the StressCoat+. I am unfamiliar with the product. Your Nitrite issue is a strange one though!

 

How do you guys figure out the fish is in stress?? What symptoms to look for?
In my particular case its guppies and neon tetras..I look for color mostly

 

they might loose color and be hiding alot. Those are the main indicators of stress.

 

Some fish will get stress bars. Bettas do this. I do not have any photos of it, maybe others do.

 

Unusual behaviours can also indicate stress, such as loss of activity or even increased activity - like pacing.

 

My tetras totally lost color during the stress of moving from my LFS to the tank. They looked silver/gray until they were acclimated and released into the tank. When they were comfortable, they colored up to bright, vibrant colors

 

For me, I've just gotten to know my fishes' personalities and can detect subtle changes. Most of the time, as others have stated, it's a loss of color, timid behavior, hiding, sometimes they'll get spooked easily, and a loss of appetite. Those are usually the biggest red flags.

 

You won't have to worry about detecting stress as long as your parameters are good and the species you're keeping are compatible.