odd behavior?

I've got a yellow lab that appears to be swimming a race, but it isn't going
anywhere. It is swimming in the same spot, but its body is moving like it
is trying to sprint somewhere. It has been doing this all day long. My
water parameters are fine, and I just changed ~20% of the water 3 days ago.
The only thing different is I added a pleco to the tank last night, and the
pleco is staying in a spot where the other fishes liked to stay. The lab is
within 5 inches or so of the pleco. Could this be some sort of territorial
thing? I've only been keeping cichlids for about a month now, so I've not
seen this behaviour. -Chris

Sounds like shimmering, its a show of agression, my labs do this before they
chase each other.


Phil


"Chris Gentry" wrote in message
y.com...
I've got a yellow lab that appears to be swimming a race, but it isn't
going
anywhere. It is swimming in the same spot, but its body is moving like it
is trying to sprint somewhere. It has been doing this all day long. My
water parameters are fine, and I just changed ~20% of the water 3 days
ago.
The only thing different is I added a pleco to the tank last night, and
the
pleco is staying in a spot where the other fishes liked to stay. The lab
is
within 5 inches or so of the pleco. Could this be some sort of
territorial
thing? I've only been keeping cichlids for about a month now, so I've not
seen this behaviour. -Chris

Phil Bassett wrote:
Sounds like shimmering, its a show of agression, my labs do this before they
chase each other.

This could also be a sign of parasites or disease, which also could have
been brought in with the new pleco. Look at other signs to see if this is
aggression or disease. How are the fins held when this occurs? How is the
respiration rate? Is there any change in color or feeding habits? Does the
fish exhibit any other sort of aggressive behavior towards the pleco such
as attempting to rush it or fin slap it?

If the original poster didn't do this, for future information a new fish
should be quarentined for several weeks to minimize the chance that
diseases are introduced into an established tank.

Well I've been watching this fish, and I noticed that it only does the
"shimmering" thing when something invades its spot. The fins are not
clamped, and respiration rate looks good. I did do another water check
after the original post and was amazed to find nitrites. The tank is a
little over a month old, and I had been testing alot to make sure it was
cycled before I added more fish, past the original three. I figure this is
a mini spike? I did add a couple of fish to the tank.

As for a disease, I noticed the dominant fish of the tank drops sideways and
rubs his sides on the sand alot. His fins are not clamped and he looks
rather healthy. What could this be? Or is it just regular
behaviour. -Chris


"Cichlidiot" wrote in message
...
Phil Bassett wrote:
Sounds like shimmering, its a show of agression, my labs do this before
they
chase each other.

This could also be a sign of parasites or disease, which also could have
been brought in with the new pleco. Look at other signs to see if this is
aggression or disease. How are the fins held when this occurs? How is the
respiration rate? Is there any change in color or feeding habits? Does the
fish exhibit any other sort of aggressive behavior towards the pleco such
as attempting to rush it or fin slap it?

If the original poster didn't do this, for future information a new fish
should be quarentined for several weeks to minimize the chance that
diseases are introduced into an established tank.

Chris Gentry wrote:
Well I've been watching this fish, and I noticed that it only does the
"shimmering" thing when something invades its spot. The fins are not
clamped, and respiration rate looks good. I did do another water check
after the original post and was amazed to find nitrites. The tank is a
little over a month old, and I had been testing alot to make sure it was
cycled before I added more fish, past the original three. I figure this is
a mini spike? I did add a couple of fish to the tank.

Nitrites can cause behavioral changes. It binds to hemoglobin and makes it
unable to transport oxygen. Adding a little salt will mitigate this as
chloride ions compete with nitrite for uptake across the gills.

As for a disease, I noticed the dominant fish of the tank drops sideways and
rubs his sides on the sand alot. His fins are not clamped and he looks
rather healthy. What could this be? Or is it just regular
behaviour. -Chris

This is called "flashing" and it can also be an indication of the presence
of parasites or poor water quality. It could be caused by the nitrites,
but the fact you have two fish showing behaviors associated with parasites
is a bit alarming to me. True both of these behaviors could also be a
result of the nitrite spike, but we shouldn't leap to that conclusion.
Monitor closely as the nitrites decrease and if the symptoms still
persist, start thinking about parasitic infections.

This is a new tank as well, which means the water isn't stable and the
fish are more prone to disease. Adding new fish means adding potential for
new diseases. Without more specifics, I couldn't recommend any course of
action for treatment as this would depend on the type of parasites (I'm
not one prone to instantly reaching for the medication, particularly in a
new tank) and this may just be the nitrite spike. Perhaps others know of a
general preventative/curative treatment for parasites that they use (say
in quarentine tanks), but for the time being I would say add some salt for
the nitrite and take a wait and see approach. The exact amount of salt
depends on your nitrite levels, but 1tsp per 5 gallons should be
sufficient if the levels are below 1ppm (this is about as high of levels
as I'm comfortable letting cycling tanks have).

Keep a close eye on the water parameters (test daily) and look closely for
other signs of disease. Are there small white spots on the body? Do the
heads appear to be covered in rust-like tiny spots? Is there anything
hanging from the body/gills? Any of these can be an indication of a common
infection like ich, velvet or flukes.