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Red Devil behaving weird


vieja

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hi all,

i have a 10" female RD that constantly sits on the bottom of the tank... that is she does swim around but spends a lot more time just sitting on the bottom...!

this wouldn't concern me but when she takes off to swim it sort of looks a bit like a fat person trying to get out of a sofa chair (looks like a lot of effort)

apart from this she seems fine and doesn't get picked on at all (i see this as a good sign she is not sick)... does anyone (particularly Red Devil Man) know if this is a common trait or a particular sign of something being wrong...

i can't lose her..... she's gorgeous (in colour and attitude)

thanks in advance

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no anthony she isn't bloated... she really does look fine... smile.gif

can't say i've seen her defecate recently, but she's done this now for quite a while (i dismissed it as RD behaviour for well over a month)....

she pretty much survives on pellets with the odd injection of river guppies (though i don't think she particularly eats a lot of them - unless she's a night hunter)....

i really can't see any obvious signs of distress... it just doesn't look quite right, know what i mean??

thanks

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Yea they are a funny species, mine likes to swim backwards and do fast 180's.

Anthony

awesome.... bigsmile.gif i can't say i've seen mine swim backwards but i just added a beautiful 7" male today to make my female happier and hopefully he'll get her a bit more motivated (she may just be a lazy fish... LOL.gif )

thanks m8...

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both mine do this all the time , one day they try to kill you the next they half lay on their side ,just part of their endearing character!!! i have found that a water change perks them up. it seems to be an american thing, a friend of mine had a big albino oscar that fully laid on its side ,almost playing dead as long as they keep eating everythings ok

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both mine do this all the time , one day they try to kill you the next they half lay on their side ,just part of their endearing character!!! i have found that a water change perks them up. it seems to be an american thing, a friend of mine had a big albino oscar that fully laid on its side ,almost playing dead as long as they keep eating everythings ok

thanks m8,

i've been waiting all night for you..... figured with a name like you have you would have some idea on their behavioural patterns... bigsmile.gif

while i've got you... i've just introduced a 7" male for my 10" female, are there any tips you can give me for match-making.... wub.gif

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well hopefully with him being smaller he won't kill her.

If there wasn't violent chasing/fighting when you out him in that's the first good sign

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just put them in together,but stand by with a divider!then sit and watch,theres going to be a bit of displaying and hopefully some rock cleaning, youll only have problems if the female isnt ready to spawn,in which case put in the divider and try again a few days later! good luck

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Hi Vieja,

The "river guppies" (I assume you mean Gambusia holbrooki)... Are they fed live? If so, are you medicating them for parasites before feeding them off?

It is possible that your RD could have ingested various parasties from eating those fish.

The best way to offer Gambusia as food is to freeze them for a week first. This process kills of any nasties they may be carrying.

Cheers,

Andrew.

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Hi Vieja,

The "river guppies" (I assume you mean Gambusia holbrooki)...  Are they fed live?  If so, are you medicating them for parasites before feeding them off?

It is possible that your RD could have ingested various parasties from eating those fish.

The best way to offer Gambusia as food is to freeze them for a week first.  This process kills of any nasties they may be carrying.

Cheers,

Andrew.

thanks andrew,

is there a way (preferrably cheap) of 'quarantining' them without killing them???

the boys and girls love a bit of a challenge.... dead fish just tend to float and rot...

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Hi again,

Yes, there is a way, but it's probably not as cheap as you might hope.

I would set them up in an unheated 2' tank (or similar), then I would:

* Dose with metronidazole (Flagyl tablets) at the ration of 400mg to 40L (i.e. 1.5 tabs to a 2'er. This will eliminate internal parasites, protozoans, etc.

* Dose with Protozin (can't remember the recommended dosage). This will take care of external parasites, fungi, bacteria, etc.

I would repeat these steps again before feeding them off to mama.

If you notice any sort of outbreak in the quarantine tank, especially after medicating it, you should, by rights, dispose of the whole lot and try again with another batch. Obviously, the tank would be emptied, cleaned and set up again between batches.

Time consuming, I know, but those nasty little buggers carry all sorts, and you could just about lay money on the idea that RD has probably picked something up. I truly think you would benefit from bombing RD's tank with Flagyl (at the above prescribed dosage) - it won't hurt her, but it will eliminate anything residing in her gut.

Hope all goes well,

Andrew.

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thanks andrew,

i'll be picking some Flagyl tablets up in the next day or so.... to dose mama with first, then i'll give my guppies a go....

one last question.... do fish shops do this with the goldfish and other stuff they sell as feeders... or is it more of a problem in fish from the wild...??

thanks for the help

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LFS dont quarantine or medicate feeders - but you should before you put them with anything you value.

A LFS that I have dealt with over the years lost an entire bank of tanks worth of stock from putting contaminated feeders from a koi/goldfish farm in a rack being filtered centrally.

They now have 2x3' tanks on single filtration for their feeder stock and bomb them with all kinds of meds just in case, but it is still best IMO if you quarantine them first. This also gives you a good chance to gutload them with high quality food to increase the benefit your fish get from them.

Carnivorous fish get most of their nutrition from what their prey has eaten, not from the flesh of the prey, so feeding them garbage flake to keep them alive before feeding them to your fish is doing them no benefit.

Different story with your devils if the guppies are more for fun than nutrition, but still worth thinking of.

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I agree.

Despite the fact that any imported feeders (such as bronze comets) have passed quarantine, it does not mean they're not carrying anything. The usual quarantine period for goldfish is three weeks - many diseases can take longer than that to manifest symptoms.

Anything bred locally is not quarantined, and usually, large numbers of dead can be seen in the very tanks which offer live feeders for sale!

Take no risks and quarantine everything before feeding it off.

Cheers,

Andrew.

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thanks guys,

amazing how much damage you can do without knowing it...

i'd have thought 'live feeders' from LFS would at least be safe to 'live feed' your fish.... but then i guess 'live feeders once you quarantine and get all the crap out of them' probably wouldn't sell as well.... LOL.gif

guess they know where you'll have to go to replace the $100's of dollars worth of fish you've lost..... dry.gif

thanks

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HAHAHA I don't think it's any sort of conspiracy - I just imagine that it doesn't cross most people's minds.

Still, now you know - and at least you can remedy that part of the problem. smile.gif

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