Botia almorhaeis

[Goose157]

Hi all,
Since recently introducing more plants, ferts, and a pressurised co2 system (running for 2 weeks) i have noticed some weird behaviour in one of my two Botia almorhaeis....
Swimming in ellipses constantly!..... then calming down for random amounts of time until starting this routine again. My other fish - neons, cory, a large angel , tetra’s etc are fine.
The tanks parameters are good, algae in no exsitant...
Weirdly the other is behaving normally....
They are 2-3 years old now and look very healthy.
Any ideas??
Thanks
Chris

 

[Edvet]

You could lower the amount of light and lower the CO2 to see if it makes a difference.

 

[Goose157]

According to my drop check i am ok (green)....and i am using twin 18 watt tubes so light is not excessive.... ...my tank is 2 ft deep....i monitor closely the ph - par is low ...around 20......this started soon after the co2 was introduced.....i bubbled every 2 seconds (very subjective)..it concerns me as odd mainly as the other tankmates are fine. Really hate the thought i have caused distress to my fish.
Thanks.

 

[ceg4048]

Hi,
In order to troubleshoot the first item on your list must ALWAYS be CO2.
CO2 is extremely toxic and should be considered guilty until proven innocent.

Simply turn the lights and gas off, do a large water change and even add an airstone for a few days to see if the fish's behavior returns to normal.

Different fish have different tolerances to toxic agents, so just because other fish are unaffected it does not mean that the gas can be eliminated. This particular fish may be weaker or less tolerant than the others.

Certainly, the root cause can be some kind of pathogen or other toxic agent, but it is very easy to check and only requires you to keep the lights off for a day or two.

Do not allow yourself to be ruled by the indications of a test kit. Green DC means nothing until you can eliminate the gas as a cause.

Cheers,

 

[zozo]

Although botiids don’t require turbulent conditions they do best when the water is well-oxygenated with a degree of flow, are intolerant to accumulation of organic wastes and requires spotless water in order to thrive.

For these reasons they should never be introduced to biologically immature set-ups and adapt most readily to stable, mature aquaria. In terms of maintenance weekly water changes of 30-50% tank volume should be considered routine.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/botia-almorhae/

As @ceg4048 summed it already up. Some points of concern with this particular sp. they are obviously very sensitive to sudden swings..

 

[alto]

There is little to indicate that this "loachy dance" is actually stress related
& much anecdotal report to the contrary

In contrast, "greying out" is a stress response

I'd post further over on Loaches On Line community - likely rather more Yo-Yo keepers active on that forum

What are tank dimensions?
How big are the loaches? Are they very similar - likely same sex? same species?