Petricolus acting funny

[ahamm]

About two weeks ago I changed the stubstrate in my aquarium to a crushed coral. It looks more like a rolled coral than one that is really sharp. The last couple of days I have noticed him sticking his head out of the water and shimming his body around. It almost reminds me of how the dolphins swim out of the water with just their tails. He is not getting that far out of the water though. He doesn't seem to mind the higher ph because he is not flashing against the rocks, except when I do a large water change. Has anybody noticed this behavior from their petricolus? Should I move him to another tank that does not have the crushed coral? He aslo does not seem to be eating much. I would love someone to give me their opinion on this.

Angie Hamm

[biggin]

I have mine in a higher PH and they are fine.

I have seen them do the head out of the water especially if they are hungry.

[ahamm]

I feed danichi, a spirulina based flake and today I purchased frozen brine shrimp. He doesn't seem too interested. What do you feed yours?

Angie

[biggin]

NLS, spirulina(100%) flake and a veggie mix flake.

[supersmirky]

Never seen a fish do that but sounds real interesting.

[bristlenosedude]

Mine sometimes get pissed off when I do a large water change. I feel it is chemically related, the speed around the tank, then settle down after a few hours. Use plenty of dechlor and make smaller changes.

[ahamm]

I will try and make slower changes and see if that helps. He is already acting a little better.

Angie

[sirphipps]

Watch for amonia and nitrate spikes...

[ahamm]

I have been test every couple of day since I changed the substrate. I do have biowheel filtration so that helps some. I'll see how it goes. Thanks for the info.

Angie

[ahamm]

It seemed like he was acting a little bit better so I had relaxed some, but found him next to the aquarium this morning. What a disappointment. I have always thought he was really cool. I'm really going to miss the little guy.

Angie:(

[ahamm]

I love the synodontis petricolus and would like to replace syd. Does anyone have any that they would like to sell? If so, how much and where are you located?

Angie

[deadman]

sorry to hear that he bailed out on you. in my expierance, i have found that big spikes in ph will cause the fish to be very "jumpy" im not shure what the change in ph was but usually changing to all coral is a pretty big jump. from what i have read here, sounds like the little guy didnt adapt well to the change. most fish available in the store arent raised in a high ph enviorment they have been bred and adapted to the lower ph like 7.6-7.9. then some of them are placed in a higher ph tank in the store maybe with some substrate for looks this increases ph but not much, but taking a fish that has never lived in a high ph enviorment , and making it one, is very risky, eventhough the info on them usually says to have a higher ph.
in the fish industry low cost is a key to sucess. there tanks are bare to cut down on cost and illness, the tanks usually all run on a central filter system, sometime this system will filter the water in hundreds of tanks. therfore no special care is given to ph regs. because the breeders often operate in the same fashion. i have found it helpfull and reduce losses like yours to find out where that fish came from, if its tank raised leave the ph alone if your tap water in in the range indicated above. if wild caught, its a good idea to resurch the species and its natural enviorment and try to duplicate that. good luck next time and i hope this helps