Are My Fish Stressed?

[Stroker]

How can i tel if my fish are stressed? Just what is stress? Is it a desiese or a state of mind? Do I need Dr Phil or some medicine? I find it hard to beleive a fish can get emotionally stressed since they only have a memory of like 30 seconds. That being said i do have a single peppered cat that needs some friends. He spends almost all his time in the same corner just sitting there. Is this because he is lonely? My tank has been overstocked so I have been unable to get him some mates. I did finally get my 20 gallon up and running and was able to get my clown loaches and glass fish out of the 10 gallon. I still can not get my 5 gallon to cycle so i still have an adf in there that i want to get out before i add more cats. I have 4 neons, 2 black neons, my cat, and my adf. My plan was to add another black neon and two more cats. I guess i can go ahead and get the cats but will two more be enough or should i move my cat to my 20 gallon so i can add more. I really don't want to add them to my 20 gallon since that is where my clown loaches are and they live with my glass fish. I already need to add another glass fish or two there and that is really overstocking that tank with the clown loaches there but I have no choice till i can get a bigger tank. So what should I do?

 

[dwarfgourami]

The 30 second memory is a myth. If you think about it, fish that live in social interaction like corys need a memory longer than that- and the ability to get stressed too. Fish instinctively know what they need- schooling fish need to see others like them around (it's a safety thing, but with corys also a social thing), territorial fish need not to see others like them in the bounds of their territories- so they are conditioned to react in some way when conditions are not fulfilled. Of course, not all reactions are equally serious: a cory probably won't die from being on his own though a glass catfish might, a bristlenose that has his territory invaded will show some mild annoyance while a betta will tear the intruder to bits.
In the case of your cory, he is clearly not able to live life to the full and be the cory he needs to be, so it is clear something needs to be done. But it's hard to advise you what to do other than save up as much as you can for that bigger tank.

 

[rdd1952]

Generally the signs of stress are loss of color and disease. Most fish that are stressed lack color. That's the reason most fish in the LFS tanks don't really look as bright as you would expect them to. Also stress is one of the major factors in outbreaks of whitespot disease. With the sie of your tanks, you really don't have room to add much unless you can move the neons into the 20 gallon. The 5 gallon is already overstocked with 7 fish and the adf.

 

[Stroker]

You missed that on a little. The 5 gallon is empty since it is still cycling. When It finishes I plan to put my current ADF in there and find her a boyfriend and thats it. By the one inch rule that gives me room for 3 more fish in my 10 gallon so I was thinking a pair of Corys and another black neon and I should have a full tank. I guess it's really a little overstocked since corys get more then 1 inch but I do a weekly 25-30% water change so It should be fine, right. The glass fish looks to be happy with the clown loaches. He just seems to swim around with them and pretty much mymics their behavior, but I still need to get him at least one mate. I will say I have noticed that my glassfish doesn't seem to be staying clear for as long as he used to. When I first got him and there were 3 of them they would get super clear after I did my weekly bloodworm feeding. They would stay that way till just about the same time next week but now he only seems to be holding the nice clear look for afew days. i guess I'll just stop at Petsmart on the way home and get another Glass and a pair of peppereds. I can hold off on that last black neon till my 5 gallon is ready.

 

[Stroker]

Well I finally made it to Petsmart. I picked up 2 peppereds and i think she gave me the 2 smallest ones they had. They're not a whole lot smaller so it's all good. The older cat still spends more time just sitting in the corner then I would like, but he gets around alot more then he was, plus now when he's in the corner he's not all alone. I also got two more glass fish and a large castle bridge thingy for my 20 gallon. Those three girls are stuck to each other so I must have done some good there but I wish I had known how to tell a male rom a female before I got them. The only problem there is the big decoration. i got home today and my clown loaches are in hiding. Oh well, when they get bigger they'll have to come out. Overall I'd have to say my tanks are much better off, I just wish my 5 gallon would hurry up and cycle so i can get my frog relocated.

 

[Christine1014]

Something to think about when you get that bigger tank: Corrys are best kept in groups of five or six.