Clown Killis Not Happy

[Mikaila31]

I bought a pair of clown killis from an auction. They were quarantined about 20 days and they seemed totally healthy during this time. The were quarantined in a 15 gal tank. I moved them to my 55gal a week ago. Its densely planted and the have cover near the surface. All the fish are small in general and none of them bother the two killis. But they are unhappy! Ever since I put them in there they have been pale and hoover at the surface. I can't find anything else wrong with them. I have no idea why they are acting this way. They aren't showing any real signs of disease. So any ideas on whats up with them?

 

[BigC]

Ps. annulatus will hover near the surface as you call it. I hatch brineshrimp on a daily basis and they may need some better nutrition than your already giving them
Live Brineshrimp nauplii and Grindalworm. They love fruitflies but I expect that would be out of the question in this case due to culture methods.
Try this.
Incidentally what are your water stats inc. Temp.
Regards
BigC

 

[Mikaila31]

Water is good ammonia & nitrite are 0, ph is 7.0 and temp is 79*F. I know they are surface fish, but they are staying on one spot and their back end is tilted down. They weren't like that during quarantine. I've been feeding them Hikari micro pellets, which is what they ate in quarantine. And they are still eating. Live food is fed at least once a week. Usually frozen BBS or chopped up bloodworms.

 

[BigC]

Lower the temp a bit and airate the water, slightly. are you waterchanging on a regular basis, and try livefood. Maybe a nitrate problem, keep the tank clean, syphon out any uneaten food. Give me a bit more general info on how and in what your keeping your fish.
Regards
BigC

 

[Mikaila31]

I can't lower the temp due to the requirements of some of the other inhabitants . 50% water changes are done every Tuesday since I dose EI ferts for the plants. Nitrate out of my tap is 20ppm I'm not sure what it is in the tank. I use to test nitrate more often, but I have a hard time reading the API chart. I usually just watch the coloration of the rummy-nosed tetras in the tank. I know thats probably not the best way to go about it . So, I will do a nitrate test and see what I get.

The tank is located in a daycare..... So it is noisy and kids are running around the tank 8 hours a day. It doesn't seem to bother the other fish, but could this be stressing out the killis? Kids know not to pound or drive toy cars on the glass.


Pics of the killis and the tank. Other inhabitants are 8 rummy-nosed tetra, 8 ornate rainbows, 3 garra flavatra, 1 ture SAE, 6 endlers, 2 adult rubber eels, and some snails and shrimp. If this tank isn't suitable for the killis I can move them to a 20gal in my room.

 

[Mikaila31]

Nitrate is somewhere between 40-80ppm, I think . All the colors on the test card look the same to me after 40ppm.