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I recently Moved 3 clown loaches and 3 Venestus To a 3'*14"*18" from the 4'*18"*18" the reason for moving them was that the old tank was seriously over croweded and required bi-weekly water changes to keep the nitrates bellow 60ppm!

anyway since moving them the venestus seem quite unhappy, they dont seem to eat as much, there allways hiding, and continiously bashing into tank ornaments and hurting themselfs. the water parameters are good, no amm, nitrite, nitrates are 20-30ppm. nice hard water ph 7.8. i even used alot of the ornaments from the old tank as i reland scaped the old one.

its been 3 days now? is it possible they miss their friends? the other fish were assorted malawis, but not venestus. the clowns in the tank hide alot too but thats not unusual for them.

are they suffereing some sort of depression? what can i do to help them?

Chances are he's still getting used to the new tank. Did you acclimate them or just toss 'em in? If the water parameters were different, it's just like you brought them home from the LFS.

Give 'em a week or so, see how they do.

like Fallout said, they are probably still getting used to the new tank. however, ime moving fish from a larger tank to a smaller one will reduce their level of activity, but I wouldn't call it depression.

i've re-tersted the water and as it turns out there is a trace amount of nitrite (o.25ppm)

im doing small water changes to combat it seems unusual as i used a lot of media from the old filter when seeting up the new one.

I think the appropriate term is stress rather than depression. Depression in a fish would be non feeding despite being in perfect health and condition and probably stereotypical behaviour. Possibly a monogomous cichlid might be depressed if a mate dies, thats about the only ways you can tell. Odds on its the water quality thats the issue.

If the experience I had with my Pandas is anything to go by, I'd say that fish can become depressed.

When my Pandas lost several of their playmates to my October disaster, including all the Lemons and all but one of the Cardinals, they became listless and moped about. The change that took place once they received a boost to their own numbers and some more Characin playmates to play 'tag' with during spawning was quite something to behold.

Yes, I'd say fish do get depressed.

Oh, they can also become manic too. My Pandas have decided that my new addition of some Bacopa to the aquarium is just what they wanted ... three of them in particular seem to have made it a second home away from the bogwood 'boot'! And their antics among the stems are a picture to behold!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

they do come out a little more now but seem less lively than when they were in the community tank.

the water parameters are now spot on and they do eat a little more now but not like the gutsezes they were in their old tank.

i fed them 4 guppies the other day and whilst i didn't see them eat them they werent there the next day.

it could well be that they do become less active in a smaller tank.

hopefully as time passes along they will be happier.