Please help me with my unhappy Chili Rasboras

[AquaLu]

Greeting for all! 

I have 20 chili rasboras in a 10 gallon planted tank. They share their home with some clean up crew including orange neocaridina shrimps, 3 mini anchor catfish, and 2 mystery snails. 
 

I noticed that half of the chili rasboras keep surfing glass(swing up and down against the glass) at the left side of the tank as soon as the light is on(even at the lowest mode - really really dark).  The left side of this tank has more water current came from a sponge filter with less plant in this area. And for some reason they like to stay this side and never go to the right side of the tank where actually has lowest water current with more plants. I wonder why?

They have colored up a lot since I got them from the store. They still come to the food ring every morning when I walk close to the tank. But half of they would went straight back to surf the glass once they ate. 
 

It’s been like this for more than a month now. Originally, I had 10 chilies and I thought adding 10 more would make them feel more comfortable but didn’t work. And I tried to adjust the light, I tried to lower the ph and darker the water by adding Indian almond leaves, I tried to add more plants, but none of them seems to work. Any ideas on how to make them more happy?
 

Thank you so much! 

 

 

[Guppysnail]

Is the heater on the left?  Two reasons I can think of is lower dissolved oxygen from not enough flow on the right or if the heater is on the left there might not be enough current and it’s warmer on the left or if heater is on the right it may be to warm vs having adequate flow to evenly circulate. Both of these issues are easily solved by adding an airstone in the right or even better add a nano air driven sponge filter on the right 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

My chili’s like to play in the current from the sponge filter, too. That being said, they don’t only stay over there. They’re constantly schooling around the tank. 
 

I have them in a super dark blackwater tank. I just let them play in the bubbles when they want to and do their thing 🤷‍♂️

Edited September 13, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes

[Lennie]

I would dim the lights, remove majority of the duckweed to increase the surface agitation and add botanicals for tannins to help them feel safer

[AquaLu]

On 9/13/2023 at 11:47 AM, Guppysnail said:

Is the heater on the left?  Two reasons I can think of is lower dissolved oxygen from not enough flow on the right or if the heater is on the left there might not be enough current and it’s warmer on the left or if heater is on the right it may be to warm vs having adequate flow to evenly circulate. Both of these issues are easily solved by adding an airstone in the right or even better add a nano air driven sponge filter on the right 

Hi there, 

Omg, that’s a really good point you brought up! And yes, the heater is at the left back corner.  It really make sense its because the heat isn’t evenly distributed in the tank. And that’s why they never visit the right side of the tank. Can’t believe I didn’t think of that lol. Thank you so much. I’ll see if I can redesign the water current or add a airstone on the left. And I’ll keep this post updated. Thank you so much for the help! 

[AquaLu]

On 9/13/2023 at 11:48 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

My chili’s like to play in the current from the sponge filter, too. That being said, they don’t only stay over there. They’re constantly schooling around the tank. 
 

I have them in a super dark blackwater tank. I just let them play in the bubbles when they want to and do their thing 🤷‍♂️

Half of mine currently surfing the glass and others just stay in one spot rarely move… they don’t school at all. hopefully this situation change soon. 

[AquaLu]

On 9/13/2023 at 12:46 PM, Lennie said:

I would dim the lights, remove majority of the duckweed to increase the surface agitation and add botanicals for tannins to help them feel safer

Hi, 

Thanks for the tips! I’ve tried dimming the light, and adding botanicals with Indian almond leaves. By doing so, it helped and I can see my chilies are less stresses and colored up more. However, what’s strange is that they only stay at the left side of the tank. And never visit the right side. I now suspect it’s because the heat in the tank isn’t evenly distributed and that why they only stay left side of the tank where the heater in located at. I’ll try to make a change to this first and if doesn’t work I’ll try to create more open water surface. 

[Lennie]

On 9/13/2023 at 11:28 PM, AquaLu said:

Hi, 

Thanks for the tips! I’ve tried dimming the light, and adding botanicals with Indian almond leaves. By doing so, it helped and I can see my chilies are less stresses and colored up more. However, what’s strange is that they only stay at the left side of the tank. And never visit the right side. I now suspect it’s because the heat in the tank isn’t evenly distributed and that why they only stay left side of the tank where the heater in located at. I’ll try to make a change to this first and if doesn’t work I’ll try to create more open water surface. 

Is the weather and/or room temp cold out there? seriouslyfish says 20-28C for chilis. I think they stay around filter rather than heater specifically but can't be sure of course. Such thick duckweed might be blocking the surface agitation a lot

[AquaLu]

On 9/13/2023 at 1:33 PM, Lennie said:

Is the weather and/or room temp cold out there? seriouslyfish says 20-28C for chilis. I think they stay around filter rather than heater specifically but can't be sure of course. Such thick duckweed might be blocking the surface agitation a lot

I live in WA and cold winter is coming soon lol. As you can see from my picture, I’m keeping the water temperature around 24C. The thermometer is at the left side of the front glass and not that far away from the heater which located at left side back corner. The water flow coming out of the sponge filter is directly towards the front glass. And that’s why I’m suspecting the heat distribution could be the issue here. I’m now moving the thermometer to the right side to see if there really is the temp difference between the left and right side in the tank. On top of this, I think I’ll remove 2/3 of the duckweed as well to see if it helps. Some people say I might need to soften the water and lower the ph as well. Omg, these little guys are really keeping me busy lol. 
 

 

 

[JChristophersAdventures]

@AquaLu You said you have 20 Chili Rasbora after adding 10 more... now you are saying half are acting one way and the other half another? How long have you had the original group and did you get the new group from the same source? Because it almost seems like an acclimation issue with the newer batch of rasbora. How long did you quarantine the new batch before adding them and what acclimation process did you follow? 

I am asking because those suggesting that your water is too hard are not taking into account that half the rasboras are fine with your water as it is. This idea that they must have softer water is just not always true. A stable/seasoned tank along with quarantining and careful acclimation is far more important. You have high KH which means your PH is not about to swing very easily. Attempting to change your basic water parameters would be difficult and you would likely end up chasing numbers you cannot maintain without going to RO water with lots of additives.

If all of your rasboras were having the same problem, then you would be faced with a choice of changing the fish you keep or massively changing your water. From what you have said, I don't believe this is the case. Don't know how it happened, but half your rasboras seem acclimated properly and seems the other half haven't yet... especially if the newer ones came from different water parameter than the first batch. Thanks.

[AquaLu]

On 9/13/2023 at 4:28 PM, JChristophersAdventures said:

@AquaLu You said you have 20 Chili Rasbora after adding 10 more... now you are saying half are acting one way and the other half another? How long have you had the original group and did you get the new group from the same source? Because it almost seems like an acclimation issue with the newer batch of rasbora. How long did you quarantine the new batch before adding them and what acclimation process did you follow? 

I am asking because those suggesting that your water is too hard are not taking into account that half the rasboras are fine with your water as it is. This idea that they must have softer water is just not always true. A stable/seasoned tank along with quarantining and careful acclimation is far more important. You have high KH which means your PH is not about to swing very easily. Attempting to change your basic water parameters would be difficult and you would likely end up chasing numbers you cannot maintain without going to RO water with lots of additives.

If all of your rasboras were having the same problem, then you would be faced with a choice of changing the fish you keep or massively changing your water. From what you have said, I don't believe this is the case. Don't know how it happened, but half your rasboras seem acclimated properly and seems the other half haven't yet... especially if the newer ones came from different water parameter than the first batch. Thanks.

Hi, 

Thank you for the response! I did a 30 minutes water drip acclimation, and another 30 minutes to acclimate the temperature by putting the bag in the tank. Then net the fish and put them into the tank.  

The original group of 10 chilis were living in this tank for about 3 month already. But they were really shy, the coloration wasn’t good, and except for coming out for food they often just hiding in the back and staying one spot barely moving, and never schooling together.  I thought adding 10 more would improve this situation, and make them feel more comfortable to swim around. Besides adding more fish, I’ve also added some new plants to provide more shades and hiding spots. I also added some Indian almond leaves not only intend to soften the water but also to darker the water. By doing so it did helped. I can tell they are less stressed, and colored up a lot more. But still no schooling behavior observed. Those fish that don’t surf the glass are just staying still at one spot all day unless moving for food. After they ate, half of they went back to surf glass, half of them just went back to the same old spot and just stay still…

The new group of 10 has been living in the tank for about a month now. And yes, I got all my fish, plants, and most of equipments from the same LFS. I would even get water from their store if thats possible lol. However, I admit I skipped the quarantine process cause I thought would be okay since they all came from the same source. I think I had my lesson on this one. Fortunately, I don’t think there’s disease to worry about at this point, at least visible ones…

After measuring temperature at different spot in the tank, I think unevenly heat distribution can be ruled out here since the temperatures are the same. This again got me thinking why they just stay at the left side of the tank and never go to the right side where suppose to be their preferred spot with low water current and more densely plants with more hiding spots… 

Now I have raise the temperature from 24C to 26C on the thermometer. I removed half of the duckweed. And added couple more leaves. I don’t want to disturb them more, at least not when I’m not sure what’s the real problem here. I think I’ll give them more time and see if such change could make a difference . If not, I guess I’ll try to return them or exchange to other fish that are less demanding. Cause stressed fish are stressing me out too lol. Wish me luck! 

Again, thanks a lot for the help! 

[Tanked]

Very nice looking tank. 

What are the floating plants?

I've got no explanation as to why the schools don't merge.   I know you don't want to stress them, but I think I would intentionally scatter both schools, and see how they regroup.  If the currents will permit it, you might try moving the floating plants to the left side of the tank.  It is possible that this group is seeing their reflections as a different school.  I think I see a feeding ring on the left side.  That could also be a reason for them to stay.

[JChristophersAdventures]

@AquaLu It doesn't seem to have a really straight forward answer. If you continue to make changes, make them one at a time and note the results before moving on. Good luck. @Tanked makes a good point. Try re-arranging one thing at a time in the tank and observing the results. You might also be in touch with your LFS and let them know what's been happening. Thanks.

[AquaLu]

On 9/14/2023 at 9:43 AM, Tanked said:

Very nice looking tank. 

What are the floating plants?

I've got no explanation as to why the schools don't merge.   I know you don't want to stress them, but I think I would intentionally scatter both schools, and see how they regroup.  If the currents will permit it, you might try moving the floating plants to the left side of the tank.  It is possible that this group is seeing their reflections as a different school.  I think I see a feeding ring on the left side.  That could also be a reason for them to stay.

Hi, 

Good news to share! Not sure if it’s just me but my chilis seems doing much better after I raised the temperature a little, removed half of the duck weed, and added more almond leaves yesterday. There are less of them surfing glass and the surfing movement seems became slower, and their breathe seems became less intense. Some of them started to surfing the front glass which wasn’t observed b4. 
 

The floating plants I have in this tank are duckweeds and water lettuces. A friendly reminder, with the ideal condition they’ll take over the whole water surface within couple weeks lol. 
 

I’ve tried to remove the black paper on the outside of the tank, and put my hand close to the glass surfing ones. They will swim towards the staying still ones. And together they will swim to the left side of the thank. However, once they swim pass the middle line of the tank, they will just immediately turn back to the left side and get back to their business(surfing glass and staying still). 
 

Indeed, I need to redesign the water current in order to keep more floating plants on the left side. Especially after I removed a lot of duckweed. It makes keeping water lettuce at one spot becomes harder lol. 
 

Anyway, thank you all for the tips. First time making a post and got this much help is far beyond my imagination. I love this community!  Greatly appreciated! 

On 9/14/2023 at 10:29 AM, JChristophersAdventures said:

@AquaLu It doesn't seem to have a really straight forward answer. If you continue to make changes, make them one at a time and note the results before moving on. Good luck. @Tanked makes a good point. Try re-arranging one thing at a time in the tank and observing the results. You might also be in touch with your LFS and let them know what's been happening. Thanks.

Noted. Again, thank you all so much for the help and good luck to your fish keeping journey as well! 

[AquaLu]

Hi there, 

just a quick update about my chilis home. They are doing much much better now. Colored up more, reduced glass surfing behavior, and schooling behavior observed! Thanks again for all the helps from you guys! Here are some pics to share! 

[Guppysnail]

They look lovely.  I’m so glad you found an easy solution. Watching our fish knowing they are stressed is so unpleasant. 
 

Your tank is very lovely.