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anjelloca

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I didn't know whether to put this in the sick section or substrate section so bleh.

So ever since I got Chanel a couple weeks ago she's always been shy and hiding, not moving much basically spending a majority of her time at the bottom of the tank. I figured it was just her personality and she didn't seem too stressed so I wasn't too worried about it.

Yesterday, I changed 40% of her water and added Petco brand aquarium sand substrate to her previously bare-bottomed tank. Since then, she's been way more active, swimming everywhere and hopping from surface to surface sometimes bumping into the tank walls. It's gotten to the point where every time I look at her tank she's frantically moving or at a different place since I last glanced at it. It's a little entertaining for me I guess but I'm mostly worried if adding the sand stressed her out? I've tried evaluating this with her gills but her's a kind of wonky, the ones on her right are pretty long and always have sort of curved outward and the ones on her left are too short for me to tell. Her tail is always straight out, never curved. So I've attached pictures or her gills for your guys's opinions?

Even just sitting here and watching her I haven't seen her sit still for more than 30 seconds. She's so active now, that my dog finally noticed there was something in the tank :lol:

I thought she was just trying to avoid landing on the sand but there are plenty of sand-less surfaces for her to just chill on and I've caught her digging in it a few times. I don't know, I'm mostly just shocked by the sudden change in behavior and I'm getting really worried now.

I'm going to test her water here soon so I'll let you guys know where they're at.
 

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Bette

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It sounds like she is just excited about her new decor. She will probably settle down soon.
I wouldn't worry - she seems very healthy. Her gills look fine... just a bit wonky! ;) I think it adds to the cuteness factor.
 

anjelloca

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I just fed her a cricket and she calmed down. I tested my water as well:

Nitrite: 0-20ppm (safe)
Nitrate: 1.0ppm (stress?)
Hardness: 75ppm (soft)
Alkalinity: 300ppm (high)
pH: 7.2 (neutral)
Ammonia: 0.25ppm

I also took one of those sheer paper things that you put in party bags and wrapped it around her LED light - i think it was too bright for her and that might have been the main reason she used to hide all the time.

So now there's this cool green tinge to her tank haha. She's hanging out at the bottom of her tank comfortably now.
 
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