mdtaylor
New member
Kimchee is probably around a year old, and recently I've noticed that whenever the lights are very very low (or presumably off) she's almost always swimming back and forth in the tank and bumping her nose on the glass, and generally acting sort of worried. Whenever the lights are on, she'll trundle around the tank and snuffle for food and follow me around, but she doesn't usually swim continuously. If the lights are dim and I notice her swimming, she calms down very quickly as soon as I turn a light on. I know generally they don't like bright lights (and I never really have any bright lights aimed at her tank) so this seems a little weird, but... is it at all possible that she gets nervous when there isn't enough light to see anything? I used to have a night-light in the same room and didn't really notice her being anxious until recently, when I haven't been using it.
I have to assume she doesn't swim all night, but it sure seems like it sometimes. I got a little more concerned this morning when I noticed a very small tear along the bottom edge of her tail (very small, nothing I'd consider very serious) but there's nothing sharp in her tank, and I'm not sure how she would've managed it.
Anyways... it just seems a little strange and I don't want her to be too stressed out. At first I thought maybe she was just happiest when the lights were out, but her movements don't feel relaxed at all when it's dark.
I checked the water parameters, and as usual, temperature is in the low 60s, pH is somewhere between 7 and 7.6, no ammonia or nitrites, and as near as I can tell, the nitrates are around 40. I have a really hard time distinguishing between the 40 and 80 nitrate levels with the API master kit though, so I'm always worried it's a little higher than that, but I try to change a little less than half of the water every week. She's got two sponge filters and a bubble stone, along with lots of hornwort.
Any thoughts? Is it super silly to think she might be afraid of the dark? It kinda feels silly, but I'm not sure how else to explain it. Thanks everyone :}
I have to assume she doesn't swim all night, but it sure seems like it sometimes. I got a little more concerned this morning when I noticed a very small tear along the bottom edge of her tail (very small, nothing I'd consider very serious) but there's nothing sharp in her tank, and I'm not sure how she would've managed it.
Anyways... it just seems a little strange and I don't want her to be too stressed out. At first I thought maybe she was just happiest when the lights were out, but her movements don't feel relaxed at all when it's dark.
I checked the water parameters, and as usual, temperature is in the low 60s, pH is somewhere between 7 and 7.6, no ammonia or nitrites, and as near as I can tell, the nitrates are around 40. I have a really hard time distinguishing between the 40 and 80 nitrate levels with the API master kit though, so I'm always worried it's a little higher than that, but I try to change a little less than half of the water every week. She's got two sponge filters and a bubble stone, along with lots of hornwort.
Any thoughts? Is it super silly to think she might be afraid of the dark? It kinda feels silly, but I'm not sure how else to explain it. Thanks everyone :}
