*** HELP *** All fish swimming at top of water.

13 posts • Page 1 of 2

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


letha
 
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:00 pm

*** HELP *** All fish swimming at top of water.

by letha

Everyone here knows a few days ago I had this same problem. I fallowed the instructions given here , I was trying to improve my tank and messed up royally.

Today I added a gal. of water with 5ml of Aqueon water conditioner.
Fish are back to swimming on top.

all test read safe or narmal "Tetra EasyStrips"

PLEASE WHAT DO I DO?
Letha


letha
 
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:00 pm

Re: *** HELP *** All fish swimming at top of water.

by letha

SORRY I have a 20 gal tank


Okiimiru
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm

Re: *** HELP *** All fish swimming at top of water.

by Okiimiru

1. The test kit is probably wrong. They do expire over time and test strips in particular are notorious for their inaccuracy. (Also any non-zero concentration of ammonia is not 'fine'. Someone once asked me their ammonia was only at 0.5 ppm, why were their fish sick? *headdesk*)
Try taking a sample of your water to a local pet store. Usually most chains will test your water for free and tell you the concentrations of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

2. The use of chlorinated water to do a water change wiped out your beneficial bacteria and uncycled your tank. We told you not to do that. Now your ammonia, which was previously being processed into nitrite and then nitrate by your friendly neihborhood bacteria, is accumulating and will soon become concentrated enough to kill your fish.

Get a sponge from a friend's filter and put it in your tank to re-cycle it. (Keep the sponge wet in dechlorinated water on the way to your home. If the sponge dries out the bacteria will die). Local facebook fish groups are handy for this. I'm giving a sponge to a lady in my area later today. I keep three sponges in each of my filters so if they need an instantly cycled tank people can just bring me a new sponge, I'll give them and old sponge, and the total number of sponges stays the same. The new sponge gets colonized by the older sponges still in my filter, and everybody's tank is cycled. This is the sponge I'm talking about: http://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Bath-Sour ... t/10322263 in a hang on back waterfall filter.

Or, alternatively, use live plants to eat your ammonium. http://theaquariumwiki.com/Plants_and_B ... Filtration


Okiimiru
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm

Re: *** HELP *** All fish swimming at top of water.

by Okiimiru

"Today I added a gal. of water with 5ml of Aqueon water conditioner."

To be fair I don't have that brand but unless it's just a really dilute product, 5 mL per gallon seems like way too much. My old Weco Dechlor was one drop per gallon and my new stuff is 1 mL per ten gallons.

Don't poison your fish. Follow the instructions on your bottle. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.


letha
 
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:00 pm

Re: *** HELP *** All fish swimming at top of water.

by letha

thats what the bottle said 1 tsp (5ml) per 10 gals

I put 5ml for my 20 gal tank.

is this wrong??


Okiimiru
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm

Re: *** HELP *** All fish swimming at top of water.

by Okiimiru

Ah, I see, you used a half dose. (Wow, that stuff you bought is a *cough* product. Dilute, let's say dilute).

It's already been a day so there's probably not much chlorine left in there. (Even without adding dechlorinating drops the chlorine is still a gas and will evaporate out of solution in about a day or two). If the water treatment plant is using chloramine it doesn't evaporate out nearly as readily, so you would in that instance want to properly dose the tank. It's time to call your local water company and ask whether they use chlorine or chloramine. If they use chlorine, then you don't need to add any more dechlorinator. If they use chloramine, then it's worth your time to use the full dose recommended on the bottle to remove chloramine.


natalie265
Site Admin
 
Posts: 746
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:48 pm

Re: *** HELP *** All fish swimming at top of water.

by natalie265

Sorry, i'm still confused about the amount of water conditioner being used. If you only added one gallon of water to the tank, shouldn't you only be adding .5ml of the water conditioner? If 10 gallons requires 5ml, isn't that .5 per gallon?


letha
 
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:00 pm

Re: *** HELP *** All fish swimming at top of water.

by letha

I was told to replace 50% of my water in my 20 gal tank.

I think I replaced 8 to 9 gal. of water.

But I wanted to do the best for my fish and make sure the water chem were right, so after that I put 5ml of conditioner in my 20 gal tank. (measured by their cap that came on the bottle)
It called for 5ml per 10 gals, I would wish to go low than high.

There went the fish back to the top of the water

I am so confused!!! I'm afraid to do anything, no one is dead yet, but even the snails are at the top of the water. Usually they are very hard to find, especially all at one time!! !!

Thanks,
Letha


Okiimiru
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm

Re: *** HELP *** All fish swimming at top of water.

by Okiimiru

If the fish are gasping at the surface, something's wrong with the water. Do a water change. Dose it with exact right dose of water dechlorinator. The next day measure your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. If ammonia is above 0 ppm, or if nitrite is above 0 ppm, or if nitrate is above 30 ppm, do a water change. The next day test the water again.

This is why, if you check out the first hyperlink I posted, people choose to do a fishless cycle. When the ammonia reaches its (check out the second hyperlink I posted) 5 ppm or so maximum, in a fish-in tank the fish would die unless you do water changes to dilute the concentration. In a fish-free tank you just wait, and the ammonia hangs around for a few days (long enough to have killed fish, but there are no fish) and then goes down on its own. Fishless tank cycling goes like this: Every day add fish flakes as if there were fish in the tank. Forty days later test the water. Ammonia should be at 0 ppm, nitrite should be at 0ppm, and nitrate should be theoretically some high value. At that point you do a water change with dechlorinated water to make your nitrate less than 30 ppm, and then the tank is safe for fish. Easy, no water changes. Or, alternatively, you could use plants to get rid of ammonia (by eating ammonium) as an alternative to relying on bacteria to remove the ammonia.

Basically, my point is, do a water change. Dechlorinate your water with the appropriate dosage of dechlorinator so it doesn't wipe out your beneficial bacteria. The water change will dilute whatever is poisoning your fish, and they will have a higher chance of living.

*** HELP *** All fish swimming at top of water.

13 posts • Page 1 of 2

12
Display posts from previous: Sort by: