Help, my fish.?

Question

I bought fish last night. A couple of electric yellow cichlids. And when I woke up this morning I noticed fish looked liked they were sucking air from the top. ANd when i put my finger in the tank to see if they would swim away they just sat there and sank and would swim back up and do the same. I didn't have a filter in there last night, but i bought one in this morning after I seen them. I figured it was because they didn't have air. Well even after i put the filter in, they then strated swimming tot he bottom of the tank and really fast back up. And tried jumping out. I'm scared they might die, somebody know why this behavier?

Answer 1

Zoe got it right about the care but she said that pet stores give crummy advice,
NOT TRUE!!!!
Some may but not all.
Have a look at my website for imformation on how to set up a tank.
http://www.artsaquaticsandanimals.com

Answer 2

How long has your aquarium been set up?
I'm guessing not long since you didnt have a filter on it.
If your tank isn't properly cycled you could have high ammonia or nitrite levels which are deadly to the fish.

Do you have a heater? I don't keep cichlids myself, but they are tropicals so they'll need a water temp somewhere around 78 -80.

Did you dechlorinate the water?
What is the Ph? I believe that cichlids like a ph around 8 - 8.2
How big is the tank?

I would recommend doing some research and finding out what size enviroment is good for the cichlids.

Answer 3

I guess my first question would be, Your tank was not cycled? Do you know the levels in your tank? Extra air in the tank is always a good idea.
Do you have a heater in the tank yet? These are tropical fish and cannot stay long at "room" temperature.
Cichlids are known for "jumping". Give it a couple of days to see if they calm down. However since they were so lethargic, now speeding around the tank Chances are your fish have gone thru shock. You really should have let your tank cycle before adding any fish.

Answer 4

They were sucking air from the top because they did not have enough oxygen.
They were trying to jump out because they have ammonia poisoning.

I'm guessing you're new to the fish hobby, right? I would advise you to bring the Yellow Labs back to the petstore, because there is a lot you need to learn before you can keep fish alive. There's a lot more to it than just water in a tank.

So, please return the fish. They will still be there when your tank is ready for fish, and instead of having two dead fish in your tank, you'll have two healthy fish.

Before I even get to the fish, let's talk about basics.

You fill the tank up with water, and you add some water conditioner to get rid of the chlorine, right? Okay. The equipment you NEED, now, is a FILTER and a HEATER. You need them BEFORE you get the fish, not after. The filter will help aerate the water, and keep the water clean.

Once your have your tank set up with water, filter, heater, and decor (gravel, plants, etc), you need to cycle your tank. This is verrrryyy important. In the wild, and in established tanks, there are nitrifying bacteria that break down toxic ammonia from fish waste and excess food into less toxic nitrates. In a brand new tank, these bacteria don't exist, so any fish in the tank will produce ammonia, which, not being broken down by bacteria, will kill or weaken the fish. So, it is vital to cycle your tank.
There are a few methods. Do you have access to an established tank? These bacteria live in the gravel and in the filter cartridge (this is one of the reasons you need a filter), so if you can get some from another tank, you can put the bacteria right into your tank (don't let the gravel or filter cartridge dry out). If you do this, in a day or two, your tank will beready for fish.
Another way is to get Bio-Spira. It is the actual live bacteria in a little pouch, and your tank will instantly be ready for fish. http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html
Other methods, which include putting a source of ammonia in the tank and letting the bacteria build up on its own, or putting a fish in and letting the fish produce ammonia (which borders on animal cruelty, because the fish will suffer from the ammonia in the tank), take 2 to 6 weeks before your tank is ready. If you rush that, any fish you buy may die, so try one of the instant methods I mentioned above (bio-spira or gravel from another tank).

I suggest you invest in a testing kit so you can observe the cycling process. First, there will be an ammonia spike. Then the ammonia will go down and there will be a nitrite spike. Then the nitrites will go down and nitrates will apear. Nitrates are the end product of the cycling process, so when your nitrates are between 10 and 30ppm, and your ammonia and nitrites are at 0, your tank is ready for fish.

So NOW you can return to the petstore for fish :) But before you buy anything, you need to know that not all fish can go in any tank. Different fish have different space requirements. You did not specify what size your tank is, but yellow labs need a minimum of 40 gallons (you could keep 4 of them in a 40 gallon tank - but you can't keep 1 of them in a 10 gallon tank). If your tank is smaller than that, you'll have to look into different fish. if your tank is 20-30 gallons, you can look into fish like dwarf gouramis, mollies, swordtails, kribensis, some tetras, some corydoras... If your tank is 10-20 gallons, you're limited to dwarf gourami, tetras, mollies, guppies. If your tank is under 10 gallons, then your options are limited to white cloud minnows or a betta fish.

So, always always do your research before you buy anything :) And know that petstores give really crummy advice ; so take whatever they say with a grain of salt and do your own research.

Edit: I did not say that ALL petstores are bad. A select few are great and give helpful and realistic advice. But for the most part, the great majority of petstore employees are just random shmoes with no experience or background in fish, just working for minimum wage. Either way, research is essential, even if you frequent a good fish store.

Also, I keep seeing people saying "let the tank run for 2 weeks" - there's more to it than that! Just letting the tank run does NOTHING, the water is still just like plain ol' tap water. You need to get the beneficial bacteria in there somehow, like I mentioned earlier.

Answer 5

eep, the filter should have been in the tank and running for at least 2 weeks before the fish went in! and have gone through the nitrogen cycle.

what size tank is it? is it heated as well? electric yellows are quite active fish. they do need a filtered tank.

do you have any test kits? if not i suggest getting some asap! you need to test ammonia, nitrate/nitrite and PH.

it's likely they're suffering stress from new tank syndrome, and spiking ammonia levels. you need to do daily 20% water changes and watch your water parameters with those test kits.

the levels you are aiming for are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, around 0.25ppm nitrate (i think, not so good on nitrate levels), and i believe electric yellows like a PH at the higher end, late 7s to 8.

Answer 6

It sounds like you didn't prep your tank. Fill with water add water conditioner, Turn on filter and let it run for a few days to a week before adding fish. Temp should at least be between 70-80f. The filter takes time to start working (days) If you want to save your fish go buy an emergency aerator (cheap) and some conditioner.

Answer 7

I would first get a bubble wand if you don't already have one in the tank. This would more than supply enough oxygen for the tank. Second, I would take a sample of water from the tank and bring it to your pet shop for a Ph test. Cichlids needs to have a specific Ph range to stay healthy.

Answer 8

Zoe's right about pet stores, about 99% of them give poor advice. I never trust what they say, do your research before hand. For fun I'll ask them questions, and tell them their full of it and have no clue what they're talking about, because they usually don't. There's lots of good fish sites online, here's a few, all these articles on this page are excellent for your situation:

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/aquariumstartup/Aquarium_Startup.htm

Answer 9

Listen to Zoe!!!!! She's absolutely right but I think she missed on point; you are apparently new to fishkeeping (besides maybe Betas) and cichlids are *NOT* beginners fish!!

Take theme back (as Zoe said) but after you've cycled your tank restock with easier fish (like guppies, tetras, goldfish etc).

Keeping African cichlids alive and *healthy* takes a lot of work and knowledge! Cichilds require you to know and understand water chemistry and temperature, how to test and correct problems with same. The correct foods for your *specific* cichlids is critical! I've 'inherited' two tanks of Mbuna and one tank of Haps from folks who gave me them because they couldn't keep them healthy. Please think long and hard about your decision to keep cichlids, PLEASE!

Answer 10

They are having to adjust to their new surroundings, feed them twice daily, but apart from that leave them undisturbed,Check them twice at the same time you feed them. Keep them in in the dark for a while,this will decrease their stress levels.Stress can kill fish.They will adjust and be okay if you follow simple guide lines.Put a fish guard on the top of the tank.This will stop them trying to jump out the tank,put your hands in as little as possible to begin with this makes them panic and try to dart out of the way,they will see this as a predatory threat..Allow them sufficient time to get used to the tank because at the moment it is a strange environment for them.