My Fish Are dying, cloudy water, fish scalling top for air?

Question

THE FISH ARE AT TOP LOOKING LIKE TRYING TO GET AIR TO FISH ARE DEAD

Answer 1

Is this a new aquarium? It sounds like you have too many/large of fish for the size tank you have. The cloudiness is possibly caused by a bacterial bloom.

Do you have a filter on your tank? A heater? Your fish will need water movement to bring oxygen down to the lower levels of the tank. Make sure the temperature isn't too hot for the fish you have (most tropicals like it 74-82). Higher temperatures mean less oxygen!

If this is a new tank, it may not have cycled yet - if you don't know what this is, see this website: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm. You may have a buildup of ammonia in the tank - if you can do a partial water change of about 20-30% of the water. This should be done each week, but if it's really cloudy (or it's been a while since you cleaned the tank), you might need to do this every other day (about 3 times): http://www.fishlore.com/Maintenance.htm.

If none of these seems like the correct reason for the cloudiness, see this link: http://www.fishlore.com/CloudyWater.htm

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

change about 25% of the water with a gravel cleaner/siphon. make sure you are using a water conditioner that removes chloramine and chlorine, otherwise you may be releasing more ammonia into the tank (which is the chemical which is currently killing your fish.) use water a LITTLE bit warmer when you replace the water. do this every day until things look better. After that do what everyone said about cutting back on the feeding. you may want to increase your filtration. it can make the learning process a bit more forgiving.

Answer 3

Is the tank new? That is, have you had it set up for long? If it is new you may be going through that old "Start Up" phase and the cloudy water may be your tank establishing the bacteria it needs to deal with some of the filtering process. Every tank goes through it if you take advantage of it's natural systems.

Organic waste builds up from fish, food, plants, etc. Bacteria blooms/hatches and feeds on the nasty chemicals and turns them into less nasty chemicals. This bacteria bloom will often cause cloudy water.

After keeping over 100 tanks at one time I can tell you that you never want to "kill" your tank with cleaning chemicals unless you want to use your tank for a hamster.

Feed less, ................ siphon clean 1/2 to 3/4 of the water volume and dechlorinate. Establishing a bacteria colony will take a couple of weeks. Use cheap fish, feeder fish or comet goldfish.

Kev

Answer 4

Well what you need to see is if they have ick , or some of the fish need an air bubbler , or if the PH level in the water is to high . Clean the tank completely washing everything off with hot water no soap . When you take the fish out use the water in the tank . wipe down all sides off the tank . Make sure you have ick medicine , chlor- out and parasite medicine available to put in tank after you clean it and use fresh water .

Answer 5

try doing a gravel vacuum and change 1/2 your water every 2 days for a while -- at least a week. your water is toxic from fish dying in it and it will kill the rest of your fish. get a good smell of your water. that rank smell means you should gravel vacuum and change at least 20% of the water anytime it smells like that. fresh water will have oxygen in it your fish need and it doesn't have the ammonia in it that is killing your fish.

Answer 6

first of all take the dead fish out of the tank. Do whatever "burial" accommodations that fit your lifestyle IE flush it down the commode. go to your local pet store and get a water testing kit that will tell you if there is ammonia or nitrate toxicity then treat according to the test. they have tablets that will help in getting the ammonia or nitrate out of the tank. if your test show negativity after you've tested then you need to clean your tank and change your filters. and feed your fish a good pinch of food that they can consume in a 3 minute period of time twice daily

Answer 7

You may be feeding them too much or you may have waste in the tank. The fish poop makes ammonia and nitrites that kill fish, it stops their ability to breath which is why they are gasping at the surface. You should look up "cycling a tank" and "nitrogen cycle" for info on a proper tank setup. Peas arent going to help.

Answer 8

Hi Can, They are at the top trying to get air,because they need oxygen to live. Clean out the tank,and what sure the filter is working right.You have to keep their water clean.You should change the water once every week. A Friend.

Clowmy

Answer 9

i had the same problem it was from over feeding my fish and my filter needed to be cleaned when i empty the water out and clean the tank just with water i filled it up but filter on and put the solution in and my tank has never looked beeter

Answer 10

get an air pump or you probably put your fish in too early , it is best to wait 3 to 4 days with your tank set up before getting fish