does any1 know about tropical fish tanks?

Question

i cleaned my tank out yesterday for the 1st time and all went well but for some reason all the fish are staying at the top with there mouths out the water they never did it yesterday after i did it so why now?

Answer 1

Check your heater right away and make sure the water is not too hot. Heat drives O2 out of the water.

You don't say how long the tank has been set up. If it has been a long time (a month, 2-3 months?) and you did a 100% change of the water, your fish are in shock from the fresh water, no, really!

When a tank goes for a long time without a water change the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates build and build until they are so toxic that if you put a new fish in the tank, he would die. The fish that live in the tank will suffer through the increases in those chemicals but live on because it happens so slowly.

Now, if you totally clean out the tank and change all the water, the old fish are going to be physically shocked by the fresh water. Not because it is fresh, but because it is radically different from the old water.

Also, if the new fresh water is high in chlorine and your water department also adds chloramine it could have burned their gills and they are struggling to get O2. There is more O2 at/near the surface and the fish know that.

I would get some "Stress Coat" in the tank as soon as I could and also some "MelaFix" to try and repair any damage done to their gill tissue.

The chlorine will have evaporated out by now, but chloramine does not evaporate. You need to get a water treatment for new aquariums that removes or detoxifies chloramine. I use "DeChlor." It is relatively cheap.

Email me if you have anymore questions.

Answer 2

You don't say how large your tank is, or the number or sizes of your fish, but I think that since you said that this is the first time you've cleaned the tank that this is probably a new set-up and you added a group of fish soon after you set up the tank.

If this is the case, your tank is still in the process of cycling - building up a population of bacteria to convert ammonia and nitrite, which are toxic to fish, to nitrate, which is only toxic at higher levels. Your tank also cycles of you do too thorough of a cleaning, or if you use medications that disrupt your beneficial bacteria.

Your ammonia and nitrites probably may not have had a great effect earlier becasue it takes time for them to build up. You removed some % when you did the water change, but not all, and it's continued to build. Ammonia and nitrite in high concentration have the same effect on fish as low oxygen, because these bind to oxygen-receptor molecules in the fish's bloodstream, so they really don't get enough oxygen. This can be relieved by additional water changes or the addition to a minor amount of salt to the aquarium (about 1 tablespoon to every 5 gallons of tank volume). This amount shouldn't bother fish as it's a low concentration.

If you have a water test kit, measure the ammonia and nitrite to see that these are below 0.25 and 0.1 respectively. If not, do a 25% water change. If you don't have a test kit, most pet stores will test your water for you.

8 in the corner also gives a good possibility of too high of a temperature, so I'd check that as well.

See the links below for info on ammonia and nitrite poisoning, and cycling in your aquarium.

Answer 3

There could be a few things going on here. First, you cleaned the tank. Do you mean you drained all the water out and cleaned the walls and gravel?

when cleaning the tank, you need to scrape any algae from the sides and use a gravel siphon to remove the waste and debris from the bottom of the tank. Only 25% once a week.

Replacement water should be either room temperature or as close to the tank water as possiable. It should also have the proper amount of Dechlor and/or water conditioner to keep the water safe for fish.

Fish that remain at the top of the tank are usually trying to get away from something in the water.

have you tested your water? Ammonia could be spiking if too much water was removed or Chlorides if a conditioner isn't used. Removing too much water destroys the biofilter that has established in your tank.

Although small amounts of soap residue will not kill fish, a good water conditioner will remove any harmfull chemicals such as parfumes.

Here is a good site for you to understand the biofilter and the cycling process:

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm

Answer 4

when you say you cleaned the tank , did you use soap , and water to do this ,?? you may have left soap in the tank with the fish .. you also killed your bacterial bed , which is needed as part of the cycle of the fish tank , read about the fish tank nitrogen cycle on-line . if you used soap in the tank cleaning , your going to need to move the fish to another container with fresh treated water in it until you can re-rinse the tank until all the soap is out if it , and refill the tank, treat the water , and then re-add the fish . since you probably have gravel in the tank it may need to be replaced as the soap can cling to the rocks , and is difficult to remove from it .. by cleaning the tank the way you did you set the tank back to brand new conditions. if your going to replace the gravel in the tank , i would get a alot of live plants planted into the tank (cover most of the bottom of the tank , this helps the fish by reducing the amount of ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites that build up during the cycle of the bacteria.. the big advantage to this is healthier fish , since the plants use the fish poo as fertilizer to grow, while it releases oxygen into the tank (a by-product of photosynthesis) . an air stone or bubbler may also help somewhat to help with exchange of O2 at the waters surface...

Answer 5

If you totally emptied your tank out you should never do that and you probably destroyed the beneficial bacteria in your tank.Your fish are probably suffering from ammonia poisoning.Do a 50% water change right away and you will have to do frequent water changes until your tank recycles .In the future get a gravel siphon and use it to remove only 20% of the water once a week.

Answer 6

You over cleaned the tank. Never do it 100% because your fish went from an aged tank with beneficial bacteria to what is to fish a new tank.

Answer 7

Pebbles on the backside make a fish experience at abode. additionally the occasional shell and glimmering stone. it is likewise maximum magnificent to fill the tank with aquatic flowers, for it incredibly is quite conceivable the micro organism in them is risk-free to eat. Guppies are additionally very mushy with skulls, treasure chests, and so on. something to make the tank have that "decrease than the sea" visual charm.

Answer 8

Tough to tell, but hanging at the top of the tank may mean they are having trouble breathing. Is there an aerator, or bubbler in the tank?

Answer 9

did you change the water? did you add AmQuel (or like product) to the water? did you change the filters? did you add anything foreign (new rocks, plants) without soaking them in your aquarium water first?

Usually when fish are at the top, they are gasping for air...which is a bad thing. Does your setup have much areation? Do you use lots of bubbles to circulate the air in the water?

Answer 10

Hmm...none of mine have done that, but we constantly have an airater (?) on at all times. DO you have a good source of oxygen in the tank? Sometimes the filter flow isn't enough.