Fish Acting Strangely. Help!

[-FighterFishh]

In my 64L tank (stocking can be found in my signature) the fish hang at the surface, but only at night.
At first I thought it could be high ammonia readings, so I did a test, and they were fine. I then turned up the flow on my filter to see if extra aeration would help, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference.
Is this normal, or could it be an illness?

Also, I've seen a couple of platies in there flicking on some leaves. They have no outward signs of infection, and their poo is normal, too. Any ideas what this could be?

Sorry for all the questions, but hopefully someone can help me out here!
Thank you!

 

[Athena]

Hi - have you noticed whether the fish have developed rapid gill movements? Any discolouration of gills or mucus?

You seem to have quite a lot of fish in that 64l tank (although I appreciate the fry may possibly be very small). Just wondering whether the stress of being a bit overcrowded could be causing a bit of stress. Do any of your fish swim up and down vertically very quickly (normally in a corner of the tank)?

Have you done a full spectrum of tests - you mention having done the ammonia but have you tested also for nitrites and nitrates? If so, can you please post all the readings here for us.

How often do you do water changes and by how much?

Sorry for all the questions!

Regards, Athena

 

[Clarousel]

Hi - have you noticed whether the fish have developed rapid gill movements? Any discolouration of gills or mucus?

You seem to have quite a lot of fish in that 64l tank (although I appreciate the fry may possibly be very small). Just wondering whether the stress of being a bit overcrowded could be causing a bit of stress. Do any of your fish swim up and down vertically very quickly (normally in a corner of the tank)?

Have you done a full spectrum of tests - you mention having done the ammonia but have you tested also for nitrites and nitrates? If so, can you please post all the readings here for us.

How often do you do water changes and by how much?

Sorry for all the questions!

Regards, Athena

Sorry to crash this thread but I'd like to know what the fish swimming up and down means? Is it a sign of stress? My fish used to do that in the first week I got them.

 

[-FighterFishh]

Hi - have you noticed whether the fish have developed rapid gill movements? Any discolouration of gills or mucus?

You seem to have quite a lot of fish in that 64l tank (although I appreciate the fry may possibly be very small). Just wondering whether the stress of being a bit overcrowded could be causing a bit of stress. Do any of your fish swim up and down vertically very quickly (normally in a corner of the tank)?

Have you done a full spectrum of tests - you mention having done the ammonia but have you tested also for nitrites and nitrates? If so, can you please post all the readings here for us.

How often do you do water changes and by how much?

Sorry for all the questions!

Regards, Athena

Their gills seem to be moving quite fast, and they sometimes gasp, but no one is clamped or lethargic.
The fry have dropped considerably since I did my signature. I now have around 4 small fry and about 5 medium fry.
I've only ever noticed one fish swimming up and down, and that's one of my male endlers. He hasn't been flicking, though, and it's on the front of the tank, not on the corner.
I have done all the tests I can, and all the levels seem to be normal. I'm not sure my ammonia test is working, though, as it's been giving me strange readings from both my tanks.
I usually change 15L every weekend, and I did one today when I cleaned out my filter and put some more carbon in.

 

[Gilli]

What are all your water readings? It might be a high nitrate reading that is causing the flicking

 

[-FighterFishh]

What are all your water readings? It might be a high nitrate reading that is causing the flicking

Ammonia is at about 0.20, Nitrite at 0 and nitrate at 20.
I have so many plants in there, I don't think nitrates would get high enough to cause a problem.

 

[-FighterFishh]

Just went up there and saw a fish that's recently seemed pretty ill flicking.
She was caught in a stack of pebbles meant for fry for about 2 days, then I realised, found her, and released her. A week after that, she hid under the filter, and now she just hangs at the top gulping air from the surface. I just saw her flicking against the filter.

 

[Gilli]

It must be the ammonia that is causing it. All readings except nitrate should be 0. Do an immediate 50% water change and do so daily until your ammonia reading is 0.

 

[-FighterFishh]

I've done a water change since that test, and I think the kit is off anyway. It keeps giving different readings, and it also said that my 30L had high readings, I did a w/c, it still had high readings, etc.
I don't think it's the ammonia that's causing it anyway. If it was, wouldn't they would all be on the bottom of the tank gasping rather than swimming around and acting relatively normally? It's a difficult one, I really have no idea what's going on

 

[Gilli]

It could still be the ammonia and as that reading is the only one elevated and you say there are no other signs of illness then that is your most likely cause. Any trace of ammonia will be an irritant to your fish and depending on how high the reading is the more drastically they will react.

If you say your water test kit is useless then I would buy a good liquid test kit like API asap and test your water accurately. Its my bet that you will have high readings because fish shouldnt be flicking and something is causing it.

 

[Athena]

I agree with the above. I have also answered your PM.

If you do decide to medicate then please remove the carbon from your filter as that will prevent the meds from working. Hopefully, if you do plenty of regular water changes you might not need to medicate unless the fish show no signs of improvement.

Regards, Athena

 

[Athena]

Hi - have you noticed whether the fish have developed rapid gill movements? Any discolouration of gills or mucus?

You seem to have quite a lot of fish in that 64l tank (although I appreciate the fry may possibly be very small). Just wondering whether the stress of being a bit overcrowded could be causing a bit of stress. Do any of your fish swim up and down vertically very quickly (normally in a corner of the tank)?

Have you done a full spectrum of tests - you mention having done the ammonia but have you tested also for nitrites and nitrates? If so, can you please post all the readings here for us.

How often do you do water changes and by how much?

Sorry for all the questions!

Regards, Athena

Sorry to crash this thread but I'd like to know what the fish swimming up and down means? Is it a sign of stress? My fish used to do that in the first week I got them.

Yes - this behaviour is a sign of stress that can lead to bacterial disease and other serious problems. It is commonly seen in new fish that are added to a tank that has not been properly cycled (resulting in ammonia/nitrite readings), or in overcrowded tanks - but usually it's linked more to the bad water quality than anything else. The fish is basically trying to escape the toxic water!