Fish acting weird

[Flop]

Hey there
Ive gotten 2 bristlenose and 5 shrimp in a 20 gal tank a month ago (I know, overstocked, but dad got the second one anyway,I've kept the fish tank in about 20-23 c always warming it up with warm water during water changes and I use 2 filters (the main one didn't seem to catch the waste on one of the sides so I put in a secondary one, it also provides heat so go figure)
Recently though, about 3 days ago, I've caught one of the bristlenose on the gravel out in the open when I woke up, before that it was extremely shy and didn't go out of its hiding spot until afternoon-evening,he also was pretty much completely still in the spot for hours and barely moving, ( he's been like this since then,) today I found all the shrimp being also very active (same thing, didn't go out till afternoon) and swimming around near aimlessly,the second bristlenose kept flapping (is that how you call it?) it's tail on one spot even though it didn't really do that before, but at this point I think I'm paranoid,
When I saw the sudden changes in behaviour I've done a 25% water change and cleaned up the filters, it seems to have made the first bristlenose act his general behaviour again but the shrimp and other bristlenose haven't changed,
Any help?
Thanks in advance

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Plecos are naturally skittish. I have had my BNP for over a year now, and he still swims away when I get close.

Will you please upload the best picture you can get of him?

 

[Flop]

Plecos are naturally skittish. I have had my BNP for over a year now, and he still swims away when I get close.

Will you please upload the best picture you can get of him?

Ok, it often does the stress colouration too for some reason



Mini update, now they're both doing it!


Second update, the second one died! I'm desperate now, anyone know how to fix asap?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Nothing seems wrong on the outside...

Are they "flapping" on a rock or food? If so, this is 100% normal. They do this all the time, to move from one spot to another rapidly.

 

[Flop]

Nothing seems wrong on the outside...

Are they "flapping" on a rock or food? If so, this is 100% normal. They do this all the time, to move from one spot to another rapidly.

It flapped on a rock not moving from it one bit, I thought it was stuck so I tried to move the rock a bit but it swam away when it saw me, after 30 minutes or so it went back to the rock in the same spot

 

[PheonixKingZ]

It flapped on a rock not moving from it one bit, I thought it was stuck so I tried to move the rock a bit but it swam away when it saw me, after 30 minutes or so it went back to the rock in the same spot

Do you have YouTube? If not, you could create a quick account, and then video tape them "flapping". This would be much more helpful then trying to explain it.

(Just post the link here, don't try to upload it via the "attach files" button)

 

[FishGuest5123]

Shrimp and plecos are both cool water fish/shrimp. No need to heat their water. I’d do a few more water changes and see how they do. Nobody is spraying air freshener or something around the tank are they?

 

[Flop]

Do you have YouTube? If not, you could create a quick account, and then video tape them "flapping". This would be much more helpful then trying to explain it.

(Just post the link here, don't try to upload it via the "attach files" button)

Can't, the fish that did it is dead now, and the other is staying in one spot with very little movement, as for the air freshener my mom uses it but about 2 meters away and facing away from the fish tank

 

[FishGuest5123]

That could be it. The particles float a distance in the air.

 

[Flop]

That could be it. The particles float a distance in the air.

Oh, I asked her and she said she does it very small amounts and last time she did it is yesterday
And the problems occurred around 3 days ago

 

[seangee]

When you suspect something in the water is affecting them do as big a change as possible - usually 75-80%. You want to remove as much of the "bad stuff" as possible and dilute whatever is left as much as possible.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

I agree, something in the water is affecting them. Do as @seangee said. ^

 

[Flop]

Update, did the water change, but my bristlenose is acting really weird now, it is really unresponsive, doesn't really suction to the things it's on, and it is having stabalizing issues (flips upside down and stays like so sometimes, had a similar problem with corydoras but by the time I got to see the results of the treatment I gave due to a heater malfunction which killed everything overnight)
I also think I figured out the issue, I think it's the waste on the gravel, as when I lift some up some waste comes up as well, the gravel cleaner has been ordered and hopefully it will come soon due to the adrenaline rush that eBay has, the shrimp calmed down a little and the new bristlenose (I know, bad idea to get it at this moment but dad wanted to cheer me up in some way when the first bristlenose died) is also showing the symptoms but it is over all much better in terms of health, as for the amount of waste in gravel, I am rather surprised to have that much waste from 4 cherry shrimp and 2 bristlenose, but I suspect it is the giant snail population, so I ordered a utricularia to reduce the population of snails and over all avoid over population of anything in the fish tank,

 

[seangee]

Update, did the water change, but my bristlenose is acting really weird now, it is really unresponsive, doesn't really suction to the things it's on, and it is having stabalizing issues (flips upside down and stays like so sometimes, had a similar problem with corydoras but by the time I got to see the results of the treatment I gave due to a heater malfunction which killed everything overnight)
I also think I figured out the issue, I think it's the waste on the gravel, as when I lift some up some waste comes up as well, the gravel cleaner has been ordered and hopefully it will come soon due to the adrenaline rush that eBay has, the shrimp calmed down a little and the new bristlenose (I know, bad idea to get it at this moment but dad wanted to cheer me up in some way when the first bristlenose died) is also showing the symptoms but it is over all much better in terms of health, as for the amount of waste in gravel, I am rather surprised to have that much waste from 4 cherry shrimp and 2 bristlenose, but I suspect it is the giant snail population, so I ordered a utricularia to reduce the population of snails and over all avoid over population of anything in the fish tank,

I would not recommend utricularia. If its big enough to eat your snails its big enough to eat your shrimps. Just remove as many snails as you can by hand. After a few weeks there won't be many left and the best way of keeping the population under control is to ensure the substrate is clean. It does sound like you fish are suffering from water quality. Do a 75% water change every day for 2 weeks using de-chlorinated water that is a similar temperature to your tank. Wipe the glass with a clean sponge daily and once a week rinse your filter media in the water you remove from the tank. Start this now - once you gravel vac arrives add that to your routine. After the 2 weeks keep changing 75% of your water once a week, as well as cleaning your glass, substrate and filter.

 

[Flop]

Alright, I'll get on that, but the snails are approx 6mm big each, unlike the 2cm shrimp, so I think that's ok, also, how long should I do the water changes for
Before switching back to 30%?