Fish All At Top Of Tank ?

[cambspaul]

I have a community tank of barbs,discus,tetras and a few others . All water stats are good . Yesterday i dosed the tank with interpets finrot meds as one of my plecs looks like he has finrot . Exact dosage was used . The fish all started to look abit sluggish , then today they are all hanging around the top of the tank . None of them are gasping at the surface , there just staying up there . They werent that hubgry today either . I have just read a thread on here about how this med has a fish anesthetic in it and one woman had her fish actually knocked out by it . Do you think this could be the cause of this strange behaviour . The only other change in the tank is that i have added a vectron uv sterilizer 2 days ago .
Any advice very welcome .

 

[KittyKat]

It could be the problem, if it is, then a large waterchange will help (don't pour cold water right over the fish, of course). It may help to add an airstone..

I have never had any problems with eSHa 2000 for fin-rot.

 

[Carlovel1]

Do a water change and a large one
What size is this tank then?

 

[cambspaul]

Ive always had an airstone in the tank , the fish love to play in it .
The large water was the first thing i did , about 70 to 80% . Im hoping the fish will benefit from this .
Can i add a different type of med , as i still need to treat the plec and am not keen on using the interpet one again .
Its a 300 litre tank .
Can you buy that med from a shop or is it one of those hard to get ones you have to order online

 

[Carlovel1]

eSHa 2000 is not common in shops in the UK. Any Anti finrot medicine from Tetra or Interpet should be fine

 

[Ben M]

If you keep the tank spotless and do regular water changes, then the fin rot will usually clear up by itself IME.

cheers

 

[onebto]

You say your water stats are okay? it usually helps to post them and also what you tested them with

 

[cambspaul]

You say your water stats are okay? it usually helps to post them and also what you tested them with

A nutrafin test kit , a proper one not the strips .
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
10 nitrate
7.2 ph

My stats are pretty constant and i water change every 2-3 days due to the discus .

 

[cambspaul]

eSHa 2000 is not common in shops in the UK. Any Anti finrot medicine from Tetra or Interpet should be fine

Ill look in to the tetra one as im not going to be putting the interpet one in again . Thanks for the help carl

 

[star4]

When using any medication its always best to increase the air into your tank with an extra airstone or raising the spray bar as medications can reduce the amount of air in the tank.

 

[markandhisfish]

agreed , try aiming your filter outlet at the surface for more surface agitation. fish all hanging around the surface is usually a sign of a lack of oxygen in the water .

 

[cambspaul]

Ive got a spare airstone so ive put it in , thanks for the tip

 

[mark4785]

I agree with 'pest control'.

Feed the fish highly nutritious foods and keep the water quality in check and over a couple of months the fins should repair themselves. If the fins still look like they are getting progressively worn away then definitely treat the tank.

UV lights are harmless to fish providing something is buffering the light from the fish. I personally think the medication you have used is the cause of your problems; remove all of it from the water and look for a better medication. While treating the water, ensure the surface water is visibly rippling; you may want to place an extra smaller filter with venturi into the tank just to achieve this.

edit: some medications do require you turn your UV light off as well as take carbon media out. the UV light can interact with certain medications and somehow turn it toxic.