Fish At Top Of Tank

[berbie38]

Hi all
I have noticed a lot of my malawi cichlids are at the top of the aquarium with their mouths at the water level. Is this normal behaviour? i thought they were either looking for food or could it be something more dangerous to them. I have a juwel 180 litre aquarium which runs a bioflow 3.0 internal filter.
any help much appreciated
best wishes
berbie

 

[snake007]

Perhaps theres not enough oxygen in the tank.

 

[micko]

Sounds very much like they are struggling to get oxygen.
Do you have your filter outlet breaking the surface of the water?surface aggitation will increase oxygen levels.

 

[berbie38]

Sounds very much like they are struggling to get oxygen.
Do you have your filter outlet breaking the surface of the water?surface aggitation will increase oxygen levels.

No its been facing downwards, i should point it up slightly to create a ripple in the water?

 

[micko]

Aye, its better to break the surface.

 

[berbie38]

Aye, its better to break the surface.

cool its facing slightly up now and creating good movement, i will wait and see how things develop, thanks for your help,

 

[ZoddyZod]

if the water surface is still or not 'rippiling' enough, then there is very little oxygen transfer occuring. As sugested adjust your filter so that it is either at the surface or pointing towards it.....the more ripples/disturbance the better.

 

[berbie38]

if the water surface is still or not 'rippiling' enough, then there is very little oxygen transfer occuring. As sugested adjust your filter so that it is either at the surface or pointing towards it.....the more ripples/disturbance the better.

Ok thanks, plenty of ripples now, cured immediately.

 

[micko]

yaaaaaay

 

[Zikofski]

Kl I had this same problem about amonth ago I moved fish to there old tank instead of thinking it was lack of oxygen il remember this one

 

[Gilli]

I love a happy ending!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Glad to hear it all worked out. Lack of oxygen is something that I will never have to worry about with my HOB filter. The water splashes back into the tank constantly like a water fall. As a matter of fact, I have a constant stream of little air bubbles heading to the surface constantly from the reentry of water into the tank. I guess internal and external canister filters are a little trickier. I'll stick with my HOBs.

 

[moochy13]

A spray bar on any type of filter is an easy way to create lots of surface movement.

 

[Xraymark]

I suspect I may have lost fish at the start due to this. I had the exit pipe pointing down on my internal jewel.