Fish At Top

[pr501869]

hi, it's me pr501869 again, i was wondering why in my 75 gal tank ...why do the fish keep to the top sometimes?? i have 2 powerhead filters which combined filter 465 gallons per hour with on the bottom of them gravel then on top of that activated carbon charcoal (which has been rinsed) then a sponge filtration medium i have had tanks for quite some years with pirahnas and south american and african cichlids and now i have the opportunity to join your nice forums so i am asking questions...the question being why do they sometimes hang at the top of the tank acting like they need more oxygen?? they have plenty 'cuz i have an airstone and the powerheads give plenty of oxygen to them ...sometimes they act normal..lol..but what really is normal?? also in 2 years with this 75 gallon tank i have had 1 case of ich (from wal-mart) which wont happen again and one case of popeye....all in 2 years i medicate my tank 2 times per month so it is well balanced and taken care of so due to improper care of tanks at a local store i got that, but all is good now, but my fish seem to like to (scratch)themselves.. why is this?? my tank is very natural in the fact that the mbuna's and the south american cichlids surroundings are met...so why all the scratching?? being african and south american cichlids they all get along well .... just wonderin..can someone answer this.....also is it ok to post my email here???
thank you,
pr501869

 

[Rafael Dilone]

We need to know your full stock of fishes in that tank and your full water parameters. Such as Ph, Ammonia, Nitrate, etc. The information you gave does not mean your fish would be fine. I hope you are able to give us more specific information as i stated. I will be glad to help you.

 

[pr501869]

We need to know your full stock of fishes in that tank and your full water parameters. Such as Ph, Ammonia, Nitrate, etc. The information you gave does not mean your fish would be fine. I hope you are able to give us more specific information as i stated. I will be glad to help you.

ok my ph is about 7.7 give or take a few my fish are as follows 3 pacu's the rest are south american and african cichlids and one plecko they are all fine or so it seems but here lately (the past 2 days) they seem to hang at the top of the tank if that gives ya nay good info please let me know

as far as amonia and nitrate lvls they are all within normal parameters so far..no clue as to what else it could be

 

[Rafael Dilone]

We need to know your full stock of fishes in that tank and your full water parameters. Such as Ph, Ammonia, Nitrate, etc. The information you gave does not mean your fish would be fine. I hope you are able to give us more specific information as i stated. I will be glad to help you.

ok my ph is about 7.7 give or take a few my fish are as follows 3 pacu's the rest are south american and african cichlids and one plecko they are all fine or so it seems but here lately (the past 2 days) they seem to hang at the top of the tank if that gives ya nay good info please let me know

as far as amonia and nitrate lvls they are all within normal parameters so far..no clue as to what else it could be

Ok but what are the readings that you say are within normal parameters? Also whats the temperature? There is less oxygen in higher temperatures you know and combines with limited tank space at high bio loads that makes it even worse. I need the most information possible

 

[walkers101]

is it a new setup? sounds like an ammonia spike to me