Help! My Fish Are All At The Top

[Genesis]

i came upstairs to look at my tank last night and i noticed all my fish were at the top of the tank (except the cae) struggling to breath, even the shy rtbs was there.

I cant understand why they are doing this, it cant be lack of oxygen because i have 4 plants (relatively small) in the tank

please help

i dont want a death

 

[The-Wolf]

we need to know your water parameters.
fish staying at the top gasping for air could be many things

 

[dwarfgourami]

We need to know:

ammonia
nitrites
nitrates
tank temperature/room temperature (e.g. if your room is really hot that could make the tank hot, leading to a lack of oxygen, I had to add an airstone during the hot weather this summer despite having a planted tank)
could anything have got into the tank? e.g. spray paint, hairspray used in the room etc etc

 

[Genesis]

We need to know:

ammonia
nitrites
nitrates
tank temperature/room temperature (e.g. if your room is really hot that could make the tank hot, leading to a lack of oxygen, I had to add an airstone during the hot weather this summer despite having a planted tank)
could anything have got into the tank? e.g. spray paint, hairspray used in the room etc etc

ill find it later

 

[Genesis]

uhh, im new to tank testing so:
WATER STATS:
no3: 100
no2:5
GH: >16°D
pH: 7.9

thats all it says on the tester

my room temp is 20°C
my tank temp is 81°F

i cant think of any aerosol that could have gotten in

 

[WILDER]

Do an immediate water change.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Your fish are gasping because you have some serious water quality issues, nitrites and ammonia should always be 0 and no more, nitrates should be kept under 40- you need to do a 50% water change with dechlorinator(you use dechlorinator don't you?) ASAP, don't clean the tank filter it needs all the benficial bacteria it can get, how long has the tank been set up?

 

[kris-b-]

Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle?

If you are then you should notice that your tank is obviously still cycling and to try to make things a little more bareable for your fish you need to be performing DAILY water changes to help keep the no3 & no2 levels down.

It is vital that you keep doing these water changes until your tank is fully cycled.

 

[Jules H-T]

Generally speaking 81 is too hot too IMHO. Drop it 3 degrees.

 

[Genesis]

did a 40% water change yesterday, will do another today

 

[kris-b-]

Good!

Just make sure you keep them up and don't get fed up of doing them otherwise the fish will suffer from the toxic levels of ammonia and nitrites.

And don't forget to keep testing your water! No2 & No3 should both be 0.

Good luck!

 

[yvez9]

and only feed every opther day to reduce ammonia input to the tank.

you can also do 2 water changes a day, once in the morning and once the evening