Male Fighter Fish

[KennyWilson]

I have been building my fish tank up now for the last 6 weeks and my male fighter fish which i bought today is constantly swimming at the top of the fish tank, When in the pet store he was very active swimming about and enjoying its self.
 
What could be wrong with him.
 
Im my tank i have the following fish incase it helps:
 
2 Red Cherry Shrimps
5 Neon Tetra
2 Albino Catfish
3 Black Neon Tetra
1 Male Fighter
 
I have put a stick in the tank to set all the ph and stuff like that and all that appears to be at a normal rate other than the ph which was slightly below normal level so i added some ph up,
 
I am guessing that it is quite normal tho for the ph to drop when adding new fish
 
Any advise is appreciated
 
Thanks

 

[Blondielovesfish]

Did you cycle the tank before adding your fish?
 
Your albino catfish - is this a chinese algae eater or an albino corydora?
 
All of your tetras need to be in a school of at least 6.
 
What size is the tank?
 
What are your exact ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH readings?
 
Don't worry about your pH, messing with it normally has bad side effects. It is better to get fish that suit your pH.
 
Also, welcome to the forum.

 

[KennyWilson]

Hello and thanks for your prompt reply
 
i will have to stick another tester into the tank in the morning to get the exact levels for you as for the catfish they are the algae eaters.
 
My tank was cycled for a little over 1 week and its a 50 ltr tank
 
As for the tetras i will have to buy some more next week and add them into the tank i dint realise they needed a school of 6

 

[toastie]

hello ,. my fighter spend most of the time at the top , he likes hiding behind the pump but if he go's anywhere he like to hide in a cave at the bottom , i think he like feeling safe , not sure if that helps at all but maybe he needs somewhere to hide ,

 

[KennyWilson]

That sounds like a great idea, Ill have to buy a log of some sort for him to hide in altho there are a fair few live plants in there too but ill pop out in the afternoon and see what i can find, Thanks for your advice

 

[richpowell1989]

What do u mean it was cycled for a little over week?? Do u mean it finished its cycle then waited a week to put ur fish in?? If not I highly doubt it was cycled as it can take a few weeks to even start the cycle

 

[KennyWilson]

Sorry for my late response i cycled the tank for just over a week and added water booster into the tank as per the advice from my local fish store,
 
I have just done a tetra 6 in 1 tester and the results of that are as follows:
 
NO3 - 10
NO2 - 0
GH - 16
KH - 6
PH - 6.8
CL2 - 0
 
i am waiting for a digital ph tester to be delivered so that i can get better readings
 
Thanks again for all your advice

 

[Blondielovesfish]

First off, your tank, unfortunately, is not cycled.
 
A fishless cycle (read the link in my signature) takes about 6 weeks, more or less.
 
What you have done (presumably) is let the tank run for a week, added a bacteria starter (which brand?) and then added fish, this is NOT cycling. For cycling, you need to have a source of ammonia. Letting the tank sit for a week does nothing except ensure all of the equipment is working.
Don't worry though, you're not the only one to get bad advice from a LFS
 
What you need to do now, is get a good quality, liquid testing kit (I use API, as do a lot of people). You need to be able to test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
pH is not very important, so, unless you have already ordered it, don't worry about the digital pH tester.
 
Your tank is overstocked. If possible, rehome the tetras and algae eaters (if they are chinese algae eaters, you definitely need to rehome them, as they age, they become very aggressive, often killing all of the fish in the tank). 
This will drastically reduce the bioload, which will make our fish in cycle a lot easier.
However, if you really want the best for your fish, it would be best to rehome all of them, then do a fishless cycle, then get your betta and shrimp back. You could then add a school (6-8) of pygmy corys. Your tank would be fully stocked then.
 
Your betta is most likely at the top of the water because it is suffering from ammonia poisoning. You need to do a 80% water change ASAP and then a 50% an hour or so after. 
It could also be at the top because bettas are surface dwellers, though mine explores all areas of the tank.