Fish and what they do?

[sirkeen]

Hello, new to this forum, still relatively green to the hobby as well.. I've had a successful 10 gallon tank for a while now, and have recently upgraded to a more appealing 20 gallon hexagon. I run an aqua clear 20 for filtration, and have an Elite 100W heater. I am running a Reno air 100 air pump which I keep on at all times with a bubble wall lining the back of my hexagon, and an air stone up the middle of a castle place in the centre of the tank. I am assuming this should be enough for aeration but my concern is sometimes I will see my fish at the bottom of the tank, quickly swim up to the top and form a slight bubble on the surface. What are they doing? Is it a lack of oxygen?!

 

[HannahJ]

Are they labyrinth fish? These include bettas and gouramis. If so, then they breath air, whether the water is well-oxygenated or otherwise.

 

[Jchillin]

Welcome to AA!

HannahJ has a valid point, you should include all of the fish that inhabit the tank as well as the curious behaving fish.

 

[sirkeen]

Thanks for the quick reply.. I do have a betta in the tank, and I am aware of its breathing habbits. The fish in question would be the zebra danios I have.. any thoughts?

 

[HannahJ]

I don't know if it is normal behaviour, but I've actually noticed my mom's danios doing just that, now that I think of it, so it might completely normal. Maybe someone with more direct danio experience can corroborate it for sure.

And yes, welcome to AA!

 

[sirkeen]

Cool, good to know its not just my fish!!!

 

[DarylF2]

I have a school of about 15 Zebra Danios in my 38-gallon tank, and they never do that. They spend most of their time swimming (rapidly!) in the upper-middle part of the tank, occasionally zipping down around the plants and rocks or up near the Anachris (which I have floating as I can't keep it planted) or to play in the output from my power heads. Mine only come to the surface as you described when eating floating food.

 

[HannahJ]

My mothers fish only do it rarely; the rest of the time they behave as Daryl describes. Then again, unlike Daryl's danios, my mom's won't eat at the surface, but rather prefer to eat what the Buenos Aires tetras knock down. Do yours do the surface thing rarely as well (I only remember noticing it maybe once a week or so)? I can't give an exact on how often I've seen my mom's fish doing this, since I've never tried to keep track and only vaguely noticed it before, but I'll definitely be paying attention now. It's funny, I hadn't really marked on it before you mentioned it.

*suddenly struck by a sudden urge to stare at danios and see if it happens*

 

[sirkeen]

they were recently added to the tank, and have slowly started doing it less.. so maybe that could be it.. Its not very often..

 

[HannahJ]

Maybe it is an adjustment thing; some of my mom's danios are fairly new, too. I have no clue if it's the new guys doing it, though--I've a snowball's chance in heck of telling those things apart.

 

[MattAquaBio]

Mine do it, they spend half of their time a few inches below the surface hangin out. The other half they are down and around the deco zipping around with the other fish. They dont do it often, but they still do it, and they all appear healthy.
hth.