Fish Falling to Bottom?

[Screamer]

I just woke up this morning and I had turned my light off over night to my fresh water aquarium. It appeared as if my 10 fish were sleeping when I first turned it on. Now it looks as if all my fish are having a difficult time swimming up to the top of the tank and most sink and sit on the bottom.

Anyone know what the cause to this may be?

Many thanks.

 

[zenkatydid]

you should be turning your light off every night to give your plants time to utilise the nutrients they've collected during the "day" and also to give your fish a rest.

separate from that, it sounds like your fish might be reacting to an ammonia spike. do you have test results? ammonia, nitrite, nitrate for starters?

 

[coldmachineUK]

First thing to do is measure water params like zenkatydid suggests: ammonia and nitrIte in particular. If you don't have a test kit at home, take some of your tank's water in a container to your LFS and ask them to test it for you.

Once you've got results, post them here and we'll all be able to help more

The only other thing, but I highly doubt it for so many fish to be afflicted at once, is swim bladder problems which can be improved by feeding shelled cooked (and cooled) peas.

Test the water first though: this sounds like ammonia/nitrite poisoning or some form of toxic reaction

 

[Screamer]

I'll have to get a testing kit asap. I once asked my local fish store if it was really that important to have the ammonia and nitrIte testing kit and they said otherwise but it looks as if she is very wrong. I just did a 25 % water change and a cleaning so hopefully that'll help for the next day or 2. They all seem to be roaming around like usual now so maybe it ws just a shock to the wake up of turning on the light. It was very odd though, one of my black molldies was sitting on one of my statues and he pretty much woke up and sunk to the bottom.

I'll post back here when i get the testing results.

Many thanks once again.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I don't know the history of your tank but it could be just early morning sluggishness. How long after the lights being turned on did you post the question?

 

[Screamer]

I posted probably within 5 - 10 min tops of turning on the lights. I think they are alright now though, perhaps and hopefully it was just the morning wake up. None the less I'll buy the kits asap!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

That's normal for the first 15 to 20 minutes after the light initially turns on. It is a good idea to have the kits anyway so that's a wise choice.

Is there any reason why you would have ammonia or nitrite in the tank?

 

[Jchillin]

It would be helpful to list the inhabitants of the tank as well. Some species are notoriously lazy in the mornings.

 

[bs6749]

Yeah lazy and some change color. My GBR's lose color when I turn off the lights and they regain it during the period when the lights come back on. I was shocked the first time I noticed this as they seemed almost white in color.

 

[hsherman1986]

this also scared the crap out of me the first time I actually saw it. Sounds like they were just asleep to me. It really only happens when the room is pitch black, and all of a sudden lights are on. I haven't seen it happen in a while in my tanks. Most of them are in my living room, next to a window, so they get the early morning sun before i get up to turn on the lights (usually around 10-12am).

When I saw it, I had turned off the lights when I went to work, and turned them back on when I came home (house was pitch black when I came home). I immediatly posted here about it, and got the same advice (they were just asleep)

 

[SlayerBarb]

One time before i went to bed, i looked into my tank and saw my tiger barb kinda just floating around with his nose pointed toward the gravel. at first i thought he was dead, but i walked up to the tank and he spooked and swam around again. i noticed that he does this every night, it must just be his sleeping ritual, all my friends make fun of it, but i think it's kind of cool.

 

[coldmachineUK]

Heh, these stories remind me of a platy I had once who used to bounce off the gravel when she was sleeping. She'd get carried by the slow filter current, and if she was asleep sometimes she'd just hit bottom and bounce up again. It was pretty funny to watch, but really disturbed me the first time I saw it!

 

[7Enigma]

Anytime you see something like this (that you don't know the problem), its always a smart thing to do a large PWC (same temp, conditions, dechlor). That way you can eliminate any damaging chemicals, or lessen the amount of pathogens in the water right from the start.

Sounds in this case like they were just waking up, but without a test kit I would do a 50% PWC or more (easier the smaller the tank).