Fish Waste Floating at the Top of the Tank

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follicle

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
98
Greetings,

I've run into a problem lately, and I'm not too sure what could be going on. I have a 55 gallon community tank. I'm running an Eheim Classic 2215 Canister Filter. I've had the tank for close to two years now, and the water has always been crystal clear.

I hadn't cleaned the filter and media for quite sometime. The water was still clear, but I noticed that fist waste was floating around the tank and gathering/floating at the top of the tank. So yesterday, I finally took the time to clean out the canister. It was nasty. Everything needed to be rinsed thoroughly. I was able to remove an incredible amount of muck from the filter. I even replaced the rubber tubing. Now the filter is running clean once again without any noises or reduced flow rate.

The water is still as clear as can be, but I still have fish waste floating around and gathering at the top of the tank. Isn't the filter supposed to catch fish waste? I've never seemed to have this problem before. Perhaps I should just wait a few days for the filter to catch it? Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
When you cleaned it, you might have released some ammonia into the tank, and that can cause fish to gather near the top/lose "balance". Another possibility is if your house is hot, less dissolved oxygen can be in water in a higher temperature, so temperature might be an issue. First thing I would do is test for ammonia, then point the spray bar a little out of the water to get some surface agitation going.
 
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