Fish swimming at the top

[thursyanna]

I'm pretty new at this so bear with me please. I have had my tank cycling for a couple of days and had taken a sample in to our lfs to test and the first day only my ph and ammonia were high. I moved 4 zebra danios to my 55 gal tank after having a friend check the ammonia, ph, nitrite, and nitrate last night. He said that I wasn't showing any nitrates yet but I should after I moved my fish over. I watched them for several hours last night and everything looked OK, then this morning I noticed they were mostly at the top and one is literally missing. I can't seem to find him anywhere. Do you think my ammonia levels spiked? Is that why they are now staying at the top? I did feed them a little after I moved them in. Here are a couple of pictures from last night. Fake plants until payday.

 

[Obsessedfishlover]

I'm pretty new at this so bear with me please. I have had my tank cycling for a couple of days and had taken a sample in to our lfs to test and the first day only my ph and ammonia were high. I moved 4 zebra danios to my 55 gal tank after having a friend check the ammonia, ph, nitrite, and nitrate last night. He said that I wasn't showing any nitrates yet but I should after I moved my fish over. I watched them for several hours last night and everything looked OK, then this morning I noticed they were mostly at the top and one is literally missing. I can't seem to find him anywhere. Do you think my ammonia levels spiked? Is that why they are now staying at the top? I did feed them a little after I moved them in. Here are a couple of pictures from last night. Fake plants until payday.

Let me tell you first of all my neons hide to where I can't find them at all too but if your having problems with your tank and everything it could have died and gotten agent by morning...but I'm not the best person to ask about danios but I do think they are middle/bottom swimmers and I recommend getting a test kit right away.... Also if you fed them a lot that could have spiked it with food dissolving into more ammonia.... If it is ammonia or ph they could be staying at the top for oxygen if its ammonia poisoning then they want to grasp for oxygen and get more oxygen..... Oh and welcome to aquarium advice!

 

[thursyanna]

Thanks. As soon as I get home from work I'll do a pwc and see if that helps. I didn't feed them a lot but I was wanting to feed them a little. Last night they swam all over the place. I did notice one swimming low this morning but mostly they stayed at the top. They do like swimming back and forth through the bubbles though! They are like kids with a new toy!! My friend is coming back over this evening to test my water. He has an API test kit with the drops and test tubes. That's what I'm planning on getting this weekend.

 

[Obsessedfishlover]

Thanks. As soon as I get home from work I'll do a pwc and see if that helps. I didn't feed them a lot but I was wanting to feed them a little. Last night they swam all over the place. I did notice one swimming low this morning but mostly they stayed at the top. They do like swimming back and forth through the bubbles though! They are like kids with a new toy!! My friend is coming back over this evening to test my water. He has an API test kit with the drops and test tubes. That's what I'm planning on getting this weekend.

Also something else you can buy is something called new tank stabilization liquid input it in every time I do my water change and it regulates my water and conditions it also preventing new fish from getting new tank syndrome..... And it's not just for new tanks I have had my tank for almost half a year now.... And I'm still putting it in.....



This is the kind I use..... Good luck!

 

[thursyanna]

I saw some of that in the store. I'll get some. I did put some kind of declorinator in the tank when I added the water. I don't remember off the top of my head what it's called though.

 

[Obsessedfishlover]

I saw some of that in the store. I'll get some. I did put some kind of declorinator in the tank when I added the water. I don't remember off the top of my head what it's called though.

Another thing just so you know this liquid will never hurt the fish.... Again good luck to you!

 

[thursyanna]

Thanks for your help. My son said when he got home from school he counted all 4 of them there. He said they were swimming all over the tank. I'm still going to get some of that at the store though.

 

[librarygirl]

Sorry, just to clarify: did the 55 test positive for ammonia before you moved the fish in or was that another tank? If so, then it's likely the ammonia was bothering the fish. If not, do you know the paramters of the 55 gal (ammonia, etc) before you added the fish? How long was the 55 running? Did you add any seeded material from an established tank? What tank was the fish in before you moved them to yours?

I doubt 4 danios in a new 55 would cause an ammonia spike so quickly but if there was already ammonia in the tank (not sure from what, your tap water maybe?) then that could be the culprit. It's hard to pinpoint the issue without more info. Instead of the Stability (products like that are hit and miss at best) I'd invest in a good quality liquid test kit like the API Master.

 

[Fishperson]

Your oxygen levels could be low, but that doesnt seem likely since you have the air strip. If your oxygen was low they would go to the surface and try to "breath". If you see this then tell us.

 

[thursyanna]

Sorry, just to clarify: did the 55 test positive for ammonia before you moved the fish in or was that another tank? If so, then it's likely the ammonia was bothering the fish. If not, do you know the paramters of the 55 gal (ammonia, etc) before you added the fish? How long was the 55 running? Did you add any seeded material from an established tank? What tank was the fish in before you moved them to yours?

I doubt 4 danios in a new 55 would cause an ammonia spike so quickly but if there was already ammonia in the tank (not sure from what, your tap water maybe?) then that could be the culprit. It's hard to pinpoint the issue without more info. Instead of the Stability (products like that are hit and miss at best) I'd invest in a good quality liquid test kit like the API Master.

The ammonia level was 0 when I moved the fish over. I tested the water using the API complete test kit. Nitrites - 0 and Nitrates were also 0. There wasn't anything in the tank yet as far as plants or fish. I did find my 4th fish. I guess he was just hiding.
Now my water is getting cloudy.

 

[thursyanna]

Your oxygen levels could be low, but that doesnt seem likely since you have the air strip. If your oxygen was low they would go to the surface and try to "breath". If you see this then tell us.

I must have been panicing! All 4 fish are there now and they are swimming all over the tank from top to bottom. I don't know what their deal was. But not my water seems to be getting cloudy. Do I need to do a pwc?

 

[Saucy840]

Danios go everywhere an anywhere mine were all throughout my 29 but mostly went back n forth across the tank mostly middle to bottom, sadly i lost 1 by doing a water change n he was in the bucket i didn't notice till he was going down the drain i was like omg no!!!! Then the others got sucked up into my whisper 60 filter because the plastic i had blocking the intake tube had fell off when i was sleeping. They are pretty hardy fish tho i had them in my tank while it cycled and they made it threw pretty fine. I also second i don't think 4 danios would spike that quick even with food in the tank. Test your tap like library said there might be ammonia in it luckily there isn't any in mine.

Also have u added anything to the water? That might be why its cloudy. Mine goes cloudy and clears itself up within a day or two due to the seachem prime. Prolly one of the best of water conditioner take a look into it . http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html

 

[thursyanna]

Danios go everywhere an anywhere mine were all throughout my 29 but mostly went back n forth across the tank mostly middle to bottom, sadly i lost 1 by doing a water change n he was in the bucket i didn't notice till he was going down the drain i was like omg no!!!! Then the others got sucked up into my whisper 60 filter because the plastic i had blocking the intake tube had fell off when i was sleeping. They are pretty hardy fish tho i had them in my tank while it cycled and they made it threw pretty fine. I also second i don't think 4 danios would spike that quick even with food in the tank. Test your tap like library said there might be ammonia in it luckily there isn't any in mine.

Also have u added anything to the water? That might be why its cloudy. Mine goes cloudy and clears itself up within a day or two due to the seachem prime. Prolly one of the best of water conditioner take a look into it . Seachem. Prime

When I paniced this morning I did go ahead and add 10ml of API Quick Start. I thought maybe I needed to add that for some reason. Like I said, I paniced!! LOL!!