I have a community 75 gallon freshwater tank. Up and running two years now. The last day or so they have all been looking lethargic and staying at the bottom not moving much, one actually looks to be dying. I do weekly 30% water changes, one three days ago actually. Nothing has changed so I'm unsure of their behavior. Any help is appreciated.
Community fish staying at bottom of tank.
- Thread starter Mokrytzki
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
BBradbury
Aquarium Advice Addict
- Joined
- May 24, 2011
- Messages
- 5,011
Your Tank
Hello Mok...
Even larger tanks do best with larger water changes. I keep larger tanks and change at least half the water every two weeks. The tank is an unflushed toilet, that needs to be flushed regularly to maintain near pure water conditions. In addition to the large, frequent changes, you need floating plants to help keep the tank water clean. I float thick layers of floaters like Hornwort and Anacharis. They'll help maintain stable water conditions by using the nitrogens produced by the dissolved fish wastes.
If your fish are acting differently, you can bet the cause is water related. You need to do a large water change as soon as you can and remove and replace half the tank water with pure, treated tap water. The water should be a bit warmer than what's in the tank. The flush of slightly warmer, pure water will replace the oxygen and the minerals the fish may be missing and give them a bit of a boost.
If you're keeping livebearing fish like Platys, Guppies, Swordtails or Mollies, you should be adding a teaspoon or so of standard aquarium salt to every 5 gallons of new water. This will help.
Just a suggestion.
B
Hello Mok...
Even larger tanks do best with larger water changes. I keep larger tanks and change at least half the water every two weeks. The tank is an unflushed toilet, that needs to be flushed regularly to maintain near pure water conditions. In addition to the large, frequent changes, you need floating plants to help keep the tank water clean. I float thick layers of floaters like Hornwort and Anacharis. They'll help maintain stable water conditions by using the nitrogens produced by the dissolved fish wastes.
If your fish are acting differently, you can bet the cause is water related. You need to do a large water change as soon as you can and remove and replace half the tank water with pure, treated tap water. The water should be a bit warmer than what's in the tank. The flush of slightly warmer, pure water will replace the oxygen and the minerals the fish may be missing and give them a bit of a boost.
If you're keeping livebearing fish like Platys, Guppies, Swordtails or Mollies, you should be adding a teaspoon or so of standard aquarium salt to every 5 gallons of new water. This will help.
Just a suggestion.
B
A quick question. Do you find the teaspoon of salt prevents disease or cures as well (or would a stronger dose be needed)? I'm just curious and not knocking the salt, but interested in at what level it is helpful. I know salt will absorb water otherwise should be measured so just interested in general terms.
