sick ryukin?

[sarahsunshine]

Hi,

I know little about fish health.

I have a 1.5" ryukin (caudal length) that periodically just hangs at the surface completely still. Is he sleeping, or is this a clue that he may be sick?

 

[i3k]

Need to know your water parameters(ammonia, nitrites, and pH).
Whats the temperature in the tank?
Are you using an air stone or a filter to agitate the surface(gas exchange)
How often do you do partial water changes?

Do you see the fish gasping for air at the very surface or is he just sitting 1/2" below the surface and not moving much?

 

[sarahsunshine]

Sorry, should have filled this in the first time...

I'm in the 5th week of cycling my tank, so the nitrites have varied up and down between 160-10ppm. I've been doing daily, if not more 80% water changes, with conditioner, and my 2 ryukin have seemed to be doing just fine. The last couple days the nitrites have decreased substantially on their own.

Need to know your water parameters(ammonia, nitrites, and pH).

Ammonia = 0
Nitrites = 30 (high, but I'm trying!!!)
pH = ? but it's likely the same as our city tap water what with thte constant water changes, and that's at 7.6ish (according to our hot tub).

Whats the temperature in the tank?

75f

Are you using an air stone or a filter to agitate the surface(gas exchange).

I have a HOB filter that's not quite enough for the tank (20g tank, aqua tech 5-15), but I've made the water level low so there are lots of bubbles. Our new filter (Eheim 2213) was supposed to arrive today and didn't.

How often do you do partial water changes?

Daily, lately, at 80%, because of high nitrites in cycling.

Do you see the fish gasping for air at the very surface or is he just sitting 1/2" below the surface and not moving much?

He's just sitting completely motionless right under the surface. No gasping, not on his side or anything, just motionless with his dorsal fin touching the surface. I've had him for about 1 month and 1 wk.

 

[Blueiz]

It sounds like he may not be happy right now, but once your nitrites go to 0 he may come around. As long as hes eating and not showing any signs of disease I would keep a close eye on him and post if anything changes.

 

[sarahsunshine]

Will do.

He acts normal most of the time, just periodically he sits there motionless.

 

[jsoong]

That is some nitrites you are having <30 ppm ....>, you sure you are not reading off the NITRATE color card??

For now, do enough water changes to get that nitrite down. You should aim for peaks at less than 0.25.

Adding a bit of salt will help prevent nitrite poisoning. (Around 0.05% will do.) Nitrite binds to hemoglobin, decreasing oxygen uptake of the fish. Fish will be gasping at the surface, breathing fast, be lethargic, etc. Your fish doesn't quite sound like that, but he is certainly unhappy.

 

[sarahsunshine]

That is some nitrites you are having <30 ppm ....>, you sure you are not reading off the NITRATE color card??

For now, do enough water changes to get that nitrite down. You should aim for peaks at less than 0.25.

Adding a bit of salt will help prevent nitrite poisoning. (Around 0.05% will do.) Nitrite binds to hemoglobin, decreasing oxygen uptake of the fish. Fish will be gasping at the surface, breathing fast, be lethargic, etc. Your fish doesn't quite sound like that, but he is certainly unhappy.

Yes, I'm reading the test wrong. I meant <0.3ppm. My test is the Hagen one with the highest being 3.3+... My low readings are either 0.1 or 0.3ml/L (same as ppm as I"ve now figured out).

Actually, I've been fighting over the past 4 weeks with it going up to about 0.8ppm-1.6ppm overnight, then an hour after my 80% PWC (sometimes two) it's about 0.3. However, as of today, it was 0.1ppm, the lowest visible on the test! YAY! I hope it stays that way.

My Fish hasn't done his floating thing today either, but I'm keeping an eye on him.

I also got my new filter tonight when I got home, so tomorrow morning, Mr Eheim 2213 is getting all set up and that should help too! DH and I are rather excited!

 

[mfdrookie516]

just make sure you keep your other filter on it for a while to seed the new filter or you will have a mini cycle at best