Fish staying at top of tank

[metalx]

Hello, the problem i am having is all my fish are staying up at the top of the tank. it looks like they are trying to breath above water. this has been happening for about 1 mouth. the tank has been set up for 2 mouths give or tank. also in this time i have lost 3 gupies. 2 dawrf frogs. what am i doing wrong? i have a 55g tank set up. cant remeber the name of my filter but its a canister filter made for up to 180g. so i do over filter. my water temp is at about 78. my ph is 7.4. my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels are all 0. i have 2 angle fish. 1 ele. 1 cat fish. 2 neon fish. and 3 gupies

 

[Laeris]

Get something to break the water's surface over an area, be it a wide-angle filter return or a bubbler. Not sure how you have 0 everything with it having been set up for two months. You should have nitrates.

What's your water change schedule like and what live plants do you have?

 

[metalx]

i shall readjust my filter return. right now its aimed at a angle down. also i shall retest the water again in a few minutes. there is no live plants. also i know its bad but i have not done any water changes in about a mouth. i had the tank set up at my old house then moved and reset it up at my current home. also i have used a water conductor to remove any metals from my tap water.

 

[Laeris]

Do you use dechorinator or let water rest for a day or two before putting it in the tank?

 

[metalx]

do not know what a dechorinator is lol. also my readings for the water are 7.4 ph. 0-0.25 ammonia. the color is really hard to tell. still 0 nitrite but my nitrate is about 5.0-10. again the color is light so hard to tell. also i use a api master test kit for all these.

 

[Laeris]

Nothing horrible there. It could be a simple lack of viable oxygen.

Dechlorinators, here's a good list http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/rev-cond.htm, are not all the same. This table is actually quite good and really shows why a lot of us use Seachem Prime for preference. Is one of these what you use for removing metals?

 

[metalx]

api tap water conditioner. was the one i used. also how about i get the o2 lvls up? could this also be the reason why over the past mouth iv lost my frogs and other fish?

 

[Laeris]

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/choosing-aquarium-equipment5.htm

Here we go ? This explains it perfectly!

 

[jessipanda]

If I were you and my fish were gasping, I'd start with a large water change -- 60-70%. Then, add an airstone or something to increase o2 in the water.

I'll second the use of Seachem Prime as your water conditioner, and add that you should add it to the new water before putting it in the tank if possible.

Also, make sure you really shake that nitrate 2 bottle for awhile (I shake it like crazy for 1 min) otherwise it won't work properly.

 

[metalx]

thanks! i shall do a slow water change. il pick up some prime later today. as well as a air stone. oh yea i read that i shake that thing like crazzy as well