Fish are inactive

[Tigerbarb12]

Ok, just to be clear. I have been keeping fish on and off for over 10 years. This is, however, my first planted tank. I have 4 tiger barbs, that have been in the tank for 2 days now.

This is a 75 gallon.

Co2 system is 10lb, dosing 4bps with the check valve. Drop checker is green. I have an amazon sword, anubius nana, temple compacta, bacopa caroliniana and water wisteria. One of each. I dose GLA macros without kno3 and micros. Flourite root tabs. 2 finex planted + 48" hanging above. 2 emperor 400 HOB filters.

Now to the numbers..

Ammonia = 0.0
Nitrite = 0.0
Nitrate ~ 30 (cant seem to get it below that at all)
pH = 7.4
4bps CO2
78° F

This is a fully cycled tank, took about 6 weeks or so.

I have a piece of driftwood i found that may be causing some issues, i will post pics of it.

My tiger barbs went from being explorative on day 1 to sitting in one spot on day 2.

1. Are they not getting enough oxygen? I doubt this is the culprit for their laziness.
2. Did my driftwood bring in a parasite, causing them to stay still, trying to fight it? This wood sat in the empty tank for 4 months and soaked in the tub for 2 days before being anchored by a slate tile.
3. Is this inescapable 30ppm nitrate causing this laziness? Seems to me like they wouldnt act like this until nitrate was closer to 100, not 30...
4. If it is a parasite or fungus on the wood, could i remove it, quarantine them, and not do anything to the tank?

Ill post pics of the 2 things growing on my wood. One i believe is ok, but the other, idk.....

 

[Tigerbarb12]

Also, i perform regular 35% wc's

 

[Tigerbarb12]

 

[coralbandit]

That looks like regular bio slime on the wood, or just detritus settling.
Most who dose and co2 do weekly 50% changes? They like to reset when they EI dose. I don't know better..
If your DC is good and green you should be ok.
You could double check with T.Barrs ph/kh chart, but I wouldn't worry until you see them at surface. Then you know you have O2 issues.
IMO 30 ppm nitrate is no big deal. Your dosing so what are you shooting for?

 

[Tigerbarb12]

Shooting for fairly heavily planted. You dont think the bright white spots are concerning?

 

[Tigerbarb12]

I was doing 50% wc, then 2 35% in a row, tuesday and yesterday

 

[coralbandit]

I would not worry about what is on the wood IMO.
When I asked what you are shooting for I more meant what nitrate level?
The ferts you adding AND the root tabs are the reason IMO for the nitrate reading.
If you want it lower get the tabs out and fert less?

 

[Tigerbarb12]

Wouldnt i have to have both, since some plants are root feeders?

 

[Tigerbarb12]

Id say 15-20 is ideal

 

[coralbandit]

Maybe just fewer root tabs?
Most people want some level of nitrates for their plants.
Most fish are good to 40ppm IMO.
I would think the plants will tell you what needs more or less.
I would not get hung on a number until you know what is too much or too little.
Then you can base your number on the goal of growth or management.

 

[Tigerbarb12]

Im not terribly concerned with 30ppm nitrate... but why are these tiger barbs inactive? They dont move really at all... just in one spot, treading water... i cant find out what i did wrong with my set up... i have a lot of money in this tank and have put a lot of time into it from cycle to co2 to hanging the lights to the wood to everything haha... just seems like im givin it 110% and still failing somewhere... never really had this problem

 

[Caliban07]

Im not terribly concerned with 30ppm nitrate... but why are these tiger barbs inactive? They dont move really at all... just in one spot, treading water... i cant find out what i did wrong with my set up... i have a lot of money in this tank and have put a lot of time into it from cycle to co2 to hanging the lights to the wood to everything haha... just seems like im givin it 110% and still failing somewhere... never really had this problem

I would turn the co2 off, gas it out then watch their behaviour. If they perk up then co2 may be too much. Better still you can increase surface movement for better o2 exchange. I agree with CB in the sense that if they were severely oxygen deprived then they would be at the surface however low oxygen levels may well increase inactivity.

The drop checker is only a guide. Your fish and plants are you best test kit and it looks like they are telling you that something is up.

I have one harlequin Rasbora that does the same while everyone else is fine. The fish is much more active when the co2 goes off. I've added much more surface agitation now and my ottos that would congregate in the bottom left hand corner are back to doing what ottos do best.

 

[flchamp89]

Two days fish been in...osmotic shock? 7.4 ph with co2 so normaly at 30ppm your ph is 8.4 range?

 

[Tigerbarb12]

One is dead.. just removed from the tank. I actually ran out of co2 last night before bed, 10lb tank empty in 10 days.... i know i had a very small leak for a few days, but then i fixed it...

 

[Tigerbarb12]

A 10lb tank shouldnt be empty before the 2 week mark.... even with a couple days of a tiny leak.. but i had it set at 4bps... its not like the bubble counter was going crazy.. when the lights come on a little later, ill see if the remaining 3 are a little more active. I have to investigate this co2 setup, seeing as how this is my first time with all of this..

 

[Tigerbarb12]

And one of them was hanging out at the top.. im assuming this is the one that died...

 

[Tigerbarb12]

Im going to lose another fish tonight... one is laying on the sand... according to the numbers, im fine... could it be the ferts?

 

[Fresh2o]

I don't think it's the ferts. I use PPS-Pro which is less concentrated than EI an routinely triple dose the macros.
Could be the CO2. What color is the drop checker showing? Green? Yellow? I once forgot to follow up on a slight adjustment to the bps; the next day it was running like an air stone. Fish were at the surface. Casualties were not immediate. Over the course of a week I lost a school of Furcata Rainbows.
I have a 24 oz paintball tank and at 2-3 bps it lasts on average 4 months. Definitely sounds like a leak.

 

[Tigerbarb12]

I dealt with the leak. I have co2 turned down for now to see things through... its blue.. ammonia and nitrites are 0, nitrate about 20... ph is abojt 7.4 i dont know what im doing wrong at all... i have a lot of money and effort put into this and im failing

 

[coralbandit]

When you run out of co2 you get EOTD[ End Of Tank Dump} which is fatal for fish many times?
Could this be from that?
Most don't run their co2 till empty.
The trick is to weigh it empty and weigh it full.Then you can weigh it to know to refill before EOTD...