Rainbow fish sitting at top behind filter?

[KyloRen]

I have two rainbow fish I got at petco that are sitting at the top of the tank behind the filter I believe they are Turquoise rainbow is this normal behavior?
I did a heavy water change last night all my other fish seem to be fine
55 gallon with a cascade canister filter and penguin 350 HOB
tank is stocked with
6 Australian rainbow
3 Bosemani rainbow
3 roseline sharks
6 harlequin Rasbora
2 turquoise rainbow

 

[Autumnsky]

How often do you clean your filter and how often and how much do you do pwc?

Fish you already have can become used to the water in the tank and if you don't do frequent and larger pwc every week that can affect water quality and your present fish will be okay but a new one might not.

That isn't really normal. Sometimes fish aren't well. You should consider a quarrantine tank / plastic tote so as not have a bad /sick fish contaminate the rest.

What are your present water parameters Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, including pH, and if you can add, GH/KH?

 

[erla]

What temperature is the tank? My understanding is that turquise rainbows prefer cooler water than other rainbows.

Also, if you just added them, they may need time to get used to your tank.

 

[KyloRen]

Uh actually I've never cleaned my filter I had no idea I was suppose to do that how do I clean my filter?, I do 20% water changes once every week. my water temp is around 75 Degrees as for my parameters last i checked my ammonia was 0, nitrite was 0 and nitrate was about 50ish I dont know my PH but I live in chicago so I think its pretty high maybe around 7.8
They are actually swimming around now with the other rainbows so I think they are fine but ill keep an eye out.
I was wondering if adding more rasboras would overcrowd the tank

 

[erla]

The temp seems okay, but your nitrates are a bit high: most folks try to keep them below 40, or even 20 or 10, to avoid harm to fish. Also, your stocking is a bit heavy: you may want to switch to 50% weekly water changes. I would NOT add any more fish.

And your filter does need to be cleaned regularly. You can just take out the media, and swish it around in TANK water (to preserve the beneficial bacteria).

 

[aclark]

Post a pic of your tank. Could be an issue of feeling insecure. Not enough hiding or cover. Or the other fish could have bullied when you put them in.

 

[Autumnsky]

And your filter does need to be cleaned regularly. You can just take out the media, and swish it around in TANK water (to preserve the beneficial bacteria).

To add to this, the poo and excess food builds up in the filter pad. You can use pwc water to rinse out the gunk by swishing in bucket. To get it more clean if needed you can use treated water, like you would use for the refill water for the tank.

The chlorine in the tap water will kill the BB, so never use that or throw away the filter pad unles it literally is falling apart. Depending on your filter, you can add an additional filter pad in the slot to build an even better reserve of BB, then clean one pad in the middle of the month and then the other pad at the end of the month. I put the cleanest one in the front.

 

[ScotJudd]

Uh actually I've never cleaned my filter I had no idea I was suppose to do that how do I clean my filter?, I do 20% water changes once every week. my water temp is around 75 Degrees as for my parameters last i checked my ammonia was 0, nitrite was 0 and nitrate was about 50ish I dont know my PH but I live in chicago so I think its pretty high maybe around 7.8
They are actually swimming around now with the other rainbows so I think they are fine but ill keep an eye out.
I was wondering if adding more rasboras would overcrowd the tank

Hi there. I find it quite strange that you test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate but don't know the Ph. Ph is an important parameter. Gh and Kh can also be really useful to know as it indicates the suitability of your water hardness for your fish (Gh) and the waters buffering capability (Kh) to maintain a steady Ph.
I usually check the fish shop water (from the bag I bring the fish home in) to see what the differences are between my set ups and the fish shops. This can affect the way you acclimatise the fish and the time taken. The greatest difference I find is actually the nitrates, the fish shop nitrates are much greater than my tanks.



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[The_Desacrator]

Just a heads up if by rose line shark you mean a denison barb, you need to get more because they are a schooling fish.

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[KyloRen]

Post a pic of your tank. Could be an issue of feeling insecure. Not enough hiding or cover. Or the other fish could have bullied when you put them in.

I can't really get a picture of my tank my phone is absolute garbage but they arent really hiding anymore so i think everything is fine thank you.

 

[KyloRen]

Just a heads up if by rose line shark you mean a denison barb, you need to get more because they are a schooling fish.

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Yeah I am actually going to return them. After reading about them, I don't think they are suited for my 55 gallon.

 

[bigsea]

My turtquoise did this same thing on a few occasions.

1. When they were first introduced to my tank (all 7 did this. Added 2, then 2, then 3 over a months time)

2. When i tried measuring them and the tape measure spooked the crap out of them causing them to dart around super fast. They then froze for about 10 minutes in a dark spot near my powerhead.

3. When i only had 2 of them in there. Theyre now 7 strong and theyre flexing 24/7.

I guess they hang around other species of rainbows but bottom line a school of rainbows is 5 or more of the same species. You'll see a lot more confident behavior from bigger schools.

Those nitrates are high. And could be due to you never cleaning your filter. Id take a pipe cleaner and hit your intake and impeller. Take it apart and dunk each individual part in a bucket of tank water. Rainbows like fast, oxygenated water. Definitely make sure youre getting max flow from your filtration. As for pH, i believe rainbows, and many other fish, can adapt to different pH levels as long as its constant.

I wouldnt worry about your waterchange procedures. Your beneficial bacteria is obviously handling the bioload. If it wasnt youd see nitrate and ammonia/nitrite. If youre getting only nitrates youre fine. Although they are high. Before you go about changing your procedures (affecting your balance if any no offense) id see if cleaning your filters helps with your nitrate levels



And lastly i do 50% wc's a week.
- St Charles Almendras Geraldizo