Sharpchick
Aquarium Advice FINatic
First, the stats on the tank:
29 gallon high, planted with anubias, java fern, crypt, assorted hygrophilas, and floating pennywort
2 ryukins, body length about 3 inches for one, 2 1/2 inches for the other
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites -0
Nitrates - 0
pH - 6.8
Feeding repashy soilent green as staple diet, supplemented with squash (yellow and zucchini), spinach, peas, oranges, bananas and grapefruit. The fish also snack on the pennywort and hygros, and probably once a week, I also give them frozen bloodworms.
Last water change was yesterday - water chemistry before water change was ammonia - .25 ppm; nitrites - 0; nitrates - 0; pH - 6.8. This tank gets 3 50% water changes per week. I use Tetra Aqua Safe as my declorinator, and yesterday I also dosed the tank with 2.5 ml Seachem Fourish for the plants. This is a typical water change, except the Flourish only goes in for two of them.
History of this particular fish:
Gypsy has always tended to be floaty. When I first set up this tank and introduced both fish, I noticed pretty fast that Gypsy got floaty, and had a tendency to get up in one corner of the tank and smack. I could hear it in an adjacent room.
Gypsy's floatiness is the only reason there are frozen green peas in my freezer - I hate them. I also keep frozen spinach, but I eat that too.
I was initially feeding the fish Hikari Lionhead sinking pellets and Repashy solient green. As soon as I saw the first signs of floatiness, I ditched the pellets, even though I'd been soaking them for 20 minutes before feeding.
That seemed to fix it, and after running from veggies and fruits in the very beginning, both fish decided to chow down on them. (They get the day's offering on a veggie clip in the morning, which I remove when I get home from work in the evening. They get bananas or citrus on water change days.)
Last night, I heard it again. That smacking noise. I went over to the tank, and Gypsy was up in his favorite corner, eating air bubbles.
I thawed some spinach and both fish ate until they rejected any more. Gypsy eats from my hand, which I hold about 6 inches or so under the water. I never feed him from the surface.
When I got up this morning to feed, Gypsy was swimming just fine. I looked for poop, but if you've seen recent photos of my tank, you'll see that there are some planted areas where poop is hard to see.
I fed the repashy - dropped it from under the surface - and both of them chowed down. I put some zucchini on the veggie clip, and Gypsy started on it as soon as I moved my hand.
An hour ago, I walked over to the tank and saw this.
Gypsy on the way up
Gypsy at the top
He was really struggling to right himself. I thawed peas and spinach, caught him, and handfed him two half pieces of pea and a smidge of spinach. He didn't struggle, and swims into my hand when I do water changes.
It's an hour later now, and he seems to be swimming a little better (haven't seen any poop), but he's still surfacing and gulping air while he's up there.
Give me some suggestions, please.
29 gallon high, planted with anubias, java fern, crypt, assorted hygrophilas, and floating pennywort
2 ryukins, body length about 3 inches for one, 2 1/2 inches for the other
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites -0
Nitrates - 0
pH - 6.8
Feeding repashy soilent green as staple diet, supplemented with squash (yellow and zucchini), spinach, peas, oranges, bananas and grapefruit. The fish also snack on the pennywort and hygros, and probably once a week, I also give them frozen bloodworms.
Last water change was yesterday - water chemistry before water change was ammonia - .25 ppm; nitrites - 0; nitrates - 0; pH - 6.8. This tank gets 3 50% water changes per week. I use Tetra Aqua Safe as my declorinator, and yesterday I also dosed the tank with 2.5 ml Seachem Fourish for the plants. This is a typical water change, except the Flourish only goes in for two of them.
History of this particular fish:
Gypsy has always tended to be floaty. When I first set up this tank and introduced both fish, I noticed pretty fast that Gypsy got floaty, and had a tendency to get up in one corner of the tank and smack. I could hear it in an adjacent room.
Gypsy's floatiness is the only reason there are frozen green peas in my freezer - I hate them. I also keep frozen spinach, but I eat that too.
I was initially feeding the fish Hikari Lionhead sinking pellets and Repashy solient green. As soon as I saw the first signs of floatiness, I ditched the pellets, even though I'd been soaking them for 20 minutes before feeding.
That seemed to fix it, and after running from veggies and fruits in the very beginning, both fish decided to chow down on them. (They get the day's offering on a veggie clip in the morning, which I remove when I get home from work in the evening. They get bananas or citrus on water change days.)
Last night, I heard it again. That smacking noise. I went over to the tank, and Gypsy was up in his favorite corner, eating air bubbles.
I thawed some spinach and both fish ate until they rejected any more. Gypsy eats from my hand, which I hold about 6 inches or so under the water. I never feed him from the surface.
When I got up this morning to feed, Gypsy was swimming just fine. I looked for poop, but if you've seen recent photos of my tank, you'll see that there are some planted areas where poop is hard to see.
I fed the repashy - dropped it from under the surface - and both of them chowed down. I put some zucchini on the veggie clip, and Gypsy started on it as soon as I moved my hand.
An hour ago, I walked over to the tank and saw this.
Gypsy on the way up
Gypsy at the top
He was really struggling to right himself. I thawed peas and spinach, caught him, and handfed him two half pieces of pea and a smidge of spinach. He didn't struggle, and swims into my hand when I do water changes.
It's an hour later now, and he seems to be swimming a little better (haven't seen any poop), but he's still surfacing and gulping air while he's up there.
Give me some suggestions, please.
