Fish behavior after water changes

Submariner

Submariner

Large Fish
#1
May 15, 2006
128
0
0
49
Central Maine
#1
Every two weeks I do a 25% water change while vaccuming the substrate. Usually after I pour the new water in, my Black Molly and my Barb will swim very rapidly straight up and down, from the top of the tank all the way to the bottom, back and forth. Sometimes one or both will do this for a day or more. (but not all day) I was wondering if this was a sign of stress.

I always treat my water and leave it overnight in a bucket before changing, but I don't heat it. (I don't have a spare heater right now.) I keep the water temp in the tank at about 82 or so, and the water change will always drop the temp a degree or two. My stats don't seem affected, except of course nitrates and nitrites drop some.

Should I get a spare heater and heat the water first? I was wondering if the rapid temp drop was freaking them out. It only seems to be those two fish that do this, but they DO always perform this behavior on the HEATER side of the tank. My only other thought is that the stuff stirred up from the substrate may bother them.

Any thoughts?
 

Last edited:
bighit22

bighit22

Large Fish
#2
Apr 22, 2006
157
0
0
34
New Mexico
#2
my "uneducated" opinion, would be that they might be trying to get acclimated. I might be wrong, but my mollies do that every now and then when i do water changes. Just a guess
 

jumpfreak26

jumpfreak26

Large Fish
#3
Feb 26, 2006
918
1
0
New Mexico(yes its a US state!)
#3
mine do that alot, im not sure it could be that the water may be sturated with oxygen after pouring in the water. but it may just be the temp, i would get a small 5 gallon heater, or even a heat pad works on the bottom, from the sound of it, it is probably temp, maybe lower your tank temp and then add the water see if its the same.
 

FishLuvr

FishLuvr

Large Fish
#5
Jun 19, 2005
406
1
0
50
Pittsburgh, Pa
#5
Submariner said:
Every two weeks I do a 25% water change while vaccuming the substrate. Usually after I pour the new water in, my Black Molly and my Barb will swim very rapidly straight up and down, from the top of the tank all the way to the bottom, back and forth. Sometimes one or both will do this for a day or more. (but not all day) I was wondering if this was a sign of stress.

I always treat my water and leave it overnight in a bucket before changing, but I don't heat it. (I don't have a spare heater right now.) I keep the water temp in the tank at about 82 or so, and the water change will always drop the temp a degree or two. My stats don't seem affected, except of course nitrates and nitrites drop some.

Should I get a spare heater and heat the water first? I was wondering if the rapid temp drop was freaking them out. It only seems to be those two fish that do this, but they DO always perform this behavior on the HEATER side of the tank. My only other thought is that the stuff stirred up from the substrate may bother them.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

You said nitrites drop some? You should not have any Nitrites in a cycled tank. mollies arent as hardy as other fish. You also mentioned that the water is only one or two degrees different, thats not really a noticable difference, and should not affect your fish.

If your treating your water for chlorine and chloramines, you then do not have to leave it overnight. Your not doing anything wrong if you do, but just adding an unnneded step. Leaving water overnight is simple to remove chlorine, which you are already doing by treating the water. (keep in mind though that will NOT kill off chloramine) it doesnt evaporate like chlorine.

One thing you can do (assuming you have a removable themometer) is to hold the themometer under the tap water that your filling your bucket with until you get to the desired temp that you usually keep your tank(s) at. If you don't have one there cheap, 2 bucks or less at petco/petsmart. and try to get a feel for the temp with your hands, after a while you wont even need the themometer. i can do it by feel now, and get within a degree or so of the water that was removed
 

Submariner

Submariner

Large Fish
#6
May 15, 2006
128
0
0
49
Central Maine
#6
Well, I tested my water again and I do have 0 nitrites. My nitrates are between 20 and 40ppm. Sorry for the confusion, I had the two mixed up on my strips. The nitrates usually go down when I change the water.

I didn't know that the water was ready right away if you treated it, that's a great tip. I will definitely put warm water in now, I do have a spare thermometer.

I do have another question, can your KH be TOO high? Mine's around 200 or so, which is between " ideal " and " high " on my strips. I also have soft water, and my pH is around 6.8. Do those stats seem ok?
 

Submariner

Submariner

Large Fish
#8
May 15, 2006
128
0
0
49
Central Maine
#8
Yeah things are pretty stable in there now. I had some problems early on, that I think were mostly due to overfeeding (which I'm sure is a very common newbie mistake) and I had one bout of Ick which I didn't catch early enough and cost me a rosy barb (although he WAS the runt of the tank). But the other fish pulled through fine and I think I'm in calm seas now. It's so satisfying to really make it work. My wife never thought I'd have the patience or the interest to pull it off. :)
 

FishLuvr

FishLuvr

Large Fish
#9
Jun 19, 2005
406
1
0
50
Pittsburgh, Pa
#9
yeah, most fish will adapt to ph levels, as long as they are stable, and of course assuming your not keeping and fish that have a eed for a specific ph level.

another tip for you would be to ditch the STRIPS test, they are not tha accurate. go with the drip test, from API (aquarium phramaceuticals inc) they are the most accurate test out there. Usually around 15-20 dollars, and will do hundreds of test
 

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