My fish are always at the top of the tank?!?
- Thread starter rolphie316
- Start date
My first thought is that yes, they are probably suffering from a lack of oxygen, but we need more info. How big is your tank? Is it new? Did you cycle it? How many fish are in it? Have you done water tests? If not, you should, and if so, please post the numbers. Gasping at the surface can also be a sign of ammonia poisoning, so we need to know the test numbers. If your ammonia is above 1.0, you should do water changes until you get it down. Here's a link to an article about it Fish Disease - Ammonia Poisoning I haven't read it all but it looks pretty accurate from what I skimmed. So, get us more info and we should be able to help you out more.
Thanks for the link, it does look like its ammonia poisoning to me i've got a 10 gallon tank and the pH is at 7.1 dont know about the ammonia levels though as i dont have a testing kit for that, what is the name of the chemical it says to use to reduce the levels of ammonia? and do you think my fish will survive the night as all pet stores and aquatic centres are shut until the morning
Get a master test kit; but in your situation I would ask your LFS to test your water, a lot of places usually do.
Exactly how many fish did you get? 10G cannot exactly hold that many mollies, and considering they are livebearers I hope you got all males, or all females that aren't pregnant yet....
Also if it's lack of oxygenation, if you have a hang over back filter that should provide plenty of current to keep the air flowing in the water, so it's highly unlikely that your oxygen content is low.
I'm going to have to agree with Designs on the ammonia poisoning
Exactly how many fish did you get? 10G cannot exactly hold that many mollies, and considering they are livebearers I hope you got all males, or all females that aren't pregnant yet....
Also if it's lack of oxygenation, if you have a hang over back filter that should provide plenty of current to keep the air flowing in the water, so it's highly unlikely that your oxygen content is low.
I'm going to have to agree with Designs on the ammonia poisoning
yeah i know it doesnt look overcrowded obv because they're small. Just like 2 goldfish in a 20G tank doesn't look crowded, ITS FULLY STOCKED.
You are overstocked. The general community fish require one gallon per inch of fish, and this majorly applies to the bioload of fish. Fish eat, pee, poo, and make other types of excretions into the water. It dilutes overtime in the water, but these biowastes are what build up the ammonia and other harmful things to the fish. You should never overstock your tank for the specific reason that you do not what your tank water to build up deadly wastes so fast and so sky high that it kills them too quickly for you to make a water change. You also do not want to overstock a tank for territorial purposes or for swimming areas. For example, your tank is overstocked with top/mid dwellers. They are all crowding the same areas of the tank, potentially causing them much stress. So your fish could be stressed in 2 ways: bioload, and comfort zones.
Just because a fish doesn't LOOK cramped to you, doesn't mean it isn't.
When using the fish inch per gallon rule, you must apply the ADULT sizes of the fish, you have 10 tetras = 10 inches <--- you're MAXED. What are the adult sizes of the mollies? 2-3 inches? <--- over limits. If they are pregnant, you are going to have way too many fish in the tank.
I would suggest returning some mollies or tetras, or plan out for a bigger tank!
You are overstocked. The general community fish require one gallon per inch of fish, and this majorly applies to the bioload of fish. Fish eat, pee, poo, and make other types of excretions into the water. It dilutes overtime in the water, but these biowastes are what build up the ammonia and other harmful things to the fish. You should never overstock your tank for the specific reason that you do not what your tank water to build up deadly wastes so fast and so sky high that it kills them too quickly for you to make a water change. You also do not want to overstock a tank for territorial purposes or for swimming areas. For example, your tank is overstocked with top/mid dwellers. They are all crowding the same areas of the tank, potentially causing them much stress. So your fish could be stressed in 2 ways: bioload, and comfort zones.
Just because a fish doesn't LOOK cramped to you, doesn't mean it isn't.
When using the fish inch per gallon rule, you must apply the ADULT sizes of the fish, you have 10 tetras = 10 inches <--- you're MAXED. What are the adult sizes of the mollies? 2-3 inches? <--- over limits. If they are pregnant, you are going to have way too many fish in the tank.
I would suggest returning some mollies or tetras, or plan out for a bigger tank!
Read the stickies in this forum for proper cycling of your tank. Also get a bottle of Prime to help your fish survive the cycle and do 25-35% water changes daily. It will lengthen the time it takes to cycle your tank, but will help your fish survive. If you haven't already, you may lose some of your fish while the tank is cycling, but the prime will help the others to survive. Also, do as jo3olous suggested and get a test kit. It is important to monitor your tank every day while it is cycling and once a week after it is established.
