17 replies to this topic

[s.green8103@gmail.com]

Have a tank of tropheus ilangi and did a 25% water change yesterday. They were fine afterwards but were all on the top gulping when I get up this morning. Added another air pump and they perked up and were fine for a couple of hours but are now all on the top again. This happened a few weeks ago and I ended up changing them into another tank but have fry growing out in other tank now so can't transfer without losing fry, temp is normal and I used tap water conditioner and seachem tanganykan buffer when doing water change (same as always). any advice would be greatly appreciated  20160828_135204.jpg   73.24KB   13 downloads

[LexAgate]

Unfortunately I have no knowledge on you're problem, but if you have nets you could put you're fish in the fry tank in nets at the top to prevent fry loss...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BengaBoy]

water change straight from the tap or aged water?

[Delapool]

I guess I'll have a stab as I'm wondering if your water has changed on you. I'm in Midland area and didn't notice any issues yesterday on a roughly 30% pwc. I'm assuming you didn't get some cloudy water and set off a little bacterial bloom from say gravel vacs? I have noticed the tap water change before - usually no issues though (eg kh decreases or very cloudy which clears in a few hours). Just some thoughts to kick off.

Edited by Delapool, 28 August 2016 - 03:13 PM.

[Poncho]

The fact that they're congregating at the surface indicates low dissolved oxygen or DO in the water column. I'd be agitating the surface - put the inlet of your canister just above the surface rather than an inch or two below. I assume that's what the pipe is in the top left hand Cnr of the pic.

Test your water to rule out ammonia and nitrites - problems occurring the day after a water change could indicate a crash in the filter but I'd expect the fish to be breathing heavy on the bottom or swimming normally and have inflamed gills - check that they aren't redder than normal.

I'm wondering whether during the water change that you increased the level of water in the tank above the inlet and thats why the DO has dropped to a level that creates problems. IF you have a very high temp +30 degrees this will also lower the oxygen levels

[Mattia]

What water conditioner are you using?

[sandgroper]

It's hard to tell from a photo but the water looks very still at the surface, reducing gas exchange. Increase surface movement to increase oxygen levels as the fish are suffocating.

[bigjohnnofish]

using common sense (which isnt actually that common these days) i f your fish are at the surface gasping - its because they cant get enough oxygen in to breathe..

 

1. dissolved oxygen level is low - as stated by a few people or 

2. your fishes gills are impaired way one or another... parasite infected to the point where they cannot get water flow in to extract oxygen they need... or their gills are burnt by exposure to ammonia or nitrite or even really high nitrates.... there are other chemicals that do this as well but rarely encountered in the aquarium...

 

i have been using prime for long time now and never have any problems.... there are other alternatives that do the same as prime..... and theres a lot of other water conditioners that just dont really cut it 100% of the time... you do need to cater for high levels of chlorine , ammonia and chloramines in our tap water these days.... 

[Buccal]

Water from the taps/house pipes and mains, is very deficient in oxygen also,,, if you don't skim the new water exiting, then it will take time till new water will hold oxygen after circulation in the tank,, possibly adding further oxygen issues.
Many points by others above are likely your issue I'd say. Oxygen.

[Bostave]

There might be few other reasons. Either the new water has higher tds which might have compromised the oxygen absorption. The fish seemed to respond well to additional aeration but return to gulping. That would suggest the although the oxygen concentration is increased there is something else that might be hampering is absorption. Nitrite poisoning comes to mind. Also the new water might have been subjected to excessive pressure than normal which have cause gas bubble disease.

[Buccal]

I've never seen high tds readings in scheme tap water supply before, since debates like these arose years ago, I've here and there quizzed other breeders, not often they had a clue what I was talking about, but the occasional new their stuff, and I received enough info to get a rough idea,,,,, There are areas around outer rural with alternate supplies, I have no idea on the make up there (water chem), but those deep holdings of deep green abyss's sometimes have cracka Marron that sets your heart a million miles an hour the second you see them,, some have long trailing skirts of plant matter growing on them,, bit like blue manna crabs from the depths of Frenchman bay in Albany.

It could be very well something else as Bostave has mentioned,,, the often case seen though, and does seem matching to be oxygen.
Tanks I've set up for my mates and my brother, they have got pretty good at fish keeping,,, but lol, time and time again they forget and something happens where the filter output drops or there's a disruption in flow/surface churning,,, this problem is so much so, it happens to me every known again, I'll see my fish gasping, that second I look at surface, usually the surface will not be sufficiently breaking for oxygen transference,,, the more heavier it's stocked (like mine), the more amplified the situation as bigger and more bodies demand more oxygen,,, Malawi tangs require a bit more oxygen than most also.

This is why I always advise, go into a local shop or online or whatever your go is, and get a cheap little wave maker and set at half inch below water level central to one end,,,, face your filter outputs the same way,,, the circulation will increase health expanansially and visual signs should be apparent with your fish looking even better.

[Bostave]

The efficiency of oxygen uptake by the gills might have been reduced. That is was I am guessing.

[Ageofaquariums]

Very common for people to top up aquariums higher, and thus reduce the surface agitation from filter outputs. Might be worth lifting output up a bit.

[Buccal]

Yes,,, that's what I also say, as well as (which I've done on my display) to put a small permanent black texter perfect water level line.
And secure your water outlets real well.
Set and forget.

[Chopstick_mike]

I do the same Buc

[Peckoltia]

This is a really underappreciated aspect of running K media in a sump. I can't overfill the display to a point where surface agitation will be an issue as water will just flow down into the sump. The tumbling of the K media also provides excellent oxygen diffusion. 

[Ageofaquariums]

Quite cool just how much water is usually oxygenated just falling into the sump

[Peckoltia]

Yes exactly. The water falling and tumbling into the sump + the additional water movement required to tumble my K media provides plenty of oxygenation in my sump, which is great for the beneficial bacteria in the sump and subsequently the inhabitants of the display once pumped back up.