New Tank, Confused On Cycling And One Fish Moving Mouth Rapidly

librarygirl said:

I did go to the Petstore and looked at the aeration bubbles but they seemed confusing.

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As i said, you dont need them but they are simple to setup, get an air pump, plug in tube, put one way valve in so water doesnt backflow, add more tube and stick air stone on the end, chuck in tank, turn on pump. job done. pretty bubbles, wooo.

have a read of all the stuff in the beginner's section at the top of this forum - a wealth of information which will provide you with some reasurance

librarygirl, what is your water temperature?

Hi,

I have a small adhesive thermometer on the outside of the tank. The brightest colored strip is at 75 degrees, so it's probably around there, give or take. The heater I bought doesn't seem to be adjustable so I'm guessing it's just holding that temperature.

I did check the fish again this morning (fed them, then did a small water change) and the fish is back to moving it's mouth more than the others seem to, although it doesn't seem to be as frantic as before. Plus it was just after I fed them and the water change. If it isn't the water making her do this then I'm at a loss as to what else it is. She does eat, so I would think if something was stuck in her mouth or throat she wouldn't be able to eat (plus she's one of the smaller ones I have and the gravel is larger than her mouth!). I'm just worried I'll lose her.

Thanks again for all the advice, you guys are awesome to share your experience with the rest of us!

Kitty Kat said:

librarygirl, what is your water temperature?

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Thanks Tizer. I'm still not sure I get it, lol. I saw these at PetCo: http/www.petco.com/product/6367/PETCO-Bubbling-Airstone.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch and also small blue things with open ends that seem to give off bubbles. I guess I'm not sure how to set it up and I want to be sure the bubbles aren't too strong for my fish (the filter I have seems to pump the water pretty good as it is, the fish can swim toward it but if they don't try hard enough they get pushed back, so I don't know if that's too strong but don't think there's a way to adjust it, it's the filter that came with the tank). So would I just buy that small airstone, some clear tubing and an air pump and attach the pump to the stone and the other end to the pump? That's how I'm envisioning it. Sorry if that's a dumb question lol

Tizer said:

librarygirl said:

I did go to the Petstore and looked at the aeration bubbles but they seemed confusing.

Click to expand...

As i said, you dont need them but they are simple to setup, get an air pump, plug in tube, put one way valve in so water doesnt backflow, add more tube and stick air stone on the end, chuck in tank, turn on pump. job done. pretty bubbles, wooo.

Click to expand...

I was able to hook up the air stone (very pretty effect, I must say!) and continuing with daily water changes.

The fish is still opening/closing its mouth though, I have no idea why now. It isn't hanging around the top anymore, it's swimming around, active, eating well. I'm wondering if something is wrong with its mouth? They move so fast it's hard to tell. Anything else it could be that I'm not aware of? It doesn't seem to be a frantic gasping, just the opening/closing motion but it never seems to really stop doing it for any length of time, whereas the other fish don't do it contiuously like this one does.

librarygirl said:

I have a small adhesive thermometer on the outside of the tank. The brightest colored strip is at 75 degrees, so it's probably around there, give or take. The heater I bought doesn't seem to be adjustable so I'm guessing it's just holding that temperature.

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Those are not acurate: they measure the temperature of the room and the glass, not the water. You would be better off replacing it with an alcohol thermometer (the sort that go inside the tank).
75 °F (23 °C) is a good temperature for zebra danios, I have found. I was asking because higher temperatures cause for less oxygen to be in the water, so that could have been a problem, but it is not as your temperature is not that high.

Thanks everyone. I have an update and some added questions (didn't want to muck up the boards with a new post):

I ended up upgrading to a 12 gal tank yesterday. I set it up on Thursday, let it run overnight. Tested both small tank and new tank water, both had same parameters and temp, so I cupped the fish over. After a few minutes of buzzing around nervously, they started exploring their new home and seemed happy, but other fish still moving its mouth, sometimes more rapidly than others, but since the move I've noticed it more (links to videos below)

Today after a 40% water change I noticed a few things:

1) the fish with the mouth issue is at it again, back to doing it constantly and fairly rapidly - links to video below. Also I noticed today she's not moving around much, hovering near the top. I have a filter which does move the water pretty good and I bought a larger airstone with the larger tank. The other 3 fish are swimming around some but are acting different than usual: they are schooling more today which usually they swim separately or in a group of 2 more often than not (although they are schooling fish, so, I don't know...) and even they have longer periods where they are hovering around the top and not moving much. [edit: they've stopped doing this for now, not sure what was going on earlier]

2) I have bubbles everywhere: microbubbles which seem to be coming from the filter (the part where the filtered water comes back into the tank) - see pics, larger bubbles attached to the filter and part of the heater (normal?) and bubbles at surface (they tend to pop fairly quickly). Good, bad?

3) Tiny hairs (?) floating in the tank - not many, but I've spotted a few - and some attached to the filter pump (the holed part that sucks up the water; tried to take a pic but my camera is pretty old so it wouldn't pick up the hairs). Also saw what looked like fluffy cottony stuff floating around and attached to some decor; removed with my fingers, hard to see what it is, but gross lol What are these things? is it normal? Should I do another water change? I have a cat, so I'm hoping they aren't cat hairs. The lid is always on and/or closed unless I change the water or feed and the cat has no interest whatsoever in the tank (I know, odd), and I try to make sure I rinse my hands before putting them in the tank, but hairs do cling, so maybe that' 'what they are? Although my cat isn't white. Anyone else have this? Do I need to treat it?

4) when I turned everything back on after the water change I heard a grinding noise coming from the filter. Somehow gravel had gotten in there. I removed it with my fingers, turned it on again, made the noise again, checked it and another piece of gravel in there. I also saw something small and black floating at the top near the pump so I took it out and it looks like a piece of plastic something had broken off, but I can't tell what. I checked the pump and there's no way gravel that large could fit in there....? Anyway, after a couple of tries it stopped but not sure what's happening there.

Additional info: tank hasn't yet cycled, been up for 3 weeks with fish (well, the old tank was up for over 3 weeks, this current one a few days, but parameters test the same). Daily water changes. Ammonia levels constant from 0-0.25, hard to tell with the coloring of the tube and the chart, but definitely nothing over 0.25 yet, no nitrates/nitrites at all, ph between 7.4-7.6 as of this morning. Any advice on this? Should it be taking this long to get nitrates?

Any advice? I want to help the fish if there's something wrong but I don't know what!

[edit] Did another water change this evening even though not sure if it was required but felt I had to do something. I also turned the light off. After a bit, all fish were swimming around, but the one that moves her mouth still does it (links to video below). Looks like something might be wrong with her mouth, almost like it's too big for her, like her bottom "lip" hangs out too far and i thought I saw a dark spot on the inside of her mouth on one side but hard to tell, could just be shadow, they move fairly quickly. She is getting chased a little (new tank, maybe they have to do the territory thing again) so maybe that's why she's isolating some. I don't know, but her mouth moving is what's bothering me the most. She also tends to hide more when the light is on (larger tank, more powerful light, maybe she doesn't like it? Is that possible?)

Pics attached of the bubbles (this was after the first water change; after the second, I didn't fill it as high so the filter can't be seen from the top of the water now) and one of my tank in general (I'm pretty proud of it lol) and links to the videos of the fish with the mouth issue (takes about 15-25 seconds into each video to get a good shot of her mouth) - sorry for the quality, taken with my old cheap non-smartphone, going to borrow the video cam from work next week, but for now at least you can see the way she moves her mouth:

VIDEO links to fish with mouth issue:

http/img580.imageshack.us/img580/33/b5e.mp4

http/img571.imageshack.us/img571/9093/3eyz.mp4

Thank you!!! (I thought aquariums were supposed to be relaxing lol )

Your fish seem to be fine to me. The yellow glofish is moving its mouth a bit more than usual but is swimming fine and is not in distress. It may have just developed the habit when the tank was first set up and the added gasping was a survival thing.
I noticed a couple of small points, reading through this thread. First is using Prime. Prime needs about as long to do its job as it takes to carry the water from your kitchen sink to the tank. There is no reason to leave it all day. Next is your new larger tank. Since you have added a new tank and filter, it would be best to move your partially matured filter over to that new tank too. That way any benefit the filter has had from being partly cycled will move with it. Bubbles everywhere is quite normal in a newly established tank. All of the water that was added came out of the faucet under pressure. When you take the pressure off, any dissolved gasses come out of solution much the same way a soda makes bubbles on the glass when you pour it. The bubbles are not a problem. I have no idea what the "hair" stuff is and hesitate to guess without a picture.
Do not expect to see any nitrites before 3 or 4 weeks. After that the nitrites will probably become the thing to control with daily water changes since the ammonia will start going to zero by itself.

OldMan47 said:

Your fish seem to be fine to me. The yellow glofish is moving its mouth a bit more than usual but is swimming fine and is not in distress. It may have just developed the habit when the tank was first set up and the added gasping was a survival thing.
I noticed a couple of small points, reading through this thread. First is using Prime. Prime needs about as long to do its job as it takes to carry the water from your kitchen sink to the tank. There is no reason to leave it all day. Next is your new larger tank. Since you have added a new tank and filter, it would be best to move your partially matured filter over to that new tank too. That way any benefit the filter has had from being partly cycled will move with it. Bubbles everywhere is quite normal in a newly established tank. All of the water that was added came out of the faucet under pressure. When you take the pressure off, any dissolved gasses come out of solution much the same way a soda makes bubbles on the glass when you pour it. The bubbles are not a problem. I have no idea what the "hair" stuff is and hesitate to guess without a picture.
Do not expect to see any nitrites before 3 or 4 weeks. After that the nitrites will probably become the thing to control with daily water changes since the ammonia will start going to zero by itself.

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Thank you so much! I did atcually place the old filter on top of the new one (the new filter is twice as long a the old, so they both wouldn't fit side by side, the new filter is already forming greenish gunky spots on it like the old one, I'm hoping that's good lol). The one that's breathing harder is being chased more for some reason since I put them in the new tank so maybe it's hiding b/c it's being picked on more. This happened in the other tank too, one fish targeted one other fish and after a few days they were fine, so hopefully that's what's happening a Glofish (I'm told) aren't usually aggressive; haven't noticed any biting or damaged fins.

Whew thank you so much!

In the beginning I was letting the water stand with Prime but then I read that Prime works quickly so I just add it to the bucket in the kitchen and take it to the tank. Now that the tank is larger I have to empy 2-21/2 buckets and then fill the tap bucket that many times to refill. Question: Why is my tank not cycling, or is it too soon? It's been 3 weeks total, although only a few days in the new tank. I know maybe the larger tank might stall things, but all readings have been constant (ammonia 0.25 or less, nitrates/nitrites 0, ph 7.4-7.6). I've been doing 40% water changes every day to make sure the ammonia isn't hurting the fish. I do a water change every day as habit and then test the water afterwards. Should I test the water before and if the ammonia levels are not over 0.25 should I not do a change and treat with Prime?

The white cottony stuff and hairs aren't easy to see and I only saw a couple of tufts when changing water. If it reappears I'll try to get a better photo.

[update] all fish swimming around well this morning and all ate (greedily!).

Thanks again!!

Have a close look at the fish being chased. If it is chubbier than the one chasing it, the issue is not one of aggression. Zebra danios, which glofish are derived from, are egg scatterers. They chase throughout a tank while the female drops eggs and the male follows to fertilize them. In my tank zebras are always breeding but I seldom see any fry. To find fry you need a bottom cover that prevents all fish from reaching the eggs. Otherwise they get eaten quite quickly. After a while the female will need to rest and refill with eggs before the fun begins again.