Fish around surface

[itiwhetu]

Bring the temperature down and see if that helps.

 

[Jamesthecat]

I’m on the case - thanks everyone

 

[Jamesthecat]

Thanks all for the help - slowly dropped the temp and adjusted the heaters to take into account the dodgy probe and they’ve moved from the top of the water already...

Lights off and everyone to bed...

 

[Colin_T]

A temperature of 27C is not going to stress African Rift Lake cichlids.

I need pictures and video of the fish that are hanging out under the surface.

I see one of the fish has clamped fins and that could be water quality or external protozoan infections. Pics of the fish will help.

Gill flukes, poor water quality, or low oxygen levels will cause fish to gasp at the surface or hang around filter outlets. If it happens after a water change, then it's probably chlorine/ chloramine in the new water, combined with low oxygen levels caused by the water being under pressure in the water pipes.

Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

You need to increase the GH of your water. Rift Lake cichlids need a GH above 250ppm and preferably over 300ppm for Lake Malawi fish and over 350ppm for Lake Tanganyika fish.

 

[Jamesthecat]

Ill take one in the morning I don’t want to freak the entire tank out by using a flash ;ow the lights are off.

yes dechlorinate prior to using

 

[Jamesthecat]

A temperature of 27C is not going to stress African Rift Lake cichlids.

I need pictures and video of the fish that are hanging out under the surface.

I see one of the fish has clamped fins and that could be water quality or external protozoan infections. Pics of the fish will help.

Gill flukes, poor water quality, or low oxygen levels will cause fish to gasp at the surface or hang around filter outlets. If it happens after a water change, then it's probably chlorine/ chloramine in the new water, combined with low oxygen levels caused by the water being under pressure in the water pipes.

Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

You need to increase the GH of your water. Rift Lake cichlids need a GH above 250ppm and preferably over 300ppm for Lake Malawi fish and over 350ppm for Lake Tanganyika fish.

thanks for the info -a GH of over 300ppm seems high compared to the info I’ve studied up on from books and online

 

[Colin_T]

Lake Malwai has a GH over 300ppm.
Lake Tanganyika has a GH over 400ppm.

Captive bred fishes will tolerate a lower GH but it still needs to be above 250ppm for Lake Malawis and over 300ppm for Tanganyikans.