fish gasping after water change

[cutechic]

i just did a 20% water change after using a magna swwep to clean off the algae from the sides of my 5 gallon. then i added the proper dosage of stress zyme and water clarifier. the water i added had the same parameters as the water being removed from the tank, and the temperature was the same, too.

now all three fish (two white clouds and a black neon) are hovering at the back of the tank, and they look like they're gasping for air: their mouths are rapidly opening and closing.

what should i do?

 

[cutechic]

sumone from another forum suggested that the problem may be the water clarifier

 

[Jamnog]

airate the water parhaps. hmm did you follow the instructions? have you got live plants in the water? the magna sweep is that the magnetic alge cleaner?

 

[cutechic]

my air stone isnt working

yes i did excactly as the instructions said.

nope, no live plants

and yes, the magna sweep is the magnet used for cleaning aquariums. . . it was my first time using it. could there have been chemicals or something on it?

 

[reg2k2]

How about a water conditioner? Water supplies usu. have chlorine/chloramine added, which needs to be neutralized before adding water to the tank.

What's wrong w/ the airstone? Does the filter move the surface of the water?

 

[Jamnog]

well for a 5 gallon i would sugest that the airstone would be important depending on the size of your fish. the chemicals could highlight another problem but if you have folowed the instructions as im shure you have then i would hope they should be benifisial. reg2k knows what he is talking about when it comes to some brands more than me as i avoid them i think it may be important to put the airline in on its own if the airstone is not letting the air through or to buy a new one as they will need oxiginated water to do well. gasping at the water if there colour is still ok is more than likely they are not getting enough from the plants and surface. if you have more than 5 inches of fish it may be over crouding. if you can add some live plants floating canadien pond weed should be finenothing too big but something that will take the nitrates and oxigenate. also what sort of filter do you use.

 

[steve-0]

the fish could just be stressed out from the disturbance. If the problem persits then you know its something else. Airation is always good.

 

[cutechic]

i used the water conditioner the same way i always do. . . never experienced any problems with it before.

the airstone just stopped working one day, a week or two after i bought it. my lfs still hasnt got more airstones in, and i just found out yesterday that i could have the air hose aerating the water without an airstone on the end.

i have 6 inches of fish for the 5 gallon. . . an inch too much, i know. but the fish never had any problems before, and they've lived there for a year.

the filter is one that came with the tank. . . Marineland Hex 5 System. it has a biowheel.

their colouring is fine. i did a large water change again, but didnt add the stress zyme or the water clarifier, and the fish dont seem to be gasping as much. they are inactive when the aquarium light is off, and really hyperactive when the light is on.

 

[Alia]

Is water clarifier a chlorine/chloramine remover, like reg2k2 asked? And do you put the chemicals in the water before you add it to the aquarium or after? I always neutralize my water first, before I add it to the aquarium. It isn't clear in your post how you go about it. I would be careful about adding plain tap water to your tank, especially without a lot of air going in (helps the bad gases to be released, I believe.)

I've had airstones stop working, too, but it may not be necessary if the filter is working properly. It may be, as steve-0 said, that they were just a little freaked out. Let the dust settle a while and see how they look.

 

[Jamnog]

well if they are getting better, you have the water oxigenated, used the chemicals as directed, have the water properly filtered, the tank is not overstocked and ...hmm some one posted while i was writing.... then that only leaves a sharp shock like someone slamming a door as far as i know but then there could be allot of other things that i dont know about. best of luck if they start to get bad again then

 

[cutechic]

i use the water conditioner before adding the water to my tank. the water conditioner removes both chlorine and chloramine.

then i add the new water, and add the corect dosage of stress zyme, to aid the filter.

this was the first time i've used the water clarifier, which clumps small particles so they can be removed by the filter (i added this because i had a lot of algae in the tank, and it was clouding the water)

thx for all the advice and support guys

i think i'll go on the safe side and get a new air stone, cuz it can't hurt.