Fish Swimming At Top Of Tank

[Disco_Stu]

Hi All,

just thought I'd see if anyone could shed some light on a problem I've just noticed with my fish. In the last couple of days they've all taken to swimming at the top of the tank.

Now, I did a water change two days ago so I'm not sure that has had any bearing on it.

One thing I should point out is that I do think that we have too many fish for our tank size. We have a roughly 34 gallon tank which has been used for a few years. We were donated it a couple of months ago and run it the same as before.

We currently have a combination of neons, cardinals, guppies, guarmis, blue widows, 1 pleco, 1 silver shark (which I know should be with more and in a bigger tank) and mollies. All in all roughly about 35-40 fish. Now going on the 1 inch of fish per gallon, we worked it out (roughly of course) that we were only just over this principle.

That being said, we are experiencing the odd loss here and there.

since I'm a newbie to the whole tropical fish thing I got some limited advice from my lfs. I must admit, they did not suggest half of the things that are mentioned on this forum so now that I've discovered it, I'm panicking that I may have made some bad decisions.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

have they all got they're mouths to the surface of the water? if so they need more air in the water, open the tank lid if it has one, if you haven't got an air pump get one, if you have then turn it on, re-position your filter outlet so it breaks the surface of the water, all of these will help

 

[Disco_Stu]

Yes they do seem to all have their mouths to the surface. OK so oxygen seems to be the problem.

Is there any other way to get oxygen into the tank other than an air pump?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

surface agitiation is the name of the game, so move your filter outlet so it's level with or above the surface of the water so it breaks it up as much as possible, this will get more air in, but an air pump is really your best option, you can get them for about £5/10, don't worry about getting anything fancy. if you don't like the look of it remember it doesn't have to be on all the time, just when they need it, in hot weather they're pretty much essential.

 

[babybell911]

yes agitate the surface get the water from the pump to break the watersurface he more agitation on the surface of the water the more it oxygenates your water goodluck

 

[Disco_Stu]

Magic, that's great guys. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

no problem, good luck

 

[MtbGirl]

since I'm a newbie to the whole tropical fish thing I got some limited advice from my lfs. I must admit, they did not suggest half of the things that are mentioned on this forum so now that I've discovered it, I'm panicking that I may have made some bad decisions.

I feel your pain, I feel the same about my LFS... I think from now on I will be coming here for advice, instead of asking them!!

surface agitiation is the name of the game, so move your filter outlet so it's level with or above the surface of the water so it breaks it up as much as possible, this will get more air in, but an air pump is really your best option

On the subject of filters and air pumps, we have both in my son's tank. The filter is just above the water, creating a slight waterfall effect. The air pump is on 24/7. There are always bubbles at the top of the tank, they almost look foamy (trust me, we have not used any household chemicals in the tank).

Are we giving our fish too much air?? Is that possible?? Also, are we creating too strong of a current for them??

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yup a lot of lfs's are rubbish!

depends on what fish you have if the current is too strong, post your stocking.

doubt if your giving your fish too much oxygen, but if you have live plants there might be too much oxygen and not enough Co2 for them to thrive

 

[MtbGirl]

We have 4x neon tetras, 4x black neon tetras, 4x glowlite tetras, and 1x Chinese algae eater. We don't have live plants. The fish seem okay, but they seem to hang out mostly on each side of the tank, where the plants are. Only a few hang out in the middle of the tank. I don't know if it's because the current is too strong in the middle, or if some of the fish just prefer to hide.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok, do you know the chinese algae eaters can be serious tank busters. they can get upwards of 12" long so I'd recommend re-homing it.

as for the fish all being on one side i can't see it being the current, they're just hanging out where the cover is, lots of fish like it. I'd get 2 more of each sort of tetra, they do much betetr in groups of 6 or more, they're probably a bit scared cos they're not in a proper shoal. this may bring them out into the open a bit.

 

[Scotty87]

Would 6 x black neon tetras, 6x glowlite tetras and 6x neon tetras be ok for 7 gallon tank (as stated in MtbGirl's signature)?

Just wondering as I've got a 10 gallon and am still deciding on what to stock.

Thanks

 

[Miss Wiggle]

oh god yeah it's 7g, sorry thought it was 15, must be thinking of someone else's i was talking about! my mistake.

no that would be pushing it, with a decent filter and a good maintenance schedule I think you could have 2 of those shoals.

 

[Scotty87]

Ok, I thought so. Just wanted to make sure!

Thanks

 

[MtbGirl]

ok, do you know the chinese algae eaters can be serious tank busters. they can get upwards of 12" long so I'd recommend re-homing it.

as for the fish all being on one side i can't see it being the current, they're just hanging out where the cover is, lots of fish like it. I'd get 2 more of each sort of tetra, they do much betetr in groups of 6 or more, they're probably a bit scared cos they're not in a proper shoal. this may bring them out into the open a bit.

Yeah, I found that out yesterday from a different LFS employee... But he also told me when Herbie (the algae eater) gets too big we could bring him back and exchange him for a smaller one. He said pet shops love having big algae eaters. We'll see what happens at the time. We did warn my son that Herbie might get too big and may need to be replaced, he seemed okay with that. For now he's still very small.

Yesterday the guy I spoke to at the LFS did tell me we're on the cusp of overstocking the tank (another item the salesgirl failed to mention when she sold us the fish in the first place) but with regular water changes the fish should be okay.

The girl who sold us the fish had also said the tetras are all pretty similar and would school together. Some of the black neons and glowlites hang together, the neons basically stay in their own group. Obviously we can't add anymore fish, we will have to leave things as they are for now.

Let's just hope they don't reproduce!!!

All I know is, we will do our best to keep these fish healthy, and when we need advice we will definitely be coming here.