Fish Swimming On Their Side

[Seal36]

Hi guys I have just changed my gravel to sand this morning and since then some of the fish and my Plecoptera have been swimming on their side at the top of the tank gasping for air and I don't know what has caused this from Tom

 

[Lunar Jetman]

If you left the fish in or put them straight back in the water you took the gravel out of you've likely released all the nasties that were trapped in the gravel from decaying waste, food, etc.

I'd immediately change 80% of the water now and then do 50% tomorrow and Sunday. Last time someone on here did this they lost a fair proportion of their fish so good luck.

 

[Seal36]

So far I have lost 5 already and yes my nitrate went from 0 to 20. I have just done a 80% water change. And will do a 50% Saturday and Sunday to bring it back down. It looks like they are getting on better now that I have done the water change but I did the water change just now did another test and it came back at 20 again does it take time to go or not.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

I really wouldn't worry about Nitrates unless you're getting over 80ppm. It's Nitrites and Ammonia that you need to keep at 0.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Hi guys I have just changed my gravel to sand this morning and since then some of the fish and my Plecoptera have been swimming on their side at the top of the tank gasping for air and I don't know what has caused this from Tom

 
 
Just a side note, Plecotera is actually a type of Stonefly according to Wiki.
 
http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plecoptera
 
You might be better off using the correct name of Plecotomus ( we usually call them Pleco for short) for your fish.
 
http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plecostomus
 
Unless of course you actually have Plecotera...........

 

[Seal36]

Ok well hopefully the rest of the fish will recover and every time I type pleco into here it changes it to Plecoptera so I just presumed that it was its scientific name from Tom

 

[fluttermoth]

Did you take the fish out of the tank to do the change?

What percentage of new water went in, and did you remember to dechlorinate it?

Have you tested for ammonia and nitrite?

Did you change anything in the filter?

 

[Seal36]

No I could not take the fish out of the tank as there was no where to out them.

80% water change and yes I dechlorinate it.

Yes I checked the ammonia and nitrite and both are at 0

I replaced the white sponge in there as it was really dirty but I left the carbon one in.

 

[fluttermoth]

It sounds like you stirred up something from the gravel. I know it's too late now, but I would never recommend changing substrate with the fish in (did it myself once and that caused my one and only ich outbreak

) The fish would have been fine in a bucket while you did the changeover.

Is the white sponge an actual sponge, or floss? What % of the total filter media is it?

I'm really, really sorry for your losses 

 

[Seal36]

That's ok it can't be helped its a super fine pad is what it says on the packet and it's only about 25% of the filter sponge and that's ok everything seems to settle down but when I do the top tank I can move the fish out as there aren't that many in there.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

The "dirty" white sponge might have also had a sizable good bacteria colony in it if it had been in the filter for some time (eg. more than a few weeks), along with the old gravel, look out for toxin spikes in the coming days and in the meantime try and have more water surface rippling than normal (to keep oxygen levels good while the bacteria colonies try and rebuild).
 
You can use the same pads.sponges for years, just give them a squeeze/rinse in removed tank water.
 
Sorry for your losses.

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, we usually say that you can safely remove up to 25% of the filter media without causing issues, and that substrate doesn't contain enough bacteria to impact a cycle, but the combination of doing both at once may well have been too much

 

[Seal36]

I have lost 11 fish in total but it all seems to be tetras and small fish like that I have lost

3 gold tetra
5 neon tetra
1 black phantom tetra
2 mountain minnow

Is there anything else that could cause mass death like this that only affects the small tetra species because the pleco was in a really bad way he was belly up and he has recovered fairly well from Tom

 

[Ch4rlie]

sorry for your losses.
 
Lets hope no more will be affected. 

 

[Seal36]

Yeah it is sad but I was a little overstocked as it was which most likely did not help.

In the tank at the minute I have
6 platy (2,4,0)
2 guppy (1,1,0)
6 five banded barbs (5,1,0)
3 black neons (0,0,3) (surprised they did not die)
4 black phantom tetra (3,1,0)
1 mountain minnow (0,0,1)
3 honey gourami (2,1,0)
2 apistogramma cacatuoides (1,1,0)
1 pleco (0,0,1) ( hope he makes it)

Thinking ahead if my levels level out by Monday when do you think I could start adding new fish i was thinking not this Monday but next Monday. Also how many more fish would you add to the tank or do you think it is fully stocked from Tom