Fishes weird behavior

[Barry Tetra]

Hi again.

I haven’t posted for almost a week now, I have ton of exams...and probably not be online as much as I used to, back to the topic,
There’s this nightmare 53 gal tank that have 2 plecos, an angelfish, 2 kubotai loaches, clownloach and a silver dollar.

I normally do a daily water change on this tank because how overstocked it is, the fishes are quite happy begging for food as normal but today they started a weird behavior;
Silver dollar hiding in a corner, loaches hiding in the pvc tube, pleco float for a second and then get down over and over and every fishes in the tank doesn’t eat.

Water parameters are 0, 0, 20

Should I move the fish to QT tank and get rid of substrate cause I feel like theres some nasty stuff under the substrate even though I vacuumed it.

 

[Colin_T]

If you gravel clean the substrate regularly it is unlikely to be that.

Have you tested the tank water and well water for anything and everything?

If you did a water change yesterday and this started today, it's probably from the water change.

 

[mark4785]

If you normally do a daily water change but now don’t I would guess that extra detritus and rotten food has built up in the filter which the fish are not accustomed to. From experience, if fish are not eating while the ammonia and nitrite is 0 ppm, they usually have an internal bacterial infection. I would say this especially the case with your fish since there will be more harmful bacteria than usual due to the lack of water changes.

I recommend you do a 80% water change and treat the tank with anti-bacterial treatment such as Waterlife Myxazin.

 

[TMAllen]

If you gravel clean the substrate regularly it is unlikely to be that.

Have you tested the tank water and well water for anything and everything?

If you did a water change yesterday and this started today, it's probably from the water change.

Gravel cleaning seems to be something that people don't think about. I don't know if this is the reason for this person's fish malady, but often people do 'water changes' that don't include a bit of 'vacuuming' as in running a syphon along the top and into the substrate. There is usually a store of uneaten food and fish poop there that might be messing things up.

 

[Barry Tetra]

If you gravel clean the substrate regularly it is unlikely to be that.

All of this happens after I do substrate cleaning, I normally clean the substrate once a month because of what I read from Walstad method and it seems disastrous now, what should I do?

TBH, after trying a bunch of planted tank with Walstad method, it seems like plants are not quite happy, fishes are not hapoy as well.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

All of this happens after I do substrate cleaning, I normally clean the substrate once a month because of what I read from Walstad method and it seems disastrous now, what should I do?

TBH, after trying a bunch of planted tank with Walstad method, it seems like plants are not quite happy, fishes are not hapoy as well.

From what little I know about the Walstad method (and it is only a little) it relies on very lightly stocked tanks. I doubt it would work on very overstocked tanks I'm afraid.

But the plants wouldn't have done any harm.

 

[Colin_T]

I recommend you do a 80% water change and treat the tank with anti-bacterial treatment such as Waterlife Myxazin.

Don't add medication unless you know what the problem is. Then use an appropriate medication for the disease.

Half the people that come onto forums asking for help have added all sorts of medications and most of the time their fish don't have a disease and the problem is caused by poor water quality.

---------------------

All of this happens after I do substrate cleaning, I normally clean the substrate once a month because of what I read from Walstad method and it seems disastrous now, what should I do?

TBH, after trying a bunch of planted tank with Walstad method, it seems like plants are not quite happy, fishes are not happy as well.

Have you got something in the substrate for plants?
If you do, it could be releasing something into the water when you do the gravel clean.

If you do have some sort of plant substrate, and the problem occurs after a gravel clean, then it is the substrate. Your best bet is to do a big water change now and each day for a few days to dilute whatever has been released into the water.

If you have a plant fertiliser or plant soil in the tank, do not gravel clean it.

 

[Barry Tetra]

No, I don’t have any fertilizer and soil substrate in the tank, just regular pea gravel.

What are the best solution right now?

 

[Colin_T]

water change each day until they act normal again.

pea gravel shouldn't be an issue, just gravel clean it once a week instead of once a month.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Everyone, I need help, how many disease can human get from doing a water changes?

I got a fungus infected and rash on my arm after water changes.

 

[Colin_T]

The only disease you can get is Fish TB and you only get that if you have open sores/ cuts on your skin and stick you hand in a tank that has Fish TB.

Some fish medications can cause skin irritation on some people but its uncommon, and extremely rare if you wash your hands and arms with soapy water after working in a tank.

If your well water has become contaminated, you might be reacting to that.

If you ingest fish tank water and there is harmful protozoan parasites in it, you can get sick. But most of the parasites that are harmful to people come from human waste. So unless someone is pooping in your tank, it's unlikely you will catch anything from the aquarium.

There are no fungal infections people can catch from fish.

 

[TMAllen]

Don't add medication unless you know what the problem is. Then use an appropriate medication for the disease.

Half the people that come onto forums asking for help have added all sorts of medications and most of the time their fish don't have a disease and the problem is caused by poor water quality.

---------------------

Have you got something in the substrate for plants?
If you do, it could be releasing something into the water when you do the gravel clean.

If you do have some sort of plant substrate, and the problem occurs after a gravel clean, then it is the substrate. Your best bet is to do a big water change now and each day for a few days to dilute whatever has been released into the water.

If you have a plant fertiliser or plant soil in the tank, do not gravel clean it.

'Don't add medication unless you know what the problem is. Then use an appropriate medication for the disease.' There are so many reasons why to hold off on medicines in a tank. Of course, if you wait too long, things can be bad in the other direction. But, this is good advice.

 

[mark4785]

Don't add medication unless you know what the problem is. Then use an appropriate medication for the disease.

Half the people that come onto forums asking for help have added all sorts of medications and most of the time their fish don't have a disease and the problem is caused by poor water quality.

---------------------

Have you got something in the substrate for plants?
If you do, it could be releasing something into the water when you do the gravel clean.

If you do have some sort of plant substrate, and the problem occurs after a gravel clean, then it is the substrate. Your best bet is to do a big water change now and each day for a few days to dilute whatever has been released into the water.

If you have a plant fertiliser or plant soil in the tank, do not gravel clean it.

Im of the opinion that it is an internal bacterial infection so advised accordingly. It is not going to be possible to know if this is the case 100% without the OP sending the fish to a vet. The OP has indicated 0 readings for ammoni, nitrite and nitrate so it is not a nitrogen cycle issue. My original advice is to treat for an internal bacterial infection since the prime symptom of this is that the fish stops eating and there will have been a definite build up in bacteria due to the lack of water changes. A return to regular water changes is highly advisable as well.

 

[Barry Tetra]

1 common pleco died, every fishes behavior seems back to normal.

I personally don’t think well water have to do with these considering I do a water changes on discus tank before this one.

Thanks for your help, everyone!