Murky water not going away, fish getting stressed & going to surface- help!

[Tiggerpal1989]

We have a fresh water tropical fish tank- 80L with the advised amount of fish. Have had it up and running for about 6 weeks with no dramas at all, last 24 hours it just won’t clear. We’ve lost a fish & the others are clearly stressed. 2x 40% water changes calms them down but only for a short while before they go back to the top and gasp for air. All the tests are showing fine & filer is clean, what am I missing?

 

[Rocky998]

We have a fresh water tropical fish tank- 80L with the advised amount of fish. Have had it up and running for about 6 weeks with no dramas at all, last 24 hours it just won’t clear. We’ve lost a fish & the others are clearly stressed. 2x 40% water changes calms them down but only for a short while before they go back to the top and gasp for air. All the tests are showing fine & filer is clean, what am I missing?

What is "fine" for the tests? I would put a small airstone in the tank as it may be a depletion of oxygen... What do you condition the water with when doing water changes?

 

[ember04]

mmh if test is all ok that's a little weird:
Could send a photo and post your water paraterter

 

[April_ht]

Did you cycle your tank before getting the fish? If not, here is a link to help; https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/

 

[Tiggerpal1989]

As in when we test water using aqua dip strips, all hardness/ nitrate/chlorine/alkalinity/ph levels showing correct. We treat the water with tetra aqua safe & fluval cycle bio enhancer as per instructions when we do water changes. From what I’ve read it looks like oxygen levels but can’t work out how else to get it down. Airstone is a good recommendation thank you.

 

[Tiggerpal1989]

Did you cycle your tank before getting the fish? If not, here is a link to help; https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/

Thanks, we had it running for 2 weeks & then took a sample in to local aquatic shop. Have added more in gradually over the last month. we added the last one in just under a week ago

 

[Byron]

Please give the numbers for all tests you can do. None of us knows what "correct" may mean.

There is something toxic in the water, this can be ammonia, nitrite, high nitrate, sudden pH shift, chlorine, toxins occurring from decor, substrate, lack of oxygen, increase in CO2. Water changes obviously helped, so do more of them. Provided the parameters--which refers to GH (hardness), pH and temperature--between tank water and tap water are basically the same, change 70-80% of the tank volume at one go. Use a conditioner, but do not add any other substances. Increase surfac e disturbance by positioning the filter so it ripples the surface strongly.

 

[Tiggerpal1989]

Please give the numbers for all tests you can do. None of us knows what "correct" may mean.

There is something toxic in the water, this can be ammonia, nitrite, high nitrate, sudden pH shift, chlorine, toxins occurring from decor, substrate, lack of oxygen, increase in CO2. Water changes obviously helped, so do more of them. Provided the parameters--which refers to GH (hardness), pH and temperature--between tank water and tap water are basically the same, change 70-80% of the tank volume at one go. Use a conditioner, but do not add any other substances. Increase surfac e disturbance by positioning the filter so it ripples the surface strongly.

Another good suggestion thank you, water out of the tap virtually the same as the tank. I’ve attached a photo of what we are testing against, sorry still quite new to all of this

 

[Byron]

Another good suggestion thank you, water out of the tap virtually the same as the tank. I’ve attached a photo of what we are testing against, sorry still quite new to all of this

Use this test for the numbers, and write them down each time so you have them to see changes, and you can give them to us if questions arise. The "OK" on that chart is very misleading for some of the tests, ignore it. Just ascertain the numbers.

Don't worry, we all had to go through this and learn. As I said, there is something seriously wrong with the water, and the numbers of these tests may help us find it.

 

[Naughts]

I strongly suspect ammonia. The test kit you have doesn't measure it. Can you get an ammonia test ? "Cycling" only begins when fish (or other ammonia source) are added. Read the link provided by @April_ht .
To dilute the toxic ammonia you need large (75%) daily water changes.
To reduce ammonia, cut back feeding to twice a week (this is absolutely fine for fish), and add live plants, preferably floating types.

 

[Tiggerpal1989]

I strongly suspect ammonia. The test kit you have doesn't measure it. Can you get an ammonia test ? "Cycling" only begins when fish (or other ammonia source) are added. Read the link provided by @April_ht .
To dilute the toxic ammonia you need large (75%) daily water changes.
To reduce ammonia, cut back feeding to twice a week (this is absolutely fine for fish), and add live plants, preferably floating types.

Thank you, I don’t have one at the moment but will be able to get one tomorrow. Currently switching out 75% of the water & will do the same tomorrow morning. We have live plants already, is there anything else I can add into help ease it?

 

[ember04]

yeah when first reading ops post ammonia burn sounded like the most obvious option to me

 

[Naughts]

Thank you, I don’t have one at the moment but will be able to get one tomorrow. Currently switching out 75% of the water & will do the same tomorrow morning. We have live plants already, is there anything else I can add into help ease it?

Great.
No, just the water changes to dilute it. However if you use Prime water conditioner instead of Aquasafe this will help protect the fish until the next water change.
Less food reduces the ammonia in the tank and floating plants absorb some of it.

 

[Rocky998]

I would highly recommend the API master test kit... It is more accurate that strip tests. About the "cycle" you did... You cannot just have a tank sit and then expect it to do good... There was no bacteria being built during that time to help with bio load. I highly suspect that this is a bacteria bloom and would be ok if there were no fish... I would do apx a 75% water change daily for a week maybe... Just to see if that helps

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Can you let us know exactly which fish and how many you have in the aquarium...along with when you added them too please

Reason for asking is that there are many (far too many) shops who suggest this and that and assure you all will be fine when infact the wrong fish, wrong number of fish and just plain bad advice has been given.

With what appears to be a lightly part cycled aquarium without accurate water chemistry testing, you might well be overstocking, have the wrong species suited to the aquarium type/size...all of which will inevitably lead to losses and other issues with the fish and water chemistry