my fish are gasping for air!!

[rosie T.]

Hey everyone! My fish seem to be swimming at the suurface a lot lately. They don't usually stay there, but now... most of them are just hanging out there! My tank has been set up for 3 months now and I have 1 molly, 3 tetras, and a little cory cat. (It's a 10 gallon by the way). I've been checking my water parameters lately and everything is perfect!
One thing though....I live in San Francisco and we're having a heat wave. I mean, it's soooooooooooo hot out here! Do you guys think that's the problem? Maybe they're not getting enough oxygen? What should I do?

 

[Flippin'thing bit me eye]

Firstly you need to get an airline in there, anything to displace the surface, if you dont have a seperate pump then angle your filter in a way that it breaks the surface.
How hot is the tank water, if its way high then try floating some ice in the tank but be sure to put it in a watertight container cos you dont want any raw tapwater in your tank when the ice melts.

 

[smb]

Do 5% daily water changes.


Put a plastic bottle that is full of water into the freezer and when it's frozen put it in the tank.

If you have a lot of surface agitation, tie a string around the top of it and put the glass aquarium top on the other end so it can't float around. Works everytime.

 

[Phase2]

Ive had this before too. get the temp down..... adn get air into the water smb's suggestion is great and not one I'd heard before...switch off your heater (obviously) and get the filter to break to water surface to agitate the water. also invest in an airstone if you done have one. Moving water will cool quicker too!!!
Keep an eye on the tempreture and if it falls below 75 then turn on the heater to keep it there.

Basically get the water moving asap..clean you filter out .....and let us know how it goes.
PS we rarely get this problem in the UK.....LOL)

 

[reg2k2]

Switching off the heater shouldn't be necessary, as it sh. only kick in when needed.
Might try switching off the lights, tho...

 

[rosie T.]

Thanks everyone! I THOUGHT that my problem was because of the heat. But San Francisco weather is so unpredictable!!! Our heat wave has now come to halt, but my fish are still acting funny.So far I've done a partial w/c and they were doing fine for a bit. I didn't turn off the heater since it shuts off automaticall, and I knew that this heat wave wouldn't last.
But now my water is so cloudy!!! Why is that? This is so irritating!!! =) It wasn't like that before, and it got cloudy after I did the w/c. Actually, 24 hours I did it. Is it a bacterial bloom? Because I've had this tank set up for 3 months now.
My water parameters are all ok, it's just that my water is cloudy. Actually, more like foggy. I don't see any particles floating around, but I can see a layer of white at the top of the water's surface and it's just everywhere. I can barely see my fish at the back of the tank.
Is it my filter? It seems to be working. I just don't know!!! Should I do another water change when I just did one yesterday?

 

[rosie T.]

Another thing.... my fish are acting a bit sluggish. They're usually swimming around a lot, but they're acting pretty slow. Hmmmm

 

[Phase2]

When did you last clean your filter???

 

[gadazobe]

Sometimes in a heatwave the water authorities use extra additives in the water. Is it possible that this is what has happened?