no oxygen in tank

[jenny124]

i have a fish tank and i have had it for about 3 weeks and all of a sudden my fish are stayin at the top even my mountain shrimps! my mum said that there is no oxygen in the tank thats why they are staying at the top of the tank for air. i have a filter but no plants my filter sounds like it is workin n looks like its workin but it isnt movin the water should i take my pump apart and clean it even hough i only cleaned it last week or/and should i get a real plant to put in the tank to give it some more oxygen

 

[appleblossom]

can you move the filter up inside the tank so that the water outlet breaks the surface of the water? this would create more surface movement and help to oxygenate your tank.

Have you checked the temperature of the water? maybe your heater is faulty and your fish are too hot?

are your water parameters all normal?

 

[jenny124]

ive checked my heater and it is the right temp it as always been they fish seem to stay near the heater so it cant be the heater but i will try the filter thing thanks!!

 

[clutterydrawer]

how many fish do you have, and what is the surface area of the tank? also - you say the fitler isn't moving the water, did it use to move the water, or has it never done that?

 

[jenny124]

i have 8 fish and 2 shrimps. well when you put the food in it like moved the food in circles but it didnt do it all of a sudden so i put my filter up 2 break the water i have broken the water and the food seems to be moving again but not the same as it were. how long will it take for the oxygen to be in the water?

 

[clutterydrawer]

oxygen will start dissolving into the water as soon as the surface is broken. what are the fish, and whats the tank's surface area? (im trying to work out if there will be a long-term problem with oxygen levels)

 

[keeper-of-fish]

Ok from your responses iam guessing your filter is a type of power saying it is breaking the water surface to increase the water movement. Buy a air pump and some airline tubeing and a air stone it will help u have even more oxygen I had the same problem many years ago and my fish eventually stopped gasping for air once I did this I now have a bubble wall works good to aerate the aquarium.

 

[clutterydrawer]

although seeing as the tank has only been set up for three weeks there may be a different reason for th gasping than oxygen defficiency

is the tank cycled?