swimming on the top of water

[stesch_s10]

Alright i just changed my water i took about 9-10 gallons out of my 20 gallon. and i put all the drops and stress zyme drops. and now 7 out of my 11 fish are swimming at the top of the tank like they need air or food. what the hell are they doing? they never did that before when i took the water out and changed it... thanks
i have one albino catfish for cleaning and such. should i get another catfish to clean with him or not? thanks

 

[jams.alaskan]

to the forum.
What type of filtration do you have?
How long ahve you had the tank set up?
What are your levels for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?
When did you last add fish?

If you can post the answers to these questions perhaps someone here can narrow it down for you.

Did you make sure the temp of the water you added was the same as the temp in the tank?

ALASKA

 

[snowyangel]

You added enough de-chlorinator?? Increase your airation if possible or drop the water level by a few inches if you can.
Keep us updated, sounds threatening to your fish

 

[StevieJack]

I hope you are not adding stress zyme drops to remove chlorine; even stress coat is a bit too much for that.

2 tea spoons of stress zyme per 10 gallons are plenty.
I don’t think you need to add this on each water change.

This is an additive that can speed up the cycling process and it should be used carefully.

How often do you use stress zyme and how much do you use?

Also with 50% water changes, be careful of the temperature differences.

Stevie

 

[noelberg]

50% water changes can often be stressful to the fish in my experience. Especially if the water temperature is not the same, or if too little or too much dechlorinator was added. I don't know exactly what the dechlorinators do chemically, so I don't know if they could have an oxygen-sapping effect like carbon? (that's going way out on a limb). IMO, that large of a water change is only useful in emergency situations. If the tank is just dirty, then two 25%'s within 2 days is a better approach. But that's just my opinion since I haven't fared super well with large water changes - my best friend only does large water changes and has good luck with them.

As for the catfish, if you're talking about albino cories, then I definitely recommend getting at least 1 or 2 more. They like to shoal, and they are usually more fun to watch when there's a group - busiest fish I've ever seen.

HTH