help my fish are behaving odd

[newkie]

ive just noticed that all my fish were at the top of the tank and when i looked closer it looks like there breathing realy fast, so ive droped the water level so that the filter is spiting water out above the water line (its normaly just below the surfice) and cheeked it wasn't blocked, but this hasn't seemed to help the only fish that look ok are my 2 kissing fish and the pleco.
please help with what i can do.
thanks newkie

[jwurm]

umm... maybe check the levels of NO2, NO3, & Amm in your tanks. Maybe your cycle is messed up somehow

[sailor]

Check your water temp as well.

[newkie]

my water temp is 24c about 75F at the moment the only testers i have are the tetra strips and they say the NO3 and the NO2 r at 0, it dont say about the ammonia

[Adrian]

Almost sounds as if they are oxygen starved. The pleco and gouramis get air from going to the surface to breath. Something doesn't seem right. I would clean your filter media a bit, and see if you can pump more water thru. Also, if you can, I would add an airstone. If they settle down, then there is something that is removing oxygen, but don't know what yet....just a suggestion.

[NickFish]

They are oxygen deprived.

This could be caused by:


Too many fish in the tank

Not enough surface movement

Water too warm

Too much nitrite/nitrate in the water


What kind of filtration do you have, what are your nitrite/nitrate levels, have and how big is your tank? For your stocking a 75 gallon would be minimum, 150 gallons if that pleco is common. The first thing I would do is increase your water changes.

[fishfanatic33]

Ditto Nick!

[Nautilus29]

How long has your tank been setup?

[newkie]

its only hapened inthe last 2-3 hrs they have bin fine for the last 4 months i havent added any thing new which is why im so puzzled that theve just started to act like this