why are all of my fish hanging out at the top?

[jifr]

Uuugh. I had a near disaster and I'm not sure my tank has recovered....

I came home one day last week to find my 75 gallon tank half empty. I had recently fiddled with the air pump and somehow caused one of the hoses to turn into a siphon and draw water out of the tank. I did not realize it until I got home from work.

I filled the tank back up, checked the filter and THOUGHT everything was ok.

I've noticed since then that the fish have been all hanging out at the top of the aquarium. The FROGS stay there about non-stop - which is sooo not normal for them.

I've checked all my levels. The nitrite and ammonia are off. (ammonia just off a bit....nitrites just about 5 {the tank was cycling})

I did not feed for 24 hours, then only fed once the next day and now smaller feedings twice per day.

I do not want to do a water change right now since I basically just added 50% water. I know the waste is building up but figured it could wait another week to get vacuumed.

Any ideas why the fish, especially the frogs, would be hanging out up at the top? Is there something else I should be doing ?

[Nautilus291]

usually when they hang out at the top it means they need more air in the water. do you have that air pump running now. You can buy anti siphoners for the air hoses.

[jeffs99dime]

your nitrites are at five????? that means it's maxed out! i'm going to say that's the problem right there. you need to change out another 50% or more a.s.a.p! that level is extremely deadly. then take another test of ammo, nitrite and nitrate. also, are your fish and frogs breathing faster than normal? lower your feeding to 1 time per day or less until your levels "zero out." you don't want to add "fuel to the fire" so to speak. do you have another tank you can put your fish and frogs in the meantime? i would advise it if you can do it! if you can get the fish to a safer tank, i would also siphon all the detritous (waste) out of the gravel and clean 1of your filters if they're dirty. don't clean both because you still want some of the beneficial bacteria to remain. let's us know what happens.--jeff

[Nautilus291]

lol wow i totally missed that line.

[jifr]

hmmm. Well...I read that the nitrites could get up to 10 in a cycling tank so I didn't think much of it. The pH level and everything else seems to be ok.

No one seems to be acting out of breath or anything...except the major hanging out at the top the frogs are doing.

I still have a bubble wand plugged in and it is going just fine.

I think the tank is near the end of its cycle - the water is not so cloudy looking but it's not crystal clear yet either.

I'll check the levels tomorrow and then vacuum/water change...I'll check the levels again the day after and let you know how things are looking.

Thankies for your feedback.

[jeffs99dime]

no problem. just keep on top of it and have patience- key to fishkeeping!:ezpi_wink1:

[Lady Hobbs]

Nitrites are 5 ! Holy Moly. Jeff is right. Do a 50% now and you may have to do another tomorrow to get it down there. As much as I hate aquarium salt, it will keep nitrites from getting too toxic.

[jifr]

well - all appears to be as it should!

nitrites are at .25, ammonia just about nill, pH 6.8.....

I tested everything before I changed out 25% of the water....

I'll test everything again tomorrow and make sure it's all balancing out.

[jeffs99dime]

glad to hear it. congrats. just remember that ammonia AND nitrites should both be at 0. good job! --jeff