Fish swimming at top of tank after cleaning out media sponges

**crmpicco** · 11-05-2011, 09:56 PM

Hi,

I squeeze and rinsed out the two media sponges, that reside inside my filter, in the tank water this morning before doing a 50% water change. Before I done the water change the water was quite congested with occupants of the media (waste etc).

After doing the water change, de-chlorinating the water and putting the filter/pump back on the water settled and became clear again after a few hours.

However, since the water has settled I have noticed my 5 year old goldie "Jack" has been up the top of the tank for most of the time. I also have a small shubunkin in the tank who seem to be unaffected.

Do you think there is an issue with the amount of waste that was floating around in the tank earlier this morning?

Any other idea why Jack is spending most of his time up the top of the tank? :/

I should point out that I am currently treating the fish for White Spot (every four days as advised on the bottle)

Some details on my tank are:

one 5 year old comet
one 2 month old shubunkin
3 live plants
constant filtered/pumped water
temp 18-20 degress celsius
Hagen Tropiquarium 68 tank

Thanks,
Picco

**Aeonflame** · 11-05-2011, 10:01 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong.... Did you squeeze the sponges inside the tank?

**crmpicco** · 11-05-2011, 10:05 PM

Originally Posted by Aeonflame

Correct me if I'm wrong.... Did you squeeze the sponges inside the tank?

Yes, sorry if I was unclear. I have been told to never run the sponges under the tap.

**Cliff** · 11-05-2011, 10:08 PM

What most of us do is remove some water from the tank into a clean bucket that has never had any soap or cleaners in it before. Then we will clean the filter media in the bucket of old tank water. When done, just dumping the the bucket in the drain and fill the tank back up with freash water and dechlorinater

**Aeonflame** · 11-05-2011, 10:09 PM

You are right.. never rinse the media with tap water.

However, you're not supposed to rinse it inside the tank either. Its done with the waste tank water from water changes.

**crmpicco** · 11-05-2011, 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by Aeonflame

You are right.. never rinse the media with tap water.

However, you're not supposed to rinse it inside the tank either. Its done with the waste tank water from water changes.

Ah,

I am worried I have made a boo boo here. Do you think that I have contaminated the water by my actions? I find it strange that Jack is up the top of the tank all the time.

Why would he be up the top of the tank?

Thanks.

**Aeonflame** · 11-05-2011, 10:17 PM

Have you tested? High nitrates from the waste would cause that. I would do another large water change and test again

**Lady Hobbs** · 11-05-2011, 11:54 PM

Fish hanging out at the top after a water change makes me wonder if you added the dechorinator before you refilled the tank or if you added enough dechoorinator. Do you refilled by the bucket method and add dechlorinator to each bucket of water or do you use a hose and add dechlorinator and then fill the tank? If you use the second method, you need to add enough dechlorinator for the whole tank, not just what you're replacing.

My fish did that once after I refilled the tank with water a bit too warm, too.

**Strider199** · 11-06-2011, 12:08 AM

As Aeonflame said, another water change with dechlorinator wont hurt any and if there are pollutants from cleaning your filter media in the tank, it should take care of them.
If in doubt, do a water change.

**Fizgig** · 11-06-2011, 05:50 PM

Your fish are behaving exactly as poisoned fish would... That's essentially what you did to them when you dumped all that waste from the filter sponge into their living environment. It's equivalent to someone dropping you into the town dump without warning -- you'd feel sick, too. You should perform an 80% water change -- make sure to treat the tap water BEFORE you dump it into the tank! Try to keep the temp. of the water you're dumping in close to the same temp. as the water you removed (test water temp. b4 you start removing water), so you don't shock the fish with a sudden temp. change, too. Next time, rinse the sponge(s) out in the bucket of water removed from the tank BEFORE you vacuum gravel!

Your second issue is that your tank is too small for the fish you have. 72 liters is barely adequate for ONE fancy Goldfish variety which don't grow anywhere near the size that your two fish will. ONE 5yr. old Comet needs at least 30 US gallons of water all by itself (though it would be better off in a pond)... Your Shubunkin is essentially another Comet... So your tank should be no less than 45 US gallons with enough filtration to turn the tank over 3 times an hour.

If you test the water and everything else looks fine yet the fish are still at the surface you have an issue with O2 levels. Goldies need more O2 than any other fish. You'll need to add and airstone or many more fast growing plants.

Also at issue may be the water temperature (which relates to O2 levels, too). The type of Goldies you have prefer their water temp. on the cool side. 68-72˙F is the best range for them. Cooler water holds more O2 as well.

Not trying to be mean or anything -- many people do wrong by Goldies even with the best of intentions -- just giving you info. to help you do right by your fish.