suffocating fishes?

[ckck92]

all my danios are only swimming at the top part of the tank, top as in where their fins cud touch the air... this has been happening ever since i got an otto, and EVER SINCE i STOP taking out my diy co2 airstone from the tank everynight.. the otto isnt doing so good either.. i have just taken out the airstone co2 from the tank and did a water change..

is this the sign of suffocation? what should i do? its been like this for 2days..

[mellowvision]

you could always add an air stone with an air pump on a timer, that comes on at night to help with the o2 levels...

[Mgamer20o0]

doesnt sound like its the co2. you need a lot of co2 going into the water to push out all the o2.

[didy]

What are the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?

[ct-death]

This has been happening for 2 days? When did you add the Oto? How is the Otos behaving and are they all eatting properly? Water readings?

[ckck92]

hey.. otto seems much better now.. i really tihnk its the co2.. i even spotted the danio swimming lower =) ill just keep the co2 out of the tank till tmr and see what happens.. =)

im sorry ive got no water readings... all i can say is the tank is heavily heavily planted.. i got the otto two days ago.. when i got the otto, the problem started.. everyone is eating fine.. the danios as usual are super active eaters.. are they scared of the otto??? owh ive even spotted snails and baby fry in my tank... the fry seems to suck on glass or leaves like an otto.. cud it be otto fries? lol just wnodering... also i spotted the fry after i got the otto..

thanks all for the replies!

[ct-death]

hey.. otto seems much better now..
This was not mentioned in the first post...

All is well now??

[severum mama]

Is this tank even cycled yet? That's probably why the fish looked like they are suffocating. I remember that you bought the danios to cycle it rather than do a fishless cycle. That left the tank pretty overstocked, but the addition of the oto makes the situation even worse. The oto will likely starve to death in such a small tank, unless there is a ton of algae for it to eat.

[Star_Rider]

I think we need more information.

how large is the tank?
how 'heavily planted' is heavily planted? are you adding ferts?
we do need tank readings too.

it's odd in a heavily planted tank to have fish suffocating(possible problems at night but usually only when running co2)

if the tank is indeed heavily planted..the cycle as we know it goes out the window. plants will utilize ammonia as a food source..in a heavily planted(established) tank you may never see ammonia.

I also find it hard to believe that adding an oto would cause a large problem..unless the stocking is already high. or the oto introduced a pathogen of some sort.
was the oto qt for any time? or added directly to the tank?

[ckck92]

heavily heavily planted as in 70% of the tank is plants.. heres a picture.. http://img292.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg2249ro4.jpg *no danios in the tank? 'wrong'.. all are on top*

its a 5.5g tank, a cube. note that a few weeks before this, the danios were diong fine.. after adding the otto the problem occured.. about plants using ammonia for nutrients is that true? if so, i dont have to cycle my tank? the otto wasnt quarantined.. cud this be the problem? the otto just died. :wall: i thought that otto do not produce much waste? or do they?

[Rbishop]

I would get some tank readings...your tank isn't cycled just because you added plants.

[nickmcmechan]

exactly how mayn danios do you have as well?

[ckck92]

ive got 5 danios in the tank.. the red danios i have are smaller than the zebra danios.. and also one tiny snail that i just noticed.. sorry no water readings.. if i had water readings.. i wudnt be posting..:grinyes:

[nickmcmechan]

thats heavily stocked for that size,daily water changes methinks

[Star_Rider]

I would get some tank readings...your tank isn't cycled just because you added plants.


this is correct.
plants will change the scheme of things once they get established.

an established, heavily planted tank ..may not show any ammonia readings and thus throw off the ntrite issue as well.

an established, heavily planted tank..may not even see the standard 'cycle'.

[ckck92]

I would get some tank readings...your tank isn't cycled just because you added plants.

this is correct.
plants will change the scheme of things once they get established.

an established, heavily planted tank ..may not show any ammonia readings and thus throw off the ntrite issue as well.

an established, heavily planted tank..may not even see the standard 'cycle'.

star_rider - okay im abit confused... were u agreeing with rbishop or disagreeing?

i had the plants in the tank about 2weeks before i added the danios.. all had grown alot.. alot of new leaves.. even the cabomba i just added last week is starting to take over the tank... is this considered established?

[Firebelly__girl]

How long have the danios been in there now? You could be having an ammonia spike making them frantic and maybe gulping for air.

[ckck92]

they arent gulping for air.. they are just swimming at the top.. every morning they wud swim down and play, when it reaches daytime, all are up again.. yea i thought about an ammonia spike.. they hav been in the tank for 2weeks..

[wataugachicken]

maybe they are too hot. warm water has a lower oxygen content, and any ammonia will make breathing more difficult. what is the temp? maybe you should turn the lights off for a couple hours during the hottest part of the day.