Sluggish Fish

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BobbyC

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Mar 28, 2004
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Hey all,
My 55g FO is newly stocked within the last few weeks. Everyone seemed happy last week and on Saturday I did a 20% water change along with replacing the carbon in my Mag. 250 filter.

now the fish seem sluggish, not swimming too much just hanging out like they're stoned. Water change was five days ago now.

LFS checked the water:
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Ammonia .25
Ph 8.8
SG - 1.021

Would high ph slow down the fish? And why would the ph be high? Should I do something to lower it?

I do use tap water for the changes.

Thanks for the help,
Hopefully nothing major is wrong.

BC
 
What would scare me more than anything is the ammonia reading. There shouldn't be any measurable amount in a cycled tank except maybe right after a big feed. I'd say you're probably overfeeding or something has died somewhere and you haven't been able to find it yet. The ph and sluggish fish are probably from too much co2 in your water. I would try to increase my water movement especially at the surface the more water movement the more dissolved o2 in your water. That should solve the ph and sluggish problem very quickly.
hth
Chris
 
Thanks Chris, I'll try increasing the surface water movement.

I took water back in tonight and the ph was back down to 8.2 - 8.4.

Ammonia was between 0 and 0.25, the tank was stocked with four fish about two and a half weeks ago. i know there may be an ammonia spike with the additional fish waste but don't know how long before it subsides. In addition to the fish I've added some snails I wouldn't imagine they would have much affect on the water conditions.

I am starting to get the brown algae, tank is only about three months old. Don't know if that affects the fish or not.

Thanks
BC
 
The brown algae is just a sign that the tank is maturing. It's probably diatoms, and normally goes away relatively soon. Followed by various other pesky algae.

A pH of 8.8 is a bit scary. What salt mix are you using, and what is the pH of your tap water. Are you using kalkwasser? pH usually goes down when water quality degrades, not up.
 
The salt is Instant Ocean, with Nemo on the front. I don't know the Ph of my tap water nor do I know what kalkwasser is. I do believe the Ph is ok now and am not totally confident the 8.8 reading was accurate.

A couple of other changes since the fish have become lethargic ( now even my blenny stays buried alot): added five snails, changed two strips lights from 15watts that came with the tank to 18 watt aquarium lights (this seems to have sparked the rapid diatom growth) and changed the carbon in my filter.

One thing I noticed is that the fish seem to be more active when I turn the lights off, coincidence?

They are eating good.

Any help at all would be appreciated.

BC
 
nor do I know what kalkwasser is
Click to expand...
Then you're probably not adding it ;) Kalkwasser is a solution of calcium hydroxide or calcium oxide that's used to increase Ca. It's one of the few things that will drive pH up.

That doesn't sound like a huge change in lighting to me. They could be more shy if there's more light, but I'm not very convinced. Do they have a lot of places to hide?

Good to hear they still have their appetites.

It might be worth getting a few test kits of your own. It's handy to be able to double check your chemistry on a moment's notice.
 
If I check the ph again and its high do you think I should add the Kalkwasser? Can I measure the Ca level?

Do they have a lot of places to hide?
Click to expand...

I have mostly artificial stuff in the aquarium, a little live rock. I have this kind of plaster-like anenome about 12 inches in diameter, the clowns hide in there. I also have an artificial hollow stump and the angel and tang hide in there.
The only other time I saw them act this way was when I had a trigger fish in the tank and he beat up one of the clowns. He went back to the LFS real quick. I bought the tank decor at PetSmart, I assume its all safe, its been in there since day one.

Could the rapid growth of the diatom algae cause an unbalance in some oxygen or CO2 levels in the tank?

thanks again,

BC
 
If you have high pH, don't add kalk, it will just make the problem worse.

Maybe they're just spooked. If they aren't showing signs of disease (labored breathing, clamped fins, e.g.), then they may just be mad at you.

If you're worried about low oxygen or high CO2, then adding a powerhead will help. I don't think the diatom bloom would cause such a problem, but more circulaiton is always good.
 
Great Dave, I appreciate your replies.

i'll look into the powerhead,

Maybe I just need to hold tight for a while and see how they do.

Thanks again

BC
 
when you say that the tank was stocked 2 1/2 weeks ago do you mean it finished it's cycle then?
 
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