Hi, Although I have had fish for many years I have recently (2 months ago now) acquired Angel fish for the first time. The angels tend to stay on the top of the tank all day. It kinda looks like they're not getting enough air. They look like they're gulping all the time however, I've invested a lot of money in the filtration system. It's an EHEIM type 2217. As well the water gets changed 25% once a week. They look healthy, they eat well. Other than the fact that they don't swim around, just hover at the top there seems to be nothing wrong. There is other fish in the tank but they all get along very well. I have 4 angel fish in total. My tank is 90 gallons. Is this normal? Is something wrong, if so, how do I fix it?
Angel Fish floating at the top
- Thread starter cymic
- Start date
Have you tried an airstone? If it is lack of O2, they should respond be moving down in the water within minutes of adding one.
get a water test kit
test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
once you get the results post them here.
how long has the tank been running with fish? is the filter new?
test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
once you get the results post them here.
how long has the tank been running with fish? is the filter new?
I would agree with both answers above, I would put a air stone on the tank. and get the readings.
If you don't have an airstone handy, see if you can position the output of the canister filter in a way that creates a disturbance on the surface. I am not sure if you can swivel the output on the 2217if you can make it point upwards until you can hear the bubbles created from the waterflow causing surface agitation.
:iagree: with all the above. No - it is not normal. Angels normally swim through out the water column - maybe more mid than low but they should be exploring the entire tank off and on. If they are staying at the top, gulping "air" then you have something not quite right for them.
Once you have done the suggested things, let us know what happens.
Once you have done the suggested things, let us know what happens.
Thank you for all the help. I put an air stone in and within 10 min they started swimming around a lot more. I checked all my levels and everything is normal. Would never have thought of the air stone as I've never has problems with my other fish. Thanks again for everyone's help.
