Fish swimming funny

[marcial]

Hello all,
I am seeking your assistance in trying to figure out why my fish are swimming funny. Normally a fish swims with it's head face east and it's tail facing west (or vice-versa). My fish have been swimming with their heads facing south, while still swimming to the east or west (does that make sense). Sometimes their head is south with their tail north. They have been doing this for about 3 days now.
First let me give you some background info. I have a fish only 40 Gal tank with an under the tank wet/dry filter with a built in protein skimmer in the sump, an Aqua UV sterilizer (8watts) and one powerhead. The tank is about 6 months old but the filter is only about a month old (switched from old one). I have 1 Majestic Angel (4") 1 Blue Regal Tang (4") and 3 Percula Clowns (1" each). I have been battling ICH so I decided to try hyposalinity. The salt level is now at 1.009 (I lowered it in 4 days) and has been this way for almost a week, I will continue to maintain this for another 3 weeks. The "visible" ICH is gone but now my ammonia and nitrite has spiked up, my nitrate is still very low (about 10). I just added a bottle of Fritz Zyme for bacteria because I thought that since the filter is new, I needed to re-establish my bacteria. As you can see I've got my hands full. I've really gotten attached to my fish and don't want for them to die. Is the swimming funny a side affect from the low salt or is it something else? Please help, all comments are welcomed, thanks..
Bernardo

 

[broomer5]

You do have a problem on your hands it appears. You mentioned that you replaced your filter within the last month. My guess is that you've lost your initial bacteria population, and no doubt your tank is cycling again. I'm sure you are aware that the ammonia and nitrite present indicates this. If you've got ammonia and nitrite your fish are stressing out bad - very toxic conditions right now, and behaving differently. What kind of filter was your old one ? Was it a wet dry as well?
If not, it would have been wise to run the old one and the new one for awhile together, say 3-4 weeks or so, until the new wet dry media had a chance to become established with bacteria, and your old filter could then be removed.
Throwing the tank into low specific gravity at the same time to battle ick probably is not helping too much either. Your tank is most likely out of balance, and the fish are taking the hit pretty bad.
I'm going to let others make recommendations, I've never personally been in your situation before.
What are the ammonia and nitrite readings by the way, and what is your pH? More information on your tank history and present conditions would be helpful.
Any way to remove your fish to another established tank, QT or lfs for awhile ???
Brian

 

[i3luedragon]

I am guessing your fish are not responding well to the hypo stress environment they are in. Therefore their struggles, and on top of that the spikes don't help either. Try to restablish as fast as you can or bring the salinity up again and find a different route. The QT sounds good too.

 

[marcial]

Broomer5,
My other filter was a Magnum 350 and the filter/bio wheel that comes with the Eclipse 3 hood. My ammonia level is about 2.0 ppm nitrite is about .25 ppm. Yesterday I did a 50% water change and the fish are a lot better but my ammonia and nitrite is still high. Should i just continue to do water cahnges everyday unitl the bacteria can keep up?

 

[broomer5]

Marcial,
Was wondering how things were going.
Ammonia at 2.0 ppm is very high, I'm amazed your fish are taking that level.
Have you measured your pH while this is going on ?
Hope you are having better luck today.
Anyone else care to comment on this ?
Brian

 

[marcial]

Broomer5,
I did another 50% water change last night because the fish started their funny ballet again. After the change of water they were much better. This morning they were active and eating. My ph has been low also (8.0). I keep adding sea buffer but I just can't get it up to 8.2. I even added Instant PH 8.2 and that didn't work (weird). Will doing all of these water changes hurt my bacteria? Should I do daily water changes? I did notice that the ammonia did not spike up until I lowered the salt level, before I lowered the salt I removed all of hermit crabs (6). Do you think that they were eating the left over food, thus preventing the food from just collectiong at the bottom turning into ammonia? Today I am going to start raising the salt level back up. It has been about 2 weeks since I started, there is no visible ich and my UV sterilizer has been running the whole time. Also thanks for the replies!!!!!!
Marcial

 

[broomer5]

Please leave the pH where it is right now, and I would not raise it anymore. If you're still showing ammonia, it is far more deadly to your fish at higher pH.
You are making a LOT of changes to your water conditions and your fish are enduring it somehow. Tough as nails fish I guess.
I'm no authority on lowering and raising the salinity for ick treatment, but I do know that if you still have ammonia present, please don't raise pH just yet.
My opinion.
Good luck
Brian

 

[marine qa]

broomer is right. I made the mistake a doing too many water changes to combat high ammonia which in turn caused my ph to be high (8.5). This caused the ammonia to be far more toxic than it would have been otherwise. High Ph and ammonia = death/destruction.

 

[marcial]

What would you recommend that I do to lower the ammonia? Should I just keep adding ammo-lock? Please advise....
marcial

 

[reefgirl]

Ok, here I go again (read below for your flame).
First off, if you're still at 'hyposalinity' level 1.009, keep it there. Marine fish are normally constantly dehydrated - taking in the saltwater & compensating for it by expelling the salt so they can drink.. (osmoregulation) - which isn't harmful for a HEALTHY fish but stressful for a sick one.
Hyposalinity means they don't have to work as hard equalizing their water/salt intake.
IF a marine fish is acclimated slowly to 1.009, it is better in a quarantine situation than the regular aquarist salinity of 1.023-1.026 as it is easier for it to 'breath'.
As I've never "blown out" my bio filter as you seem to have - I can only offer the same advice as others here...Do daily water changes...don't mess with the PH - your poor fish have enough problems as it is...
Ok..FLAME TIME!!
Did you do *ANY* research about the fish you are keeping? IE, their requirements, adult size, etc?
Neither a Majestic OR a regal will work in a 40 for long. Apparently you have no live rock in there either or you shouldn't be doing hyposalinity.
Clowns need to be kept in pairs or singly as they will pair off & kill the 3rd especially in that small of a tank.
If your switching of the filter didn't cause them to ick out, the other conditions would have...ie too small of a tank for the Majestic...3 clowns that were fighting...
PS...next time, please do NOT listen to the LFS, and please buy a few good books - if you need suggestions, ask.!
End of flame.
RG.
null

 

[c marlowe]

I have to agree with reefgirl, take the angel back where you got it. Take the regal back because he is sure to infect the tank over and over again when kept in a 40 gallon. I also definately agree that two of the clowns may pair off and torment the odd man out. You can't just pick out any fish and put them in the tank for your delight, or you will end up at the point you have. I hope this isn't too mean sounding, but your set up just is not going to work. I say take them back.

 

[marcial]

Thanks for the words of wisdom (they didn't hurt too bad )This was the first that I have ever heard about pairing off the Clowns. I did do some reading and research (apparently not enough) but all I really had to go go by was my LFS, now I know my mistake. I idn't find this site until after I had everything. If I bought another Clown to even the numbers, will the three attack the forth because they are already established in the tank? The three have yet to show any aggression towards each other. I will get rid of the tang for sure. Also I do not have any LR because they are not allowed in Hawaii. I have been checking my water daily, making changes as necessary and the fish are doing much better. They sure are some tough little buggers. Thanks for everything (yes, even the flame )