fish swimming strangely

loopy

loopy

Member
my black perc clown was breathing heavy and swimming wierd, so I put him in the hospital tank. Now the coral beauty angel is swimming up and down the corner, only occasionly leaving the corner to graze for food, the blue damsel is staying in the same place much of the time, twitching. When it swim around it is jerky, and the tail is clamped. This all seemed to come about after a 10% water change. The blenny and the 'nemo' clown seem fine. All fish are tiny...I know it sounds like I am way over my load, but no one is very big at all.
The parms are:
ph-8.0
nitrite-0
ammonia-0
salinity 1.019
temp 80.
I have turned the lights out to try and reduce any stress. I have fed mysis, flakes, pellets all soaked in garlic today, as well as tonight putting in lettuce and a tiny piece of brocolli along with a 1 inch piece of seaweed.
Any idea's. Salinity should be higher, I know.
Thanks in advance.
(Nothing could have gotten in the containers I use for water changes as they have lids and are 'fish only' containers. No chem's got in the water during testing as I use a syringe to get the water.)
Thanks again. It was time for something to go wrong,,,,*&%$!!, it has been going too good. The new tang??? Geez, I didn't QT him.........:scared:
 
55galgill

55galgill

Member
did you test the p/h of the new water that you mixed?
do you have a canopy over the top of your tank? just cuz ive heard some horror stories of people cleaning there glass and a tiny amount of windex goes in there and all the poor fish went wacky.aslo maybe a grounding probe issue? maybe one of your powerheads is leaking current into your tank? i would maybe run alittle extra carbon just to be safe. hope this helps.if nothing else it was a bump for your topic:D ~Gill~
p.s keep a close eye on the tang too as they are usually far more sensitive to changes than the other fish.
 
loopy

loopy

Member
My husband is an electrician, he checked all that out...nothing with stray voltage, nothing electrical.
I don't use windex, I use some stuff I got just for cleaning fish tanks......always have used it, won't hurt fish. Tossed the bottle cuz it was empty so I can't tell you what it is.
Still confused. Water is a bit cloudy. Fish are acting the same.
Ho hum.....not good. If I lose these fish....I am gonna just pack it up for a while....but keeping my fingers crossed.
Thank you.
 
dogstar

dogstar

Active Member

Why is salinity at .019 ? Did it drop from one water change? Need to slowly raise it up to .023 to .025.
If you just added a tang ( what kind ) the other fish may just be stressed by it being a newcomer and just trying to let it know their there.
 
loopy

loopy

Member
The salinty did drop from water change...even though I had mixed the salt and water....I am slowly working on bring that up.
I added a yellow tang. But..this angel was acting odd before the tang came. His color seems to be changing...the deep purple about the eyes is getting more orange...kinda splotchy with the deep purple. I got a good look at him while feeding and it looks like he may have a patch of white spots above one eye. I hesitate to put him in the QT tank, as there is already a small three striped...but could easily take him back to the store, mean XXX of a XXXXXlol! Also my percula clown is in there. So there is really not a whole lot of room..10 gal. and I'm afraid trying to catch him and then putting him in such a small tank will stress him so much he'll just die. Any idea's? What about one of those fresh water dips? There again, catch and stress. I dunno. Just let it ride maybe? See what the outcome is? Everything I have been feeding has been soaked in garlic...and the angel loves the tops of brocolli, so I soaked it good tonight and sprinkled it in there, He ate good. Any idea's welcome.
thanks.
 
dogstar

dogstar

Active Member
OoooK, Now, why is the perc. in the QT with the damsels? Do they have ICK? Is that after the water change? Then maybe the angel has it too and the tang will probly also. But I dont know what else your not saying. Your PH is low too. Did you test your new water befor you added it to the tank.? Are you useing a new brand of mix?:notsure:
 
loopy

loopy

Member
The perc is in the qt tank as that is in my daughters bedroom and she wanted him in there. I am going to have to get another qt tank. I am using the same brand of salt I always have. I may have had a senior moment....lol, think I am a senior...and added the salt wrong...too little, I dunno. My ph has always been just as it is.
 
scubadoo

scubadoo

Active Member
The water change could have stressed them out. If you lowered the salinity with the change then the fish are stressed. Stress can lead to disease. I suggest raising it very very slowly and try to keep it steady once it is at the desired level.
Feed the fish more seaweed selects then lettuce. Seaweed selects contains vitamins, etc. Read the contents...much better for your fish then lettuce.
Also, see if you can buy some cheap macroalgae.
Sounds like your tang did not introduce disease if the angel exhibited some issues physically prior to the addition.
I will tell you that a water change when you have disease needs to be done carefully. Some aquarists attack ick with daily 50% water changes but they need to be done carefully. THe idea is that you remove the free swimming parasites with the large changes and maintain good water quality provided the change is done correctly. ANy big fluctuation in water parameters will stress the fish and cause their immune systems to weaken. Take your time rasing the salinity. I do not recommend raising it fast. Again, you will only stress the fish. 1.019 is low...and if it was 1.022 or so before the change...that was a big drop for a small water change in a very small period of time.
Fresh water dips are a waste of time in my opinion. Stress is what you don;t need and that is exactly what the fish will feel. ALso, if you do have ich it is still present in the system once you place the animal back...so little is accomplished......stress will be accomplished big time.
It is hard to tell if your fish have disease or may just be stressed from the new addition plus a drop in salinity.
If the fish are not rubbing it may not be ich. You need to know what they have before you can treat. They may just have a case of bad STRESS.
 
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