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ok.. it's crisis time.

i have a 55g tank with the following species in it.

2 x silver dollar
2x anglefish
3x gourami
2x green severum (one juve one adult and was 3 juve)
1x krib (was 2)
1x oto
1x platy
i added 6x black widow tetra yesterday.

ive lost 3 severums, and a krib with the same thing.
the ammonia is a little high. but not lethal (.50) nitrates and nitrites are fine.

the symptoms:
heavy breathing.
loss of swiming ability.
it'll float around, trying to swim but can't.
no signs no fin damge
gets stuck to HOB filter tube. or on gravel.
dea within an hour

is this typical reaction to high ammonia stress?
or is it stress form the addition to the new tank mates?
it seems like only smaller fish are effected as i've lost 3 small green sevrums and a krib.

any ideas?

0.50 Ammonia IS quite high. Especially when it comes to smaller fish and fry. Are the fish moving to the upper part of the aquarium gasping for air? What kind of filter do you have for the 55g? Do you have an airstone? Symptoms of gasping for air could in some cases mean that there is low oxygen in the water, although in your case it is probably high ammonia levels.Is it a new aquarium that maybe hasn't cycled yet? An old aquarium should have 0 Ammonia. Have you added more fish recently except the Tetras?Maybe that's what made the Ammonia kick in, or your filter is just not enough to cope with it.

i agree...the ammonia is high (could be of the new added fish), try testing the water again. and it seems that u have a low oxygen circulating in the tank.

i have a 800L/ph HOB filter.

i should probably get another, but money is thin..

i'll work on lowering the ammonia level.

also. i have a bubble wall in the tank on all the time, so there is oxygen being created

i'll add another airstone soon



Last edited by stuquarium at 23-Mar-2005 15:54

I think you 're OK with the oxygen levels if you 've got the bubble wall working all the time. Your problem is the high Ammonia levels. Try lowering your stock for the moment until you can afford a better filter (I'm not familiar with yours so I really can't tell if a bigger one is needed) or until your current filter has enough time to create the bacteria needed to lower the ammonia levels. Try adding fish in smaller batches next time as you may have reached your filter's biological limits.