Day and night are becoming really hard on my fish!!!!!

[Dow]

Okay, so I'll go to bed and my fish will be perfectly happy. I'll wake up and they're all at the bottom of the tank, gasping for life and looking terrified. What's happening!!!???

[wesleydnunder]

They're sleeping. How do they behave 30 minutes later? Normally?

Mark

[Darbex]

Is this a planted tank and are you running CO2?

[ddaquaria]

Sounds like Lack of Oxygen. More details would really help, especially to know if it is a plant tank and if it is over crowded.

[nacra99]

Could be both...
Ii'm more inclined to say they were sleeping & got spooked in the morning.
Usually they will be on the surface gasping if it is lack of oxygen.
Some fish spook easily, especially in the morning when you turn on the lights or when you approach the tank for the first time in the morning.
Then they huddle together or even dart wildly and appear to be breathing very hard because of the adrenalin surge.
If they are normal after being allowed to wake up for a while, they should be fine.

if they gasp at the surface, throw in an air stone. (connected to an airline + pump of course)

[wesleydnunder]

Could be both...
Ii'm more inclined to say they were sleeping & got spooked in the morning.
Usually they will be on the surface gasping if it is lack of oxygen.
Some fish spook easily, especially in the morning when you turn on the lights or when you approach the tank for the first time in the morning.
Then they huddle together or even dart wildly and appear to be breathing very hard because of the adrenalin surge.
If they are normal after being allowed to wake up for a while, they should be fine.

if they gasp at the surface, throw in an air stone. (connected to an airline + pump of course)

That's what I thought nacra. If it was an oxygen issue they'd normally be at the top where oxygenation was taking place.

The other posts bring up good points. We really need to know more about the tank to make a definitive judgement.

Mark

[Dow]

I have 5 small mbuna's, a small albino pleco, 2 glass cats and a tetra (that I'm keeping in iso. until my friend can take him, so he isn't picked to death) in a lightly planted tank with a small filter. (I'm working on upgrading that as fast as affordably possibly) I have yet to do a water change, as it is a new tank but the spikes and symptoms were shown even with just the start fish. I thought I had it leveled out and it stayed okay for about a week, so I added my cichlids. I added bacteria suppliment in order to avoid new fish syndrome. I tested my water and it said the nitrites and pH were a little high, so I fixed that. However, I did that today so, I'm not sure how it'll work.


Usually, they're fine by the time I get out the door but it's in that little span of time that I always lose a fish!

[wesleydnunder]

I have 5 small mbuna's, a small albino pleco, 2 glass cats and a tetra (that I'm keeping in iso. until my friend can take him, so he isn't picked to death) in a lightly planted tank with a small filter. (I'm working on upgrading that as fast as affordably possibly) I have yet to do a water change, as it is a new tank but the spikes and symptoms were shown even with just the start fish. I thought I had it leveled out and it stayed okay for about a week, so I added my cichlids. I added bacteria suppliment in order to avoid new fish syndrome. I tested my water and it said the nitrites and pH were a little high, so I fixed that. However, I did that today so, I'm not sure how it'll work.


Usually, they're fine by the time I get out the door but it's in that little span of time that I always lose a fish!

If you're showing nitrites then your tank is still cycling. Your fish are gasping due to nitrite poisoning which inhibits the hemoglobin's ability to carry oxygen. You should immediately do a water change, or possibly more than one in succession until your nitrite reads zero.

What did you add to help speed up the cycle? Most of the shelf items claiming to do that are snake oil.

How big is the tank? Are you reading any ammonia at all?

Ususally, if you're showing nitrite, you're about halfway through the cycle. When nitrites and ammonia both read zero and nitrates start to climb your tank is cycled. Give it another week but stay no top of the water changes in the meantime and don't let the nitrite climb.

Mark

[Dow]

Well, Initially to help speed up the cycle, I took some of my little brother's filter media and ran it in my tank for about a week and a half before adding any fish in there. They seemed fine for about a week, then the symptoms started.
I fixed the pH with a little bit of vinigar, that took it straight down. I took a Tetra chemical called Nitraban and let that flush through for an hour before letting everything run and putting my fish back in there. (I'd taken them out and put them in a holding tank). They seem fine, now but I did do a 50% water change. We'll see if it's fixed in the morning.

Thank you so much!

[imagirlgeek]

Careful with messing with the pH. You can throw your fish into pH Shock. Symptoms - Fish may darken in color, lay on the floor of the aquarium, breath heavily....just FYI. Has your pH been fluctuating a lot? This could be what's wrong with them.

[imagirlgeek]

Okay, so I reread through this thread. How about this theory...

Lightly planted tank, unestablished tank, swings in ammonia, nitrites, pH. If the kH is low enough, the co2 released by the plants at night could cause a pretty extreme drop in pH. Then during the day, when the plants are absorbing the co2 again, the pH swings back up.

I really think you are dealing with pH Shock. This is deadly, and if not corrected, could kill your fish in a matter of days.

[Zulaab]

I have 5 small mbuna's, a small albino pleco, 2 glass cats and a tetra

The mbuna's want be in pH waters of at least 7.8 or higher. Houston water for the most part comes out at 8.2pH which is like near perfect Malawi / Tanganyika fish. If you got the other fish from a local fish store, they came from the same Houston water, unless they posted that the water parameters was changed, I would NOT change the pH level in your tank. Keep it exactly where it is coming out of the tap.

All your Africans wants the Houston water, I am only thinking of your glass fish, but most likely they are already used to the pH level being high living in Houston.
I would like imageekgirl said, not lower the pH. Unless you have water coming out at 9.0+ do not change it.

What test kit you use. Strip kits are notoriously bad, if you want to make sure, use a drop kit like the api master freshwater kit.

Very few people on this board changes the chemistry of their water, some do it to breed, but they for sure do not change it for Africans.

[Dow]

Success! Adding the chemical and doing a minor water change reduced the stress of my fish, greatly! The pH was at 8.9 so I thought it needed to be brought down slowly. It's now sitting steadily at 8.1. My fish seem fine!

[Mzungu]

Hmm...

That's a big swing. Are you planning on lowering the pH like this for every water change?

I would do as girlgeek and Zulaab and others have said, and not mess with the pH. It really is dangerous to do so. And your Africans will be perfectly fine and happy in a pH of 8.9. :)

[Darbex]

I agree with MB