ancistrus hangin out at the top

[minmanfish]

Hi guys, kinda new and wondering why about half of my albino and blue eye ancistrus hang out at the top right back corner almost constantly. They are in a twenty high, 25% water change twice a week. i dont see them move , they just hang on the glass and Im not sure they are eating.

[zeebo]

hi, have you checked your amonia ? Do you have enough oxygen in the tank ? air stones,whatever ? First I would check my water,and what about the other fish ,are they acting strange too? Have you added new fish recently ? How long have you had the tank going and how long have you had the fish that are hanging near the top ? Your answers could help members figure things out. Do you use water conditioner ie Prime when you do wc's?

Seems like an amonia or oxygen prob, but need answers first , then members can make suggestions on how to deal with it. Georgie

[minmanfish]

yes the water seems fine, i lost one angel I had in there , but have not lost any of the plecos, I ve checked the ammonia , and its fine , as in not high at all, I do notice that every once in a while one will pop up to the very top and take a gulp of air, but I do have a 4 inch square sponch filter , i can ad an airstone or two if that will help.
Ive had the plecos for two weeks. The tank has been set up with the small angels for two months, and I do use prime on the water changes.

[minmanfish]

just checked on them, and it seems they go lower after the lights are out, but still in the upper half of the tank.

[ceh]

add air stone check that some fish is not dead in some corner .. change 50% water

[zeebo]

add air stone check that some fish is not dead in some corner .. change 50% water

this is a definite , a dead fish could be causing 'some amonia" and fish need 0 amonia.If the cause is not from a dead fish in the tank, could be when u added the new guys, the biofilter needs to catch up. So,more air stones, wc's, and if you are still getting amonia, you can put a cap of prime in to detoxify the amonia (also, ph below 7 will turn amonia non-toxic--but these are short term fixes ,you really need to discover what is causing the problems -sounds like amonia and low oxygen).good luck ,
Georgie
ps, i have 2 HOB filters on all my tanks and I keep the water level a bit lower than the rim to get more oxygen in ,plus the air stones. This is because I keep blue phantoms which need a lot of oxygen-does the trick.

[minmanfish]

after just doing a water test, im confused, theres barely any ammonia, like .05, so even with a water change, didnt find a dead fish, I removed the dead one a couple days ago when I found it, so it wasnt decaying. do Plecos just need more air as in air stones, the angels in the tank seem fine.

[zeebo]

hi, usually fish hang at top due to lack of oxygen and or amonia. Plecs are bottom dwellers by nature and ( they must have hidy places ie wood or caves so they are comfortable). Sounds like you need more air stones and get the amonia down to 0 via wc's.

There is a great site here "CATALOG" ,it has great info,click on and find your specific plecs and their needs, ie wood, no wood (digestion for some),ph preference, water temp, fast moving water or slow, etc. This should help in keeping them happy ,once you fix the immediate problems .

I think the amonia must have come from adding too many/too big new guys at once ,since you did not find any decaying fish. The filter biomedia needs to catch up to the fish you have added, hence the amonia. Adding new fish,one or a few at a time,depending on their size won't put as much strain on the established biomedia.


Add some air stones and wc's asap. Good luck.

[PseudaSmart]

If a tank has poor circulation the water has 'layers'. Your fish go to the top because there is less toxins and more oxygen than at the bottom. When you tested the water I am guessing you took water from the top. The water is better up there so your reading is 'wrong' for the bottom of the tank.
I hope this clears things up a bit.

[minmanfish]

Pseudasmart,
thank you so much, that really explains alot about why they liked it up there.
Thanks so much!!!

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Have a look at this article: "A Catfish Keepers Guide to Dissolved Oxygen" <http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworl ... ved+oxygen>

This is going to sound a bit strange, but assuming that you live at high altitude in Colorado (I see your location says Denver), this effects how much oxygen your water can hold.

At 24.0oC, at mean sea level and 1013mb pressure, pure water (H2O) is saturated with 8.3mg/l O2. At 34.0oC with only 7.0mg/l O2, so yes temperature is important.
You can ignore the effects of added solutes (what we call water is rarely H2O, and usually a dilute solution) which reduce the total amount of DO, but atmospheric pressure is also relevant, particularly if you live in Denver, (multiply all values for dissolved O2 (DO) by 0.83 if you do). It is also worth noting that this pressure effect will also occur at low altitude during periods of abnormally low barometric pressure.

If you want some more detail have a look at:
"Aeration and dissolved oxygen in the aquarium" <http://plecoplanet.com/?page_id=829/>. It has had different homes, but I wrote it because I realised that low dissolved oxygen levels killed a lot of our more rheophilic plecs, and that it is a much more complex issue than it at first appears. The article aims to break down all of the processes, that contribute to oxygenation and de-oxygenation into their constituent parts, and suggests practical techniques for ensuring adequate oxygenation in your aquaria.

Have a look at this one as well, it explains a bit more about water management. <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... hilit=+BOD>

cheers Darrel

[bottomfeeders]

It could also be ich. Keep an eye out for white spots and you may want to add some aquarium salt.

Kevin

[Barbie]

At the top of this forum there is a sticky. Contained in that sticky is a questionnaire that would save a ton of time and effort for all of the people attempting to help you. With those answers, we will have a much better chance of actually nailing the problem. The tank sounds underfiltered, IMO, if you have a 4" sponge filter and a number of bristlenose and angels and whatever else. Any ammonia at all is a sign that it is not able to keep up with the bioload. You don't mention nitrites, which I find to be the cause of oxygen issues. If the tank has been up 2 months and you have been doing regular water changes, or in any way caused a burp in the biological filtration, that would definitely be the case.

Barbie