fish are all lethargic and hiding, some shallow breathing

[jamntoast]

The tank is a newly built (finished middle of September) plywood tank roughly 150 gallons, filtered by an fx6 which I had running on the 90 gallon that the fish were in before. The fx6 was also new purchased a few weeks before the move but all the bio media from the 405 I had on that all went into it, which didn't seem to give me trouble on the 90. The fish were doing fine, still didn't seem super comfortable in their new home but were eating and swimming about until I went away for the weekend. When I came back yesterday it was late and the lights were off and i assumed they were all sleeping, did a water change and went to bed. Today when I look at them something is seriously wrong.
They are all grouped together hiding under stuff, really bad color, not interested in food. Not at all active mostly laying on the bottom. My knee jerk reaction was something most have contaminated the water and I did another WC. So far no improvement.
I have maybe 15 Geo tapajos, mostly juvies, in the tank, a couple tetras , 9 Cory's and 2 small plecos living in the tank.
I tested the water after the water change which might have messed up my results. nitrate 10 mg/l, nitrite was 0 that I could tell. Ammonia was .6 which I think should be lower from what I know and I don't know how I got that reading.
So, whats going on?

 

[wrslrcichlid]

It is not uncommon to have a mini cycle when setting up a new tank, even when you move an already established filter to the tank. A lot of times the cycle is avoided, but not always. Based on your water tests I would say your are having a mini cycle. I would continue to test the water daily, and continue to do water changes daily until ammonia and nitrites are both 0.

Another question would be did you introduce any new fish, decorations, etc. when setting up the 150g?

The only other thought would be that whatever was used to seal the plywood (or one of the other materials used during construction) is contaminating the water. If your water tests seem to come back negative for cycling,then this could be the issue.

Last thing, depending on how new/old your test kit is, it may be worth taking a sample of water to your LFS. Never hurts to have your test levels double checked.

 

[fwprawn]

Could be cold, too.

 

[jamntoast]

Not cold, I've got 2 separate thermometers at opposite ends reading 27c. My test kit is old. Hopefully this is a mini cycle and the fish are reacting to that and not some other unknown toxin. Ugh.

 

[jamntoast]

this morning I checked in on them before work and they are a little more spread out and some were swimming around more normally, i'll keep up with the water changes and test again in a couple days to see where its at.

 

[brich999]

Pretty sure its the slight ammonia. Ime goes are pretty sensitive and one of the first to show signs from water quality. Couldnt hurt to add some carbon to pick up any chemicals that may be in the water from a new diy build but most likely if they were something toxic contaminating your water the fish would already be dead

 

[jamntoast]

That's a good idea adding carbon into my filter strategy. I usually don't like to use it but just in case since its a new build, it can't hurt to have it on for a week or so. I'm going to test my water again tomorrow or Saturday. Was going to test today but I only remembered once I was half done filling it again.

 

[wrslrcichlid]

Hm, good idea about the carbon. I plan to build a tank in the (hopefully not too distant) future and I think carbon would be an excellent idea for the first few weeks/months. And, brich999 is right about the chemicals. They probably would have wiped the tank out by now.

Keep us posted!

 

[jamntoast]

Haven't had a chance to put carbon into the filter yet. I'm thinking it was just a mini cycle. I tested everything again today and ammonia is 0, nitrite is 0 and nitrate is at 20. I'm going to do a water change in a bit. They have been looking more active. They eat and they swim around when the lights are off. Weird thing is though when I flip the lights on they immediately hit the deck and then all rush into the corner and crowd around each other. And I will have lights on in the room so its not like its dark. Would me going away for 4 days and leaving the lights off condition them against the lights? Kind of weird.

 

[wrslrcichlid]

Do they stay in the corner the entire time you have the lights on, or is it just when they turn on?

I ask, because back when I had my african cichlid tank set up, whenever the lights came on (I had a timer) the fish would scatter, but after a few minutes they would reappear and go back to normal activity. This led me to look for a sunrise/sunset feature when it was time to get new lights. Thankfully I was able to find it with the controller for my Current Satellite+ LED lights.