I have a breeders system that I have tried to breed fish in for the past couple of years. In the system I have four fish, two paired Clarkiis one unpaired Ocellaris and one unpaired Darwin. I had a large water change a few days, about 70-90%. Ever since my clarkiis and my Ocellaris have been incredibly stressed. My Ocellaris has been swimming vertical, on of my clarkiis has been fully laying on the ground until I get near. (he wants food) I have taken water quality checks 4 times in the past day. All of them say 7-8 ppm ph, 0.0 ppm ammonia, 0.0 ppm Nitrite, and 20-40 ppm Nitrate (a bit high but fine). I have had a broken light for the system and have been trying to replace it this week. I need to know if anything else can cause this. (I used chlorine cleaner when I did the water change)
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- Thread starter Mcole
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MnFish1
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.. I used to do that as well - but now mix salt several hours if not overnight to make sure all is completely mixed. The particular brand of salt I use actually recommends this - rather than using it immediately. 
CindyKz
Valuable Member
Do you usually have measurable ammonia? This statement makes me wonder if your fish are suffering from ammonia toxicity, even though you stated that your levels were 0.0 after the water change. I don't know what the long term effects are. The fish laying on the bottom sounds suspicious for ammonia, I don't know about the vertically swimming fish.
Anyone with more knowledge than me...
Mix your water for at least a few hours. You do this by putting your water in a container with a powerhead to mix it.
Second, your ammonia levels should be undetectable with our available testing methods at all time -- There will always be trace amounts, but if you can get readings on a test, you have WAY more than the allowed maximum.
Third, what kind of skimmer are you using? You shouldn't have murky water. If you do, your skimmer isn't doing it's job, or you don't have one. Skimmers are essential for a myriad of reasons.
Second, your ammonia levels should be undetectable with our available testing methods at all time -- There will always be trace amounts, but if you can get readings on a test, you have WAY more than the allowed maximum.
Third, what kind of skimmer are you using? You shouldn't have murky water. If you do, your skimmer isn't doing it's job, or you don't have one. Skimmers are essential for a myriad of reasons.
Paul B
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Too big a water change. All fish hate new water.
