Firefish acting odd

[Arley]

My pair of firefish for the past 2-3weeks have been going to the surface to the point where they are touching the top op the water and one is struggling to swim down. Not sure the problem.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[vetteguy53081]

My pair of firefish for the past 2-3weeks have been going to the surface to the point where they are touching the top op the water and one is struggling to swim down. Not sure the problem.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

These fish are notorious jumpers and fish often porpoise the top of tank when they attempt to jump or lack of oxygen (high ammonia and/or nitrates or velvet disease. Dont see signs of velvet suggested oxygen from likely elevated ammonia or nitrate
What test kits are you using and what are your mentioned levels ?
What is age of tank?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Swimming near the surface is not a good sign for this species.

In the video, the one firefish is swimming/bobbing head down, like it is positively buoyant. That can be a sign of gas bladder issues, but can also happen if the fish eats food like pellets or flakes that make it float due to trapped air.

If they are not feeding, then the issue is either gas bladder, general stress (like aggression from other fish), gill disease or low dissolved oxygen in the water (as @vetteguy53081 said).

First thing to do is add good aeration to the tank to see if that helps.

Jay

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The water surface is very still. Take one of your powerheads and aim it up at the water surface, so that there is agitation. Need more flow overall, even the bubbles in the tank are not really moving, a hob filter is not enough.

 

[Arley]

These fish are notorious jumpers and fish often porpoise the top of tank when they attempt to jump or lack of oxygen (high ammonia and/or nitrates or velvet disease. Dont see signs of velvet suggested oxygen from likely elevated ammonia or nitrate
What test kits are you using and what are your mentioned levels ?
What is age of tank?

A seachem ammonia alert 0ppm
Salifert nitrate 1-3ppm
4months old
Don’t think it’s dissolved o2 I have one power head on the one side it’s 3 foot tank 30gal and the hob on the other side. I think that’s enough because none of my other fish gasp at the surface or ever go there. but maybe I need more flow?

 

[Arley]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Swimming near the surface is not a good sign for this species.

In the video, the one firefish is swimming/bobbing head down, like it is positively buoyant. That can be a sign of gas bladder issues, but can also happen if the fish eats food like pellets or flakes that make it float due to trapped air.

If they are not feeding, then the issue is either gas bladder, general stress (like aggression from other fish), gill disease or low dissolved oxygen in the water (as @vetteguy53081 said).

First thing to do is add good aeration to the tank to see if that helps.

Jay

I don’t feed pellets just frozen mysis and frozen algae from hikari.
and I can tell that the one that has trouble swimming down is a lot fatter that the other one maybe bloated

video is my flow I think it’s enough but maybe not

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I don’t feed pellets just frozen mysis and frozen algae from hikari.
and I can tell that the one that has trouble swimming down is a lot fatter that the other one maybe bloated

video is my flow I think it’s enough but maybe not

While the flow is fine, tanks need to have aeration, where the surface tension is being broken by bubbles. This helps with gas exchange. If you don't have that, a film can build up on the surface that blocks that. Since oxygen and carbon dioxide testing is not something you can really do at home, adding good aeration and then see if that helps, is the best "test".

That may not be the issue here, but it is something you can easily try, just to rule that issue out.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

I don’t feed pellets just frozen mysis and frozen algae from hikari.
and I can tell that the one that has trouble swimming down is a lot fatter that the other one maybe bloated

video is my flow I think it’s enough but maybe not

Flow is fine and provides good surface agitation and has nothing to do with dissolved oxygen. Changes in bacteria populations and addition of fish require more O2 than others which can cause changes in O2 levels especially in newer systems with bacterial levels still developing and working with bioloads. Your rock in the tank has to bind tank waste and it creates swings in waste management and can quickly elevate ammonia or nitrite creating small spikes.
Its either gas bladder from sucking surface air or O2 issue