What causes fish to hover near the surface?

[DrewBrees713]

My lemon peel and 3 clown fish i bought yesterday are near the waterline in my QT tank. Is this sympton of ich or velvet as i havent checked for small white spots. My qt light is too weak for me to make a visual confirmation. I just dose a small amount of coppersafe and plan on slowly ramping it up.

 

[mich2599]

Do you have an air stone? Copper and other treatments deplete the oxygen in the water that's why it is recommended to add an air stone.

Are they rapidly breathing?

 

[DrewBrees713]

Yes i do have an air stone. Gonna add another one. Just shined a light on my fish and didnt detect any rapid breathing although i see my lemon peel scrape against a bottom pane once.

 

[HotRocks]

Also adding a power head aimed at the surface of the water will help with oxygenation of the water.

 

[DrewBrees713]

I added more air. Is swimming at the surface a symptom of ick or velvet?

 

[HotRocks]

It's a symptom of low oxygen.

If the fish gills are loaded with parasites this could cause them to hang near the surface where oxygen saturation is higher.

 

[4FordFamily]

It's a symptom of low oxygen.

If the fish gills are loaded with parasites this could cause them to hang near the surface where oxygen saturation is higher.

Agree. Could also be a symptom of velvet, or a serious bacteral infection. It's not a good sign. I'd keep copper coming but address oxygen ASAP.

 

[DrewBrees713]

I added coppersafe but from past experience some of my fish didnt make it when i tried copper

 

[mich2599]

You may have added too much copper at once.

 

[HotRocks]

Copper safe is also very potent in some cases and visual test kits tend to read lower than what they should. I would recommend getting a Hanna checker and ramping copper up over a few days. Doing multiple dosings daily.