Hello!
I'm not sure of the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or pH levels, but I just changed about 25% of the tank water with my new tank vac. It is a 20G tank with a whisper filter and an added ammonia filter pad. I use tap water thats been sitting for a day or two to fill the tank. As far as additives, i use aquarium salt (4Tb). I've had this size tank for about two months now. I just recently started getting algea, which is why i just changed some of the water. I have two fish in there, one 2" black moor and a 3" Ryukin. I'm not sure of either of their sexes. I've had the Ryukin for a good month and a half, and the black moor for about two weeks. I feed the Ryukin bloodworm and goldfish flakes, and i feed the black moor bits of pea. I try to feed them every other day, and i usually see poop, so I don't think they are constipated.

The Ryukin started out very playful, hiding in the fake plants and rocks, that sort of thing. The Black moor started out somewhat sluggish, always looking at the bottom of the tank. We thought maybe it was just because he was getting used to a new home, but its been two weeks, and he's still very sluggish unless I'm changing the plants/water or feeding him. And now the Ryukin is acting sluggish, not obsessed with the bottom, but just kind of floating along- not as active as he was before.
There are no spots or marks on either fish. They look perfectly healthy, they are just acting funny. I thought cleaning the tank alittle would help, but they still are just hanging around not doing anything. Is there something else I should be doing?


-->I just looked around further on this site, and found a blurb about Swim Bladder Disorder. It sounds alot like what my black moor has... He just swims facing towards the gravel all day... should i put him in my separate 2.5G tank?

Hi Ella,

Welcome to koko's!

If you just set up the tank 2 months ago then your fish have just lived through or in the process of living through a filter cycle. That is not very pleasant for them as the ammonia will rise to high levels and nitrIte as well. You are getting algae now (is it brown or green?) because nitrAte is starting to build up which usually signals the tail end of a cycle.

Do you regularly do a partial water change?

Your ammonia pad is probably saturated by now. Have you changed it since or recharged it (I'm assuming it is using zeolite chips).

Please get test kits for ammonia, nitrIte and pH. NitrAte would be good too. Most problem with sluggish behaviour starts with poor water quality and then maybe secondary problems set in but you must first assess your water quality and to eliminate any problem areas.

Post back with test results soon and we can get a better idea of your situation.

I just got the master water tester kit, and everything looks good. Here's the results I got:
Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
NitrAte - 5.0ppm
pH - between 7.4 - 7.6

The algae is brown, and not growing as fast since i cleaned the tank. Also, I changed the ammonia pad filter last night.

I watched them alittle last night and they seemed to be very playful, mimicing each other. Could I just be over reacting?
Well anyway, thanks for the quick response, and the good input!
-Ella

Hi Ella,

Sounds like your cycle is over which is good news.

If they are playful and show no further signs of distress or illness then it is probably just a temporarily thing. Keep a close eye on them and let us know if anything pops up.

This morning I woke up to my Black Moor bobing at the top of the tank. He is feisty, but must be full of air. I tryed a new food last night - small pellets - but i did not soak them first. That may have been the complete wrong thing to do...
The Ryukin is fine, swimming along merrily.
I'll keep you updated.

You could just watch for a day or two to see if the Moor corrects itself or you could start feeding it a pea or two and see if that helps.