I was just wondering how ofen fish sleep. i notice that my two fishies sleep a lot. or they just remain still and stare out the tank. i know they sleep but any idea how long? Or am i just catching them when they do it. The water is perfect (not to toot my own horn).

You say your water is perfect, but have you tested the nitrAtes? Sometimes high nitrAtes cause them to "hang" in the water and not do much. They'll still perk up occasionally (feeding time especially).
Another thing that causes this is possible parasite infestations or complications from it.

oh no. i actually don't think my tank is cycles yet. it has been running for about a month and no algae yet. but i do water changes and all
holy crap how do i check for parasites? just look at their fins? the water temp is not stable though could this be it. And oh yes they perk up when i turn the light on for food well anytime for food

It may be best to go ahead and post the water levels and let us take a look at them.
Fish sleep yes but not usually alot during the day. I am concerned that something isn't right here and would hate to have something happen.

Get back with us as soon as you can and we'll go from there.

oh no my babies
i will have to post at school tomorrow..
keep your fingers crossed

Don't panic sarah, just make sure you test the water and give us the paramaters tomorrow. If you take a look at the disease section and provide us with the information asked in the red area at the top.. that would be really helpful.

As far as fish sleeping... Mine never do with the lights on. Only when it is dark. When I turn the lights on in the morning they are all laying on the bottom or hiding in corners together. But as Erika said... sounds like your nitrates could be high

I think I am going to move your thread into the diagnosis area just so you have the red box handy.

Laurie, you brought up a good point, cuz if her tank isn't cycled, it could be just ammonia or nitrItes bugging the fish.

Sara, you said in your first post that your water params are perfect, but then in your second you mentioned that your tank might still be cycling.... do you have any test kits? You can take your water to a pet store and have them test it, just make sure you write them down.

ok. So i think i am still cycling cuase i have no algae. isn't that a sign of finidhed cycling and an astablished tank? ok anyway
nitrate 20ppm
nitrite 0
hardness 150
KH 80ppm
PH 7.2
10 gallon been running little over a month
filter - Fluval 1 plus under water filter (came with tank)
change water once a week about 50%
2 fish (i know overstocked did not know)
length one is a calico telescope 2 in and the other 1.5 inch
Water - aqua safe tetra
no meds added
no new fish
food - hikari sinking pellets and grapes
only the calico seems to sleep alot during the day. in the same spot like just over two hours a day. They do play in the stream of the pump though. Oh they eat and dig around. just sleeping alot

I don't see an ammonia reading, this is important. Even though the others look good don't assume the ammonia is as well. I would check that and see.

Also with having an underground filter are you aware of the bacteria that builds up? Hopefully you are vacuuming once a week at least, but then still there are toxins under that filter. I would as soon as you can not use that one.

If the fish are only sleeping a couple hours in the day that is ok. It is when they do more laying around than moving you are in trouble.

well the filter is a square looking thing that you can susctio to the side or to the bottom. it is not covered by rocks or any thing. i don't have amonia readings. humm any reason why i don't? i will start to vaccum alot now. Should i put the filter on the side of the tank instead of on top of the rocks? They love to play in the current. it pushes them up.

Does you other filter (you do have 2 running don't you???) do 10 times the gallons an hour?
If so I would remove the UGF. I am not sure if this is one or not, just going by your words. Don't know if you can use a UGF on the side of the tank. Maybe someone else can help you with that.
Is this filter on top of the gravel?

If you have not been vacuuming on a regular basis then only do part of the tank every couple days. If you do it all at once you can stir up the toxins and cause the fish to get deathly sick. So doing a section of the tank every 3 days should be good. Then after you have done it all you can do the whole thing on a weekly basis.

In answer to your ammonia question........I don't know why your test doesn't have it. Are you using strips?
You will have to go get an ammonia test to check this, since it is not on yours.

We recommend using drop tests and not strip tests, they are more accurate. Strips can be evasive and not give exact numbers........dangerous to use. For they leave you thinking all is fine when it may not be.

i do only have the strips they came with the tank. i only have the one filter and it is on top of the gravel. I will go out and get a new one. the air bubble thing is attached to the side of the tank and it looks like a filter but i think it is only for bubbles. The test strips don't have ammonia how could i have missed that> duh...... i will get it this weekend. thank you. i just fed them some apple and they went crazy!!!

Sorry I thought you said you had two filters.

Since you are going to get a new one, make sure it does 10 times the gallons an hour. Biowheels are a good filter. They hang on the back and have the waterfall effect to oxygenate the water more. The wheel gives you added protection with the cycle. All around a good choice.

so i finally tested the water for amonia and wow
i am such a clutz for not thinking of that ealier. i just did a 50% water change and i am sad to say that after the water change it was between .25 and .50! wow
so should i do another water change imm or wait till the end of the day? i can't test for anything else today i forgot the rest. just so worried about the amonia so that is all i could remember.

Well before you go further you are going to need to know where the other levels are.
See changing water is based on all numbers not just one.

Basically you have to keep the ammonia and nitrites at 0 while maintaining the nitrates at 5-20. It is a balancing act, so knowing everything is required. Make sense to you?

yes it makes perfect sense. I will test for everything tomorrwo and hopefully be using my brain by then. thank you! i will post back
i was scared to do another water change today cause of getting rid of the good bacteria

ok so brain working today
tested the water this morning
ammonia 0 - .025 Hard to tell but closer to 0
nitrate 20
nitrite 0
hardness 150
KH 40
Ph 7.2
temp. depending on the time of day 68-71
i think this looks good
and after one really big water change and gravel vac. and of course some apple
they are not sleeping as much now. Maybe the apple gave them energy.
let me know if i need anything else done

Your water looks good, and seems to be doing better so I would just watch them and the water. Hopefully all will be well now.