why are my fish hanging at the top of the tank??!!

[danny]

hi,
my platy and 1 or 2 of her babys are hanging at the top of the tank
seemingly gasping for air but i have only recently put a new airstone
in. my other fish are fine eating normally i am giving the tank a
routene clean today, but, i had some fancy guppys they started doing
this and then died, i want to save this lot because i was loosing 1 a
day with the guppys, i dont want to loose the platys because they are
my favourite fish and they are so friendly aswell

please help,

danny

[NetMax]

"danny" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> hi,
> my platy and 1 or 2 of her babys are hanging at the top of the tank
> seemingly gasping for air but i have only recently put a new airstone
> in. my other fish are fine eating normally i am giving the tank a
> routene clean today, but, i had some fancy guppys they started doing
> this and then died, i want to save this lot because i was loosing 1 a
> day with the guppys, i dont want to loose the platys because they are
> my favourite fish and they are so friendly aswell
>
> please help,
>
> danny


The water near the surface will be more oxygenated, be more (or less)
turbulent, and possibly closer to your air temperature, so:
i) the oxygen levels are too low
ii) their gills are damaged, so they seek locations with higher O2 levels
iii) the water is too warm (or cold?)
iv) the water there is of a turbulence (or amount of predator activity)
which is more to their taste
v) certain illnesses can attack the gills or stress the fish to produce
these symptoms

If they went through an ammonia cycle, then ii) is likely, if the other
causes are ruled out. jmo hth
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Fishman]

Danny,
It would be helpful if you could provide some information about the tank,
such as:
How long has the tank been up and running?
How long have the fish been in it?
Temperature?
pH, ammonia, nitrite levels? (also, "normal" provides an idea but numbers
help beter)
Filtration type?

When it comes to unhealthy and/or dying fish, these basic kinds of
information can provide a wealth of background for others to help diagnose
potential problems.

Nevertheless, NetMax has a quick list of potential causes. NetMax is one of
the great ones on this forum and you're sure to get reliable advice.

Fishman

"danny" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> hi,
> my platy and 1 or 2 of her babys are hanging at the top of the tank
> seemingly gasping for air but i have only recently put a new airstone
> in. my other fish are fine eating normally i am giving the tank a
> routene clean today, but, i had some fancy guppys they started doing
> this and then died, i want to save this lot because i was loosing 1 a
> day with the guppys, i dont want to loose the platys because they are
> my favourite fish and they are so friendly aswell
>
> please help,
>
> danny
>

[NetMax]

"teri" > wrote in message
...
>
>>my platy and 1 or 2 of her babys are hanging at the top of the tank
>>seemingly gasping for air but i have only recently put a new airstone
>>in. my other fish are fine eating normally i am giving the tank a
>>routene clean today, but, i had some fancy guppys they started doing
>>this and then died, i want to save this lot because i was loosing 1 a
>>day with the guppys, i dont want to loose the platys because they are
>>my favourite fish and they are so friendly aswell
> Hi Danny. My platies do that a lot too, I am thinking it is just
> something they like to do. They will hang up there for what seems
> like a long time, but also then hang around down in the water, and
> swim around. They have been doing it for the four months I have had
> the tank set up. So it could be nothing to worry about. I have six
> types of fish in the tank, and none of the others ever do that, just
> the platies. If you watch closely you can see air bubbles coming out
> of their gills when they are up there. I have month-or-so old platy
> fry also, so I would think if there was a problem with the water they
> would not be growing like weeds.
> Teri

Good point. That's another possibility. Mollies are known to eat the
protein layer which naturally occurs along the water's surface, and
Mollies are very closely related to Guppies. I wouldn't be surprised if
Platys and Swordtails do the same thing.

One of the ways to distinguish is to watch the fish to get their pattern.
Low O2 is worse in the early morning, or when the tank water is at its
warmest. Also low O2 tends to affect fish by species and size, at mostly
the same time. If your water parameters check out, they are eating and
colourful, the abdomen has the proper shape, and their respiration seems
normal, then surface 'snacking' would be a very good possibility. I hope
that's it.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[danny]

well thanks every one,
ive found out why the mother platy was doing that
she's just had another load of babys :)

and she's acting perfect now perky as ever and the origonal babys i was
talking about in my first post are getting her markings and the fathers
colourings

the babys are swimming around happily and the tetras dont seem to
bother about them any more

thanks again,

Danny