Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I barely see my fish, and I'm wondering about whether the O2 level affects where they "sit" in the tank. Based on my observations of "Twitchy" the wonder goldfish in the garage, it seems that they will stay at the bottom at night when they are "sleeping" and the water is colder, then become more active during the day and early evening. They don't come up much when I feed them, like they're are indifferent about food floating on the top, or wait for it to sink down to them.

Can fish in the system get too much oxygen, to where they are euphoric/dizzy? Can this be why they stick to the bottom and not come up to the top so much? I had thought it was because they are scared when they are small, but they are big enough now that it shouldn't be a problem.

I'm thinking of adjusting my timer downward until the fish load is higher. Right now I have about a dozen 2" goldfish in about 90 gallons of water (340L). The timer is one that has 15 minute increments, I have it set to go off more often during the day (15 minutes on, 30 minutes off), and 15 minutes on, 45 minutes off during the night.

Dave, i'm no fish scientist, but IMO i'd say NO.

What is the temperature of your water during the afternoon and late night/early morning?

colder water vcan hold more oxygen, but I also dont think its that, must be a temp thing

Dave, i've noticed the same with my jade perch, inside they are at 25C and feed really well and are very active, outside they are at 20C and i can barely see them, even when i feed, but the goldfish in the same tank come to the surface.........

When i do a water change inside and the temp drops to about 18C the jade perch just sit on the bottom not moving all that much.

Don't forget, they are cold blooded creatures so will slow ringt down at cooler than optimum temps. each fish will be different.

So what temps do you have?

Hi, after conversion, today's weather is 27C today 16C tonight.

Not sure about the water tank right now.

Temp sounds fine. I think you may have something in system that is causing toxicity.

I found a bit of roofing lead a kid threw in a tank one day....

Check your pH too. See if the morning/evening difference is large. High shifts in pH will stress fish badly. If this is the case you need to get some buffering capacity in your water.

I wish you luck and a speedy diagnosis.

Just checked water params (it's late afternoon right now) pH has gone back up to 8, ammonia is 0, nitrites are going back up now at 1 ppm.

I guess it is my gravel pushing the pH back up (this after an almost total water change (other thread)).

if fish arent starving they dont have to go against there instinct. there instinct is to avoid everything. they can here you approach through vibrations in the floor.
when they are hungry they will be your best friends and wait at the surface.

do they have hiding places, that often helps with stress

Dave
I have 12 goldfish in my system that tend to stay at the bottom of the tank during the day..Come up only when feeding..Have you got some kind of shading device over the the tank or hiding places in tank...I have found that when the light levels go down the fish come up...shy creatures..they see too many shadows and objects moving in the sky ready to devour them..

I actually have added a screen over the fish tub, to keep the algae more under control from sunny days.

I think they are being overfed. There is a lot of uneaten food piling up at the gravel piping. After the low water incident my wife put in a lot of food, some of which I removed, but there was still a lot.

What food weight should I be giving them based on fish length? I can estimate their length easier than weight because I can't net any of them (I tried this weekend, not even close). We have a little scale in the kitchen I can use to weigh the food.

The water parameters this morning were pH 7.5, ammonia 0, and nitrites 1.0 ppm. Looks like the pH went down during the night.

One more fish was floating this morning (2 in last 3 days). This is the first one that would make me worried at all, as this one looked pretty normal compared to the others, who were not healthy-looking.

http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/alb ... pic_id=107

Dave, by your ammonia and nitrite results its looks like you're about half way though the cycle. Reduce feeding (they'll be fine) and maybe change out some water, you don't really want the nitrites getting too much higher

Yep, the nitrites had been a rock-solid 2ppm before the new water was added, I will keep an eye on it.

Wife is out of town for 2 weeks so I can geek out on aquaponics! No money though.

Ouch! 2ppm is getting high for the nitrites, that maybe why some of your fish looked sickly.

It interferes with O2 uptake, like carbon monoxide for fish

I'd keep doing water changes if it keeps rising above 1 ppm dave