Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

We've been shifting a few things around tonight, and while I was up the hill near the tank I could see the surface of the water in the moonlight. A number of fish were skimming the surface of the water. They weren't gulping at the surface, just swimming at the top of the water.

I've also seen them doing this during the day when I've snuck up on the tank

Has anyone else seen their fish doing similar things? Is this normal? Are they bored? Do we need to put more toys in for them?

There is plenty of aeration and the pumps are working regularly.

Hi jaymie my silvers often do that

My trout do it but will usually take off when they see me without food inmy hand.

Yep - mine spend a lot of time swimming around hi in the water when the tank is shaded.

Yup, normal.
It's this irrational behaviour that keeps the herrons fat and happy

silvers and jades are surface feeders. Of course that is where most of the DO is too. With the warmer water now it's summer, that is where they will be happiest i reckon.

i reckon its a sign of happy and healthy fish. problem is its also a similar action to gulping for air. i remember first seeing my goldies doing it when the system was prime. at first i thought there wasn't enough DO in the water but it was obvious this wasn't the case, as the water was boiling. its almost like the action that dolphins perform on top of the water. i wonder if you could train your fish to jump through rings. wouldn't that impress visitors?

skimming for bitty bugs.

FISH ... what are fish ?

Yap, I often see that type of action in my fish tanks.. Like sharks with their fins out the water..

My barra does it as well, looking for the food container no doubt...

I have fish in a barrel. Everything I have read says that goldies are bored fish if there is nothing around them. However I find this not to be the case.




Thats how fish are in my barrel. They are in all different layers without any toys. They are healthy and going good it seems in my larger system I am building.

Theory that gold fish get bored is shattered like glass impacting concrete I think. Once my gold fish all sit at the bottom all mad and bored I will tend to think people are selling something "IE: Fake Plants and crap to make a quick buck"

Although it might have to do with my water flow in the barrel?

Water currents = toys.
Bugs = toys.
Other fish = toys.
fake plants = your $$$ in someone else's pockets.

That is what I figured.

I have a pretty good water current. How do you know if its too strong? The fish are not bashing the walls so thats good but if I float a little boat on the water it makes a complete circle in about 10 seconds.

fish swimming backwards = current too strong.
fish bashing walls = current too strong.
(I'm feeling very mathematical today!)