some fish at hovering near surface of tank

this morning before leaving for work.. i see some fishes hovering near the top of tank..

my tank is about 2-3 weeks old .... about 300l water capacity and 2 ft deep...

I also see a layer of oil on the surface.. I heard this may be due to bacteria boom...

Can someone guide me what should i do?

1) water change? approx how many %
2) get a airpump cos tank may not have enough oxygen(my tank is planted btw with mostly nanas)
3) oil? how to remove?

[holysinner]

Originally Posted by deavenger

this morning before leaving for work.. i see some fishes hovering near the top of tank..

my tank is about 2-3 weeks old .... about 300l water capacity and 2 ft deep...

I also see a layer of oil on the surface.. I heard this may be due to bacteria boom...

Can someone guide me what should i do?

1) water change? approx how many %
2) get a airpump cos tank may not have enough oxygen(my tank is planted btw with mostly nanas)
3) oil? how to remove?

Is there any air pump already?
I have similar experience with the oil layer or layer of dunno wad..haha..I just do WC..abt 20%.. I guess its the dissolved nutrients..

[cedric_sunny]

Bro, what type of fishes you're keeping? I lost my IT few days back when the fellow started to behave like yours.

Check the ammonia level before too late !

Originally Posted by fishy072

Check the ammonia level before too late !

I checked with dip stick.. Still in acceptable level.

we need some paramaters but also you need some air in that tank for surface agitation and oxygen.

[thomas-seah]

Originally Posted by deavenger

this morning before leaving for work.. i see some fishes hovering near the top of tank..

my tank is about 2-3 weeks old .... about 300l water capacity and 2 ft deep...

I also see a layer of oil on the surface.. I heard this may be due to bacteria boom...

Can someone guide me what should i do?

1) water change? approx how many %
2) get a airpump cos tank may not have enough oxygen(my tank is planted btw with mostly nanas)
3) oil? how to remove?

sorry, i can't tell exactly why the fishes behave that way.

but for the oil issue, is due to protein released from plants and/or food for your fishes contain protein.

2 best methods,
1) air pump or whatever that can break the water surface, this is to ensure the oil won't cover up the whole surface.
2) install a protein skimmer, this is what i prefer.

did a 20% water change today and it seem to help..


top layer oil is gone and fish are not at the top anymore

Happened to my tank previously n quite serious indeed. In desperate measures I even manually scoop out the layer of protein with a small container. Then I realized if I turn the pipe sending water back to tank from sump slanted it will create bigger area of movement to the water and tht helped to break the layer

Is this the scenario where there is huge lost of dissolved oxygen due bacteria boom?