Mrs King

My fish have got really jumpy in the last couple of days. I have two Mollys and two sharks. I have a couple of tetras and two plecks. Its only started in the last two days. They also seem to be sitting in the same place when before they used to swim about. Whats wrong with them?

jdhef

Welcome to FishLore.

How long has your tank been set up?
Has your tank cycled?
What are the readings for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?
What is you water temperature?

Sorry for all the questions but without that info, it will be very difficult for anyone to diagnose what's happening with your fish.

Mrs King

My tanks is up and running over 8 months.
I don't know what you mean by cycled. If it means changing some of the water then I did it a week ago.
I haven't done any readings as I was told it was only needed if the fish die or the water changes colour.
The water Temp is 25 degrees celcius.
Thanks

Barbrella

We test so our fish won't die! By the time the water changes colour and the fish die, it's way too late.

How big is your tank? How often and how much of the water do you change each time?

Jumpy fish can be a symptom of many things from parasites to bad water quality.

jdhef

Here is a link about the Nitrogen cycle:
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

You should be testing your water on a regular basis. I would recommend a liquid reagent test kit such as the API Master Test Kit for Freshwater, over test strips. The test strips are notorious for being inaccurate.

I'm a little confused by your original post. You say your fish are jumpy, but then you say they are just sitting stationary. But them sitting stationary seems like they aren't doing too well. So the first thing I would look at is the water parameters. If all is well there, then I would maybe start treatment for parasites.

Have you added any new fish or fed them any live or frozen food recently that could have introduced parasites into the tank?

Good luck getting you fish healthy again!