Help!

[neon]

I got up this morning and my fish are all stressed!  I have 15 cardinals, and they are all pale and are losing their colour.  I recently lost 2 angelfish.  I did a good water change last Saturday, I always change about 1/3 of the tank about once a week.  I added my de-chlorinator like I always do.  I have a 54 gallon bowfront with a enheim canister filter.  My water parameters this morning are good, 0 nitrites, 0.25 ammonia, and 0 nitrates.  What could be wrong?  I don't want to lose all my fish.  Besides the 15 cardinals I have 2 large koi angels, 2 bolivian rams, 10 harlequin rasboras, 2 kribs, 3 columbian tetras, 3 congo tetras, 3 gold tetras, 3 saes, 1 clown pleco and 1 bristlenose pleco.  Just as I'm writing this they seem to be getting some of their colour back.  I turned the light off last night at about 9 like I always do and it went on at 6:30 this morning.  ?  The only thing that I've done different in the last couple of days was adjust the temp, it was too warm, it was in the low 80's, now the therm is reading about 77

[Julie]

The tank is going through a cycle with the ammonia.
Do you clean your filter in tank water?

[charlie]

I got up this morning and my fish are all stressed!  I have 15 cardinals, and they are all pale and are losing their colour.  I recently lost 2 angelfish.  I did a good water change last Saturday, I always change about 1/3 of the tank about once a week.  I added my de-chlorinator like I always do.  I have a 54 gallon bowfront with a enheim canister filter.  My water parameters this morning are good, 0 nitrites, 0.25 ammonia, and 0 nitrates.  What could be wrong?  I don't want to lose all my fish.  Besides the 15 cardinals I have 2 large koi angels, 2 bolivian rams, 10 harlequin rasboras, 2 kribs, 3 columbian tetras, 3 congo tetras, 3 gold tetras, 3 saes, 1 clown pleco and 1 bristlenose pleco.  Just as I'm writing this they seem to be getting some of their colour back.  I turned the light off last night at about 9 like I always do and it went on at 6:30 this morning.  ?  The only thing that I've done different in the last couple of days was adjust the temp, it was too warm, it was in the low 80's, now the therm is reading about 77

Something to consider, if it`s just a colour issue with the cardinals, at first lights on Cardinals do look pale & washed out, after a few mins. they colour up.
I would be concerned about any ammonia reading.
Regards

[fischkopp]

It appears to me that the fishload in your 54g is very high. This is not only a stress factor but it is also a very high bioload (that tend to overfeeding) that may exceed your filter capacity. Hence you are seeming ammonia in your tank in an amount that is very high for an uncycled tank (if it is not a false reading).

Charlie is right, it usually takes a bit until every fish wakes u and shows its colour. Also angels, rams and kribs may chase other fish around, which could be also a reason for stressed fish.

[beowulf]

What kind of eheim do you have? 

[BigDaddy]

Ammonia readings other than zero are never "good".  Any time you measure ammonia, it is a bad thing.

[neon]

Its not a new tank, its been running fine for over 6 months, and none of the fish are new, they've been there for months.  I think it was the temp change, I turned it up again a couple of degrees and after about 1/2 hour, they were all fine.

[Nerine]

Just a little question, when you turn the tank lights on...do you first turn on the room lights, wait a few minutes then the tank lights? If I turn the tank lights on right away, they have the same reaction as we do first thing in the morning!

Glad they are doing better!! Get that ammonia level down though!

[charlie]

Its not a new tank, its been running fine for over 6 months, and none of the fish are new, they've been there for months.  I think it was the temp change, I turned it up again a couple of degrees and after about 1/2 hour, they were all fine.

You don`t want to be playing with the temp changes too much or too drastic, as this would also stress the fish ( more so cardinals) & can spur a ich out break.

[neon]

I always turn on room lights first.  I have a dual light strip, and I only turn on one of them first, then the other a few minutes later.  This is the first time I've seen them like that, and I don't know why I'm measuring ammonia.  As I said, the tank has been running for 6 months, I do water changes every week.  And my filter has been going for 6 months also.  Its one of those big enheim new canister ones, series 300 or something like that.

[Julie]

Did you clean the filter?

[White Lightning]

I am glad the fish are better but I would think that the tank is overpopulated.

[fishycanuck]

Nothing wrong with checking ammonia - especially if your fish seem at all unwell. What's bad is having an ammonia level above 0.
Do a pwc (rinsing the filter media in used tank water) and stop feeding for a couple of days while you look for a bigger tank!

[neon]

The only thing I change on my filter is the floss that sits on top.  I also have biozorb on top of it.  The rest is all those little ceramic or stone things.  There are no dead fish, I did have one that I couldn't find for a couple of days, but I found it and got rid of it.  Mabey thats why my ammonia is slightly high.  I did the water change before I found the fish.  A bigger tank is definately not an option.  I should look into getting rid of some of my fish.  I'm not crazy about the sae's, that would be 3.  And I could get rid of my 3 gold tetras.  Nothing is very big though.  The biggest fish in the tank are the 2 koi angels, they are about 4 inches each.