Hi
This is my first post, so please bare with me!
I have kept fish for many years
I have just inherited a tank including fish as follows
Juwel 260 vision aquarium
with
2 plecs (one large, one very small)
10 cichlids (ranging from inch to 4 inches)
2 tiger barbs
3 danios
1 silver shark (4-5 inches)
2 clown loaches
we moved the tank a week ago last saturday, kept 50% of the water
set up in the lounge (away from heating/windows etc)
for about 3 days all was fine, until i noticed the filter was not pumping the water about!!!!
So after a bit of wriggling about, i got it up and running - all fine for another few days
then next morning all fish gasping at the surface
did a 50% water change - all fine
next day again gasping at the surface
another 40% water change
all ok for 2 days
did a 20% water change just to make sure
next day the fish seemed lethargic
so i did a water test
which showed a slight rise in NO3
so another water change commenced 40%
all seemed to settle for a couple of days
then i accidently put in too much food!!
cleaned this out as best as i could
did a water test yesterday with Tetra 6 in 1 tab test - indicated between 50-100mg NO3
so did a 30% water change
this morning i did another 20% water change as the tab test showed 25-50mg NO3
now this is where it all goes wrong . . . . .
I had brought some plants prior to this and as the tank was settling I decided to ad them this afternoon
Now within 30 minutes of me adding them, all the fish are gasping at the surface again
but . . . ive done the tab test and it shows 10-25mg NO3 and 1mg NO2
everything else is well within normal range
Any ideas anyone? do i need to do another water change?
any advice would really be appreciated
Jan