fish staying at the top of the water, maybe gasping for air..

They are indeed pretty useless, tank size does not matter.

What has happened is that you added too many fish to a new tank and the ammonia is shoooting up. You will need to do a 50% water change at least once a day for the next two or three weeks.
 
jilly said:
i did about 33% and they seem happier already. Later on tonight I'll do some more, and look for the liquid ammonia tests. Do the strips work okay for small tanks, like maybe 5 or 10 gallon? (i hate to think i spent $12 bucks on dip strips that are useless - but it will be one of the many things I've spent a lot of fish money on since I started this a month ago!)
Click to expand...

Yeeeeah. My fiance calls my tank the hole into which my money goes. He's not wrong.

In other words, I wouldn't trust those things at all, small tank or large.
 
if you don't know what kind of pleco you have, you should get rid of it soon. common plecos, those usually sold without a proper name, can reach anywhere from 8-24 inches, and do not belong small tanks. they also need to be fed, not left to survive on algae and leftovers.
 
I agree with the above:

Dump the dip-sticks, they're useless.

Ideally, take all the fish back to the store and do a fishless cycle.
Failing that, get ready to do 50% or greater water changes at least once, maybe twice, a day for the next six weeks.
 
What everyone saying regarding the cycling and ammonia is certainly true and I agree with all of it. I have two things to add:

1) I am curious if you have a lid on the tank, how full it is, and if you have a bubbler going (I want to make sure your gas exhange is OK). What your describing is also a symptom of low oxygen in the water... partial water changes will fix it temporarily but not permantently if this is happening.

2) If you can't / don't want to go through a cycle or all the water changes - you can try a product I have used twice with great success called BIOSPIRA... it's hard to find and pricey but it worked for me (I had a past situation with a 65G tank 10 Cichlids and no time for cycle -a 3oz package of this worked like a charm)

Good Luck
 
I think everyone else on the site has different feelings on Biospira. And that feeling would be a waste of money...
There's no substitute for a cycle unless you have a tank already set up and use the bacteria (filter material, gravel) from one to do a rushed cycle on the new tank.
 
The problem with BioSpira is that you have to be entirely certain that it was refrigerated since packaging, and there's really no guarantee of that. Even if you get it at a good LFS that you trust, there's no way to be certain. You're taking a chance, and it's up to everyone to decide whether they're willing to do that with their fish. I vote no, but that's just me.
 
I used BioSpira on the advice of a LFS employee and it failed and i lost 4 fish. I used it against my better judgement....lesson learned!

Major water changes are very important!!!
 
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