Curious fish behavior
 

So I got 7 of the golden variety of White Clouds recently. They all seem to be doing fine. But there's this one that today is just kinda not doing as much as usual. I noticed early he was kinda sittin at the bottom of the tank just bobbin' along. Now he's kinda hangin out by the filter doing the same thing. What is that?

There is something wrong when a fish does not swim with the school, or is not busy exploring. Just hanging out at either the top or the bottom is not good.

They don't really school, though. And what could this mean? Some kind of illness? And not only that, but part of his back fin is missing.

Subtrate offgassing?

Do you keep up with weekly water changes and subtrate siphoning?

What is your water alkanity/hardness?

Temperature?

Ammonia?

Circulation/aeration?

I honestly don't know any of that because I don't know how to read it and don't have a kit.

If white clouds are dying though, which 2 of them did today... must be something wrong.... because they're very hardy

Well blackheart, my white clouds school pretty tight.

I've never ever seen them actually really school. They're more of shoaling fish.

Get your self a test Kit...

Is there a recommended kit for someone who's just learning?

Get the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. This will give you tests for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH. Also very helpful is the API GH/KH test kit.

+100000000

Got the one that you guys recommended and it was super easier than I expected. and on sale.

not sure how correct this is:

PH 7.6
High Range PH 7.4 (what is that btw?)
Ammonia 0 PPM
Nitrite 0 PPM
Nitrate 0 PPM

Also why is there two different bottles of some of the things? like 2 bottles for Nitrites? kinda confusing.

The temperature is around 72-74 degrees. Which isn't too bad for White Clouds, as they can take a lot. Last year my tank was almost 80 degrees in the hotter months and they were still just fine.

And I haven't done any water changes or anything like that yet because I haven't even stocked the tank until recently.

The instructions are super easy if you read them. It explains why there are two bottles for ammonia and nitrites. You need to be using both bottles for the ammonia and nitrite to get the correct results.

You put so many drops of bottle one, cap it, shake for so long(instructions will tell you how long), then add in so many drops of bottle two, cap, shake, wait for result(instructions will tell you how long to wait).

If you do not follow the instructions, ie, instead of using the cap when shaking and you use your finger, you can get faulty test results. Ive had it happen once before. OR if you do not shake between bottle one and bottle two you will also get fault results.

High range ph is for tanks that have a higher ph. Cichlid tanks normal are in 8.0 range meaning you need a high range test.