HELP -Beginner - Fish Swimming At Top!

A few questions.

What are your water parameters; GH/KH, pH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.
What test kit are you using?
Is the surface of the water being agitated (surface tension broken) by the water coming out of the filter?
Or do you have an airstone drawing bubbles to the surface?
What have you done to cycle the tank? (A week is a long way short for a fishless cycle).

Minnows like quicker currents, they live in streams so it's more natural. My Vietnamese WCMM's love playing close to the outlet from my external filter (as do my Danio's). Turning it down probably won't make any difference unless the tank is like a whirlpool.  Try reducing the flow and see the reaction from the fish.

Do a partial dechlorinated water change asap, as this will lessen toxins if there are any present, and insert aerated water, giving more oxygen if that is an issue.  Hopefully this will help the fish perk up a bit.  Keep a watch after the water change to see if they are a bit happier.

Experts will bring their own questions and suggestions as the clock turns.

And a third asking about the water conditions.

Cycling takes a lot longer than a week I'm afraid. Cycling is the process of growing two colonies of bacteria in the filter, a process which takes several weeks. If you just let things run, that isn't cycling. If you added a bottled bacteria product, they don't cycle a tank instantly. Some don't work at all, others just speed it up.

Your problem is that you are most likely now doing a fish-in cycle and you will need to do a lot of water changes to keep the fish, and especially the shrimp, alive.

The best thing you can do is

• A water change asap, leave just enough water to keep the fish covered and top up with water that has been dechlorinated and warmed to the same temp as the water you take out.
• Read this  http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,17.0.html
• Go out and buy a liquid reagent test kit. If you'd rather get one cheaper on-line, do daily very large water changes until the test kit arrives. Strip testers do not usually have ammonia tests and that's the most important one at the moment.

The problem is unlikely to be the filter, it is much more likely that the problem is your filter doesn't have any bacteria in it. While you wait for the bacteria to grow, I'm afraid you're stuck having to do lots of water changes.