Hello everyone, i just bough a frontosa 5 days ago, he in a 75 gl tank with 4 blood parrot and a ghost knife, all the other fish are well but the front for some reason he keep gasping but he still eat and swim around slowly sometime, most of the time he hide in a cave, my tank is running for about 2 weeks with 75gl filter and i hve air flowing real good, the water is clear but do hve little bit alge on glass, temp is about 76 F, please give me advice on what to do, please keep in mind i have a blck ghost nd he sensitive to chemical nd salt,also please tell me how to test nitrate, ammonia and ph, thanks in advance.
Fish gasping please help
- Thread starter heartsoul
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Sounds like he is stressed or being picked on or both. Watch them at night. Black ghosts are night active and somewhat aggressive. I'd bet he's the culprit.
Start by doing 25% daily water changes for the 5 days. Bet you'll see improvement. Try to use Prime as your dechlorinator.
Take a sample of your water to a local fish store so they can test your water parameters, it a chance that your aquarium has not finished cycleing. You must purchase a API freshwater master test kit it is not difficult to use. Actually there are youtube vids on testing your water. This is a must know when it comes to being a successful hobbyist
The Front may be stressed, but I'm concerned about the water.
The Front may be stressed, but I'm concerned about the water.Hello; If i read this correctly the tank is only set up for two weeks? If so, this is a new setup and may not be cycled with a healthy colony of beneficial bacteria (bb) yet. While I do not know the current size of the fish named, they can get to a good size. You may have too much fish in a tank that is not cycled. Water changes fairly often can help dilute the ammonia.
The bb can be had from an established tank. Get some substrate, filter media or purchase some live plants or snails. These things should have some bb on their surfaces.
You can test the water parameters with a master test kit. The last one I bought was over $30.
good luck
I agree, it sounds as if the tank is not cycled, which can normally take 6-8 weeks.
Because frontosa are very sensitive to degraded water quality, I would not have added it for at least 2 months, but since you have already done so, I would suggest large daily water changes (30-50%) until the tank is truly cycled, as others have said. Even after it is cycled, lots of water changes would be in order, because you need to keep the buffering capacity up, and the nitrates down. Lake Tanganyika's nitrate level is <1ppm, and buffering capacity quite high, qualities frontosa appreciate, and need to stay healthy.
Because frontosa are very sensitive to degraded water quality, I would not have added it for at least 2 months, but since you have already done so, I would suggest large daily water changes (30-50%) until the tank is truly cycled, as others have said. Even after it is cycled, lots of water changes would be in order, because you need to keep the buffering capacity up, and the nitrates down. Lake Tanganyika's nitrate level is <1ppm, and buffering capacity quite high, qualities frontosa appreciate, and need to stay healthy.
Prime conditions your tap water by removing chlorine, or other disinfectants and some of their by-products that could harm fish.
My guess is, if you haven't done any water changes since you set up the tank, but only topped the tank off, with the bio-load your at, your ammonia level is in the danger zone. This is why they are gasping, especially if the tank wasn't cycled.
So you need to pull out a significant amount of water from the tank, and replace it it with fresh water to dilute the ammonia.
My guess is, if you haven't done any water changes since you set up the tank, but only topped the tank off, with the bio-load your at, your ammonia level is in the danger zone. This is why they are gasping, especially if the tank wasn't cycled.
So you need to pull out a significant amount of water from the tank, and replace it it with fresh water to dilute the ammonia.
Hello; Adding water to replace that which evaporates actually makes the water quality worse. Some of the "stuff" that makes for poor water conditions does not leave when the water evaporates. Mineral salts for example. Adding more water can add to the total as some tap water already has such things in the water. Add to those things the sort of byproducts from the metabolism of the fish.
It is also very common for those new to fishkeeping to overfeed. I did it early on and it can take a while to judge a correct amount to feed. I suspect the fish you have may also be messy eaters which adds to the issue.
You likely need to do water changes of 25% volume or more every couple of days for a while.
Let me point out again that the bb can be had quickly from an established tank. Do you know someone with a tank that has been running for a few months? Most any solid surface from an established tank will have the bb on it. This can be sand, gravel, decorations, filter media, plants, snails and so on. Some filter media they are about to throw out is fine.
Go to a fish shop and buy something from one of their tanks such as plants, snails or such. Tell them you need some bb foryour tank. If you are very lucky the clerk will have sufficent knowledge to understand. If not, buy something solid from a tank, keep it wet and put it in your new tank. There will be a small risk of some sort of issues doing this but you appear to be in dire need of a population of bb (beneficial bacteria).
Good luck
