Why my new fish breathes like this?

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professorjimjam

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May 26, 2021
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I have got this new fish and after couple of days of quarantine, I placed it in my the main tank. it eats ok and swims around. they are a pair, one male and one female. the male one has larger mouth comparing to the female.

but I noticed the breathing of this fish is a bit heavier, at least it looks like it. I have never had a fish of this kind, so maybe the fish naturally breathes like this, but I am not sure.

have you had a fish like this? is this breathing normal?

please see attached youtube video I uploaded.

Video Link YouTube
 
professorjimjam said:
I have got this new fish and after couple of days of quarantine, I placed it in my the main tank. it eats ok and swims around. they are a pair, one male and one female. the male one has larger mouth comparing to the female.

but I noticed the breathing of this fish is a bit heavier, at least it looks like it. I have never had a fish of this kind, so maybe the fish naturally breathes like this, but I am not sure.

have you had a fish like this? is this breathing normal?

please see attached youtube video I uploaded.

Video Link YouTube
Click to expand...
Turn off lights, how did you acclimate them? Recently my flowerhorn went through a temperature shock during a wc and was breathing this same way for hours and it could also possibly be mineral shock from improper acclimation
 
Since you just say "new fish", not what they are, I'm wondering if you've done any research on them, before getting them.
It is one of the South American Apistogramma that come from soft, tannin rich waters, and lives among fallen leaf liter.
If it is an aquarium strain this may be moot.
If it is wild caught, water parameters may be extremely important.
Such things as low pH (5 to 6), low conductivity, low mineral content, and tannins (or the lack thereof).
Many of these S American soft water fish have poor immunity to bacteria that live in hard, alkaline water, and succumb to diseases hard water fish don't.
This is why you commonly see older severums, oscars and other large S Americans with hole in the head, when kept in hard water.
They also prefer warm waters, and a sharp decrease during a water change can be problematic.
If you are going to do water changes with "cold" on their tank, they should be small, but frequent.

I would also incorporate either leaf litter, or peat bags to add tannins, to the point of giving the water in the tank a brown tint.8632C016-4EA0-472F-B839-A1D64EBE1B05_1_201_a.jpeg
 
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Looks like it is stressed and therefore breathing fast. As for the way it is breathing, it isn’t too far off from how cichlids would. Getting it in a low ph soft water tank would help.
 
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duanes duanes


in two days, I changed 2x50% water change with clean water. temp 26-27F. after water change, ammonia 0ppm Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 3ppm . PH 7.0 No trace of copper or any other chemical in the water found.

I bought and placed multiple of these leaves (picture attached)
IMG_5075.jpg
it turned the water to brownish. all other fishes act normal and in fact after putting the leaves, they became super active and are swimming and playing like being high. including the female Apistogramma Cacatuoides. the female breathes normally like other fishes in the tank. only this male is breathing fast ,and also today while I was recording, I saw this weird kind of opening of mouth (please see in attached YouTube video). not sure why he did that.

Video Link YouTube

Do you think this fish is sick that breathes like this? or something is stuck in the mouth? why did it open the mouth like this? it eats well and sleeps well. could it be that it is stressed because of other Gourami fish?

thanks.
 
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