So I just did some quick reading. Golds and reds are apparently voluntarily. And malabaricus is strictly a water breather. According to two research papers. But I must say, that is unlike my personal experience. All of my malabaricus have always went up for air once in awhile. Even my curupira did so. If temps get to high, when they feed heavily, if they fight, or if you sit there for hours, you will see all of them go up for air, although I will say hoplias do it less than both hoplerythrinus and erythrinus. During those situations when my other fish are breathing heavily, such as my trachy, odoe, any cichlids, any other cats such as blochii, sun cats, bullhead, channel, Asian USD, wyckii, arowana, SD, all would be breathing heavily but not the wolves ( aside from after a fight) or gar. I will keep reading and see what more I can find. You've peaked my interest in this topic now, wolves are my favorite.It's my guess that they are refilling their swim bladder. It's well known that even goldens are facultative airbreathers, so you wouldn't think they would need to do it if the tank was well-oxygenated.
I have a 55 gallons with a few cories and the tank is only prtially covered so it isn’t uncommon for me to suddenly be splashed, it’s worse when my rhino pleco does it haha.
I had a 23" common pleco that when he surfaced to gulp air he was so loud it would startle you from the bedroom on the other side of the wall his tank was next to.
That must have been what hit my glass lid last night.Yeah they don't come up for air like a bichir would. They just shoot to the surface (and bang their heads on the lid) and shoot back down and mess up the gravel,
Yeah they don't come up for air like a bichir would. They just shoot to the surface (and bang their heads on the lid) and shoot back down and mess up the gravel,