EEEK please help

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B

BMcAfee

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 30, 2010
143
0
16
Indianapolis
I have fish that are breathing very hard and opening their mouths completly with each breath, I needed to do a wc today so I changed out around 50% "it was scheduled to remove Nitrates" after the wc they seem to be doing better but are still breathing rapidly just not opening their mouths to do it. So it doesnt seem as labored. I am wondering if this is caused by stress. I changed the substrate yesterday so I can imagine that they are stressed from that but I have never seen them breath this hard and last night after everything was calmed down hey seemed perfectly fine. I checked the paramiters yesterday (pre wc) and they came out ammonia .25 ppm"always been that was" nitrite 0 nitrAte 40ppm
I would check again but I loaned my test kit to my little brother "perfect timeing I might add" If this sounds familiar to anyone please let me know. Thanks for reading,
B.
 
Why did you change the substrate?
You just wanted it different?
Is there chlorine in your tap water?
If there is did you use a dechlorinate?
Do you have adequate air supply for the fish?
What kinda filtration do you have?
What size tank is this?
What and how many fish in the tank?
What are the water parameters NOW?

Normally if your fish are breathing hard they do not have enough air or they could be sick. I would guess they are stressed from a lack of air and poor water conditions. If you have a air pump or another filter you can add to the tank then I would do so immediately.
 
bigbadfish711;4919065; said:
Why did you change the substrate?
You just wanted it different?
Is there chlorine in your tap water?
If there is did you use a dechlorinate?
Do you have adequate air supply for the fish?
What kinda filtration do you have?
What size tank is this?
What and how many fish in the tank?
What are the water parameters NOW?

Normally if your fish are breathing hard they do not have enough air or they could be sick. I would guess they are stressed from a lack of air and poor water conditions. If you have a air pump or another filter you can add to the tank then I would do so immediately.
Click to expand...


I changed the sub over to a sand so that i can add plants the gravel was letting light penetrate to far. It is city water so there is a little chlorine, so I dechlorinate the water befor i add it. It is a 75 gallon tank. 13 arican chiclids "not mature" the tank is a 75. the parameters are as follows. ammonia between 0 and 0.25ppm nitrite 0 nitrate betweeen 20 and 30 closer to 20. sorry it took so long for reply i had to drive to my broter to get my test kit back.
 
Wait a minute. You changed the gravel to sand yesterday. Did you remove the fish before doing so. I asked because the fin sand particles can get into the fish's gills and give them major problems.
 
I did not, post wc they are doing better. Is there any way of helping them get the rest of it out of their gills and what not?
 
I have never had this happen myself. Is the water still cloudy with sand particles or is it all cleared up? If it is all cleared up now then I would just leave the fish, but if the water is still cloudy then I would move them to clean clear water if it is possible. I do know of a way to get the particles out of their gills.
 
You removed much of your bio-filter when you changed the substrate. Your tank is going through a mini-cycle. Do water changes and dose with Prime.
 
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