fish breathing hard

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
N

niblit

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 17, 2007
956
0
0
Knee deep in fish
the fish in my 65 planted tank seem like they breath hard ,water tests good ph 7.6 nitrite 0 am 0 nitrate always under 15 its mainly the bottom dwellers that are the problem as i have an aro that breaths normal any ideas
 
What water conditioner do you use, and tell me more about your water changes, filtration, and precise setup...How long has this been going on? I am thinking, they are not getting enough dissolved oxygen, but I'm jumping to conclusions without the answers that I asked about :)
 
I would suspect filtration.
 
How do you measure your prime? How much do you add per, say, 50 gallons of water changed?
 
it wouldn't hurt to add an air pump and airstone to add some extra 02 to the water...
 
Yup, sounds like an O2 problem.
 
Experiment with a bubbling airstone. If you notice the rapid breathing going away after an hour of the airstone then you know it's simply not enough dissolved oxygen in your water. In almost all circumstances, dissolved oxygen issues effects the largest fish in your tank first because the larger the fish the heavier their air requirements are. If you notice that they are still rapid breathing after the airstone is used then you might have another issue. Do you notice any scratching of the gills? Are the eye's clear? Any paleness in skin tone? fins deteriorating? However, an airstone in a planted tank should only be temporary because plants need C02 to thrive, an airstone would drive out most of the C02 needed by the plants to flourish.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom