Heavy Breathing Dat?

[soulFish]

Can you guys help me out on this one?

But Big Dat looks like he's breathing heavily now. This is after I'm just had a run in with Ick in my other two tanks. Those tanks seem fine now. There are no visible signs of Ick in the tank with the Big dat. He's NOT flashing or scratching. He's just taking larger than normal breaths, like he's breathing deep.

I raised the temp to 81, added about 1/3 more salt and added about half dose of Copper Safe to the water. I just lowered the water level to make sure there is enough oxygen, by having the HOB produce more splash. And two days ago I did a 50% water change just to be on the safe side. I did have alittle Dat have this rapid breathing like others here, but during that time his colors got VERY VIVID. Right now the Big Dats colors are NOT Vivid and not dull. His coloration is "Normal" for him. And he is still eating his Worms ok. No other fish looks like they are breathing deep, but then again the Dat is the largest one. Are there any other suggestions on what to do? Am I doing all I can to make sure this guy is ok?

 

[ethnics]

heavy breathing in my book usually leads to death. not to scare you but hope he stables out, good luck brotha, u took all the precautions with raised temp n salt n everything.

 

[baracuda]

Yea IME heavy breathing is not good....but since he is still eating that is one good thing. Mine was breathing heavy for about 5 days until he died and during this time his colors were very vibrant but he was not eating at all..yours is so it may not be the same thing and yours has a better chance

 

[koliveira]

Most likely Something is inhibiting gill function. Treat him for external parasites. Could also be amo levels or low disolved o2

If you can do a scraping and prepare a slide. Most likely flukes.

Kory

 

[dbenson]

Raising temp decreases the level of dissolved oxygen, just so you know. If your dat is breathing heavily it probably means he's not getting enough O2. Raising temp might make it worse.

My dat was breathing very heavily a few days ago and I lowered temp and added an airstone. After an hour he was back to normal. I think I overdosed on Amquel for the tanks water change...

Good luck.

 

[sQwiReL]

tried that. added 2 air pumps and made temp at 78. still breathing hard. some just have that one sickness... it was posted in another thread. you got lucky

 

[dbenson]

tried that. added 2 air pumps and made temp at 78. still breathing hard. some just have that one sickness... it was posted in another thread. you got lucky

In that case something else was obviously wrong. As koliveira mentioned, it could have been flukes or some other parasite affecting the gills.

Using empirical evidence to successfully save a fish is not "luck". If increasing O2 didn't help I would have sought other explanations.

 

[soulFish]

Just dunno, now his color is all washed out, but he's not breathing hard anymore? Almost seems like it goes is spurts? Does that make sense or am I just nuts?

The Mardel Copper Safe says it treats Parasites external parasites, but says it treats the water, so that means it only kills parasites that are exposed to the water, not the Parasites inside the fish, correct? So if his Gills had Parasites in them this stuff would work right?

"Mardel Freshwater CopperSafe
Safe, stable, non-staining concentrate treats 100 gallon of fresh water over one month. Treats infections of ick, flukes (gyrodactylus), anchor worms, velvet/protozoan diseases and other external freshwater parasites. "

 

[dbenson]

Just dunno, now his color is all washed out, but he's not breathing hard anymore? Almost seems like it goes is spurts? Does that make sense or am I just nuts?

The Mardel Copper Safe says it treats Parasites external parasites, but says it treats the water, so that means it only kills parasites that are exposed to the water, not the Parasites inside the fish, correct? So if his Gills had Parasites in them this stuff would work right?

"Mardel Freshwater CopperSafe
Safe, stable, non-staining concentrate treats 100 gallon of fresh water over one month. Treats infections of ick, flukes (gyrodactylus), anchor worms, velvet/protozoan diseases and other external freshwater parasites. "

Yep. I think dats might be a bit sensitive to medications, so definitely don't go over the recommended dosage. Good luck.

 

[soulFish]

Did another water change pulled the meds back a bit and slightly increased salt. Whatever the reason, "Knock on wood" the Dats looking much better today. I'll keep you guys informed on Calvin. Thanks for the help.