Heavy Breathing

[Twicksisted]

Hey All...

I have had my new tank and fish for roughly three months now.
Have had quite a few oscars in the past and recently got 3 new ones.

They appear to be in really good health, having doubled in size and feeding profusely (as only baby oscars can hehe). They fantastic looking specimens and I hand picked the brightest, fastest, plumpest & well shaped babies I could get at the shop

Anyways, I noticed that they seem to always be panting and heavily breathing and it looks quite normal but is a bit worrying as the other fish in the tank (including the large older oscar) do not seem to be breathing like this.

They do not looked stressed atall and they are very tame, taking food from my fingers and even swimming around my hands and through my fingers if I do a water change. All in all, very happy little fish.

I have very good filtration (perhaps too much) and great water circulation and even a tetratec 400 airpump to pump fresh air into the tank hood. The temps are between 26-27degrees celcius so I dont think the oxygen in the water would be that low, and they would be near the surface if it was that I guess.

I am thinking perhaps gill flukes but then surely other fish in the tank would be breathing the same? no?

Is there any good way to tell if something is wrong with the gills other than taking the fish out and opening up the gill covers? Id rather not harrass them in this way as Id end up losing their trust.

Im probably being paranoid, but I really am fond of these little guys and only want the best for them


here is a pic of them... and as you can see theyre mouth are open... the open and close quite quickly constantly and seem to really bellow out their gill covers:

 

[repair]

I would add an air stone to bring up the O2.

 

[Twicksisted]

Well the thing is that I have 2 long airstones on a tetratec 400 dual airpump.
They dont seem to make a difference.
I have had them on for a week but couldnt stand the noise any longer and they made no visible difference.

Also I have riversand as a substrate, and they just made the sand fly around and get into all my filter material.

I have a lot of circulation on the surface from my Eheim 2222, eheim aquaball 2212 & Tetratec EX1200 external filter... Airstones dont actually put air into the water but circulate the water more allowing for oxygen exchange.

I thought perhaps there wasnt much fresh air in the hood as it only has 2 small holes in the back... but it dosent seem to be a problem as with the airstones on for the last week it dosent really make a difference.

Mind you the fish are really happy... feeding well... growing amazingly fast.
So its just a bit wierd that the pant so heavily.

 

[Nabbig2]

I love oscars, I hope nothing happens to yours. Try turning off the lights, they probably don't like it. That will reduce stress. You also should get a bubble filter, if you don't have one. Even if that doesn't work, just clean the filter, and mix around the water with your hand or something. Hope that works, good luck with your o's.

 

[AndreR]

Is there any good way to tell if something is wrong with the gills other than taking the fish out and opening up the gill covers?

Being rethorical?! Exspecting anything else then "NO"?!

Unfortunately a picture is not very significant

Heavily breathing can have many reasons, first check the waterquality, no Ammonia and no nitrite is requested, then check the gills...pH should not be more or less than 7-7,5 in that case....

...

Best wishes for the great fishes

 

[CATFISH mick]

FIRST TEST ALL WATER PARAMETERS IN THE TANK PH, NITRITE, TEMP ETC. ALSO CECK TAP WATER.

AN AIRSTONE SHOULD SUPPLY PLENTY OF AERATION

COULD BE THAT THEY ARE TOO WELL FED LITTLE OSCARS MOST FISH GASP FOR A WHILE AFTER A HEAVY FEED OR FEEDING. FAST FOR 2 OR 3 DAYS THEN FEED A VEGGIE BASED FOOD FOR A WEEK THAT SHOULD CLEAN THEM OUT WITH ALL THE FIBRE........


GILL FLUKE ARE PRETTY RARE IN SMALL AQUARIA.
TO IDENTIFY GILL FLUKE PROPERLY YOU WOULD NEED TO PREFORM A GILL SCRAPE THEN CHECK UNDER A MICROSCOPE WITH AT LEAST 20X MAG...