dang man, they are stressed, this is just a bump, who knows?? if you see them go to the top it could be an oxygen thing. changing the water wont really help the driftwood leach, ive had driftwood that took all summer to aclimate, so it could be up to 3 months for it to be done leaching. put the lights off, this may help to calm them.
Help fish gulping
- Thread starter soggysandwich
- Start date
well i have hard water and a hot water softener but my dad said its broken so i guess the water is hard. and actually the water changed helped a lot its not brown at all now.
hmmmm that was weird. looked like their catchin their breathe.
probably from the temperature swing. or something happened on that last big wc.
i dont really know whats happening buti suggest u stick on ur 20%wc every week.
and be sure the water u replacing is almost the same temp of the tank water. hope ur fish will be fine.
(looks like they will anyway)
probably from the temperature swing. or something happened on that last big wc.
i dont really know whats happening buti suggest u stick on ur 20%wc every week.
and be sure the water u replacing is almost the same temp of the tank water. hope ur fish will be fine.
(looks like they will anyway)
My other suggestion would be to stop using the hot water to warm up your water change. Hot water heaters have all sorts of metals in them, like copper and rust and whatever other sediments are in there. Use an aquarium heater to heat the water. If you use 5 gallon buckets then just heat that water and add it to your tank or other big barrel.
Generally fish like consistency in their water parameters (sticking to the same water change schedule would be best), unless it is done properly over a slow period of time. From my understanding you did a 45% water change because the driftwood was making the water a bit dim and yellow, which leads me to believe that it was recently added. A piece of driftwood that leaks (which is fine) will most likely lower the pH which is a bit stressful for your fish as it is. When you did a large water change you most likely besides temperature change caused a pH fluctuation causing the fish to stress out.
Based on the video the fish are only gulping while they appear to be eating and active, which means they should be fine. By adding a water conditioner you helped as well.
Do not do large water changes like that out of nowhere, when dealing with aquarium time is the answer, give it time and over a couple of smaller water changes the water will clear up. If it did not I would suggest taking out the driftwood and either holding it in a large bin rinsing it for a couple of days or simply boiling it for a couple of hours.
Based on the video the fish are only gulping while they appear to be eating and active, which means they should be fine. By adding a water conditioner you helped as well.
Do not do large water changes like that out of nowhere, when dealing with aquarium time is the answer, give it time and over a couple of smaller water changes the water will clear up. If it did not I would suggest taking out the driftwood and either holding it in a large bin rinsing it for a couple of days or simply boiling it for a couple of hours.
The advice it great and I agree about the big WC. Also, you really need to think about getting a complete test kit. 
