# Fish gulping air from top of water?



## ratbones86 (Jun 29, 2012)

Tank is standered 55g 48" longFiltration is a sun sun 302b with uv light and a sponge filter rated for a 75G tank. Stock list is 11 yellow labs 5 nyererei and 8 white top hara's.

Heres the problem. My 8 white top's have been swimming up around the top of the tank. they will go down to the bottom as well as swim in the middle of the water. *** been noticing n he past day since i did a water change that my white tops and my white tops only have been up at the surface gulping air. Why? What could be wrong here? All my levels are good on nitrates and everything. This is very confusing.


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## aicardi (Sep 15, 2012)

Lot of fish for a 55. Do you have good water movement on the surface? Did you add dechlor to the water? How long has the tank been setup? Get air stones in there and see if that makes a difference. My guess is the reason they are at the top gulping air is they need oxygen...


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## ratbones86 (Jun 29, 2012)

There is a big sponge filter making huge bubbles and the spray bar is also turning the top water as well. and yes i added dechlorinator to the water and tank has been running for over 5 months.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Please post your test results for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

If they are gulping air, it's a lack of oxygen or a toxin in the water like nitrite.

You can rule out toxins with the test results. You can see if it's oxygen by adding a spare filter for a couple hours.

If they are just hanging out under the surface (but not actually gulping air) then they are being harassed.


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## joemomma (Aug 31, 2011)

I had this problem after I added a 3D background - turns out it was lack of oxygen. Adding some venturi action to my powerhead fixed the issue.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Drop the water level in the tank. If you are using the spray bar that came with this unit then I would recommend shortening it up by only using one or two of the extensions and point it more towards the surface of the water. Then add a power head to help with circulation.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

I bet it's lack of oxygen. A few big bubbles in the sponge filter provide less aeration than many small ones. Adding an airstone could really help. Another option is mounting the spray bar above the surface and having it spray down in the water. Not your most quiet solution, but a quick fix, and aeration will be awesome  In the long run you might want to replace the spray bar by an Eheim diffuser. It does the same thing as a venturi powerhead, but is driven by the canister, ie you don't need an extra pump and will save electricity in the long run. Aeration is a frequently overlooked issue, but it's actually very important for a healthy tank and not skimping on it is sure to pay off in the long run!


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## &lt;=U=L=T=R=A=&gt; (Apr 21, 2010)

fmueller said:


> mounting the spray bar above the surface and having it spray down in the water.


+1 this is the only thing that works for my tank I have had 2x Ac110 power heads and air stones and it did not work. 
2262 spray bar on surface ..noisy but my fish are happy :fish:


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