# All Fish rapidly moving mouth and gills--non stop...



## ChrissyCPDT

When i fed the fish this morning nobody seemed too interested. I looked closer and everyone has been hanging out in different places than usual. Their mouths and gills are moving extremely rapidly which is unusual b/c they typically don't do this when they're just swimming around. I'm wondering if they're having trouble breathing. I've done everything i can think of and don't know what it could be. I tested all water levels and everything is fine there. We did a partial water change just to be safe---about 30 percent but that was hours ago and still no change.

There are 2 fish that typically stay hidden most of the time or around the bottom almost all the time and they have been up near the top almost all day. I've also noticed our bottom feeders out and about a lot more during daylight hours today. they stayed toward the bottom and did not appear to have the rapid mouth movement that the others were, but still...seeing them so much during the day is not normal.

also -- we lost our rubber lip pleco, who was fine yesterday. Now he never was as active as our bristle nose pleco so it's likely that he just wasn't as hearty, but he did not have any discoloration or any marks that gave a cause of death away. no signs of illness.

Does anyone know what could be going on?

We have a 45 gallon tank with a rena 305 (for up to 70 gallons or so) and a powerhead so the oxygenation and circulation on the tank should be more than adequate. They've been fine since July like this.

Thanks!!


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## Robin

It sounds like a water quality issue. I'd re-check and re-test. What are you using for a test kit--the test tube type or the strips? Strips may not be as reliable as the tube and liquid type. Also the kit may be out of date.

Check the function of your filter. Is there a good strong flow coming out of the return? Open the filter up and look at the media--is there a build up of waste? If so rinse it out in a bucket of tank water.

What are you using for a declorinator? How often do you normally do partial water changes? How much water do you remove?

When fish gasp sometimes its because they are being harrassed by another fish. How many fish in the tank and what species are they?

Illness can also cause the heavy breathing but it seems a bit odd that they would all get sick at once. You said this it was this morning that you noticed the lack of interest in food. How about yesterday, did they all seem normal then?

Was there any change in their behavior at all right after the water change?

Robin


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## ChrissyCPDT

well..we retested this morning...levels are still okay. I'm using the strip kind b/c I don't like the liquid kind. I've used them in the past but don't like the way that they never really seem to match the color chart.

Quality levels are all still fine. We typically do water changes weekly or earlier if the water tests are off...though they haven't had any issues since the tank finished cycling.

I use stress coat. The fish today seem to be back to normal....they're all back in their regular places. We changed the filter on the powerhead and it's getting a much better flow. Nobody is doing the rapid mouth/gill movement that looked like gasping anymore and nobody is at the top.

It was truly strange b/c they were all doing it (except for the bottom feeders, but they were moving around quite a bit more than usual). We have mixed Malawi cichlids, a synodontis a pictus and a bristlenose pleco.

The only thing that's carried over into today is that they weren't that interested in food again this morning. We'll see about dinner...

As i look over now i see 3 of them back to "playing in the sand" so i'm hoping all is right. We did the water change yesterday in response to their behavior....I'm assuming that it just took a while afterward for them to get back to normal.

It was very bazaar.


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## Robin

Okay, glad to hear that they're doing better.

You might want to check with your water company to find out if your tap water had chloramines added to it. If it does then you might want to consider switching to a different declorinator.

Check out the declorinator article linked below for more info on that.

Robin


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