# Single fish gasping for air?



## whatupcichlids

Hey guys I noticed (after a little issue with my ammonia at .25, nitrite at .25 and nitrate at 20 and now solved just today Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20) I see one of my fish laying near the air bubbler or sitting up top gasping for air. I already did a 25% water change with stress coat. My tank is 95 gallon, fully cycled, and contains 26 juvenile Africans. These include 5 Marbles Peacocks, 2 Dragons bloods peacocks, 4 Icebergs, 5 Yellow Labs and 10 sp. 44 'red tails'. One of the larger male redtails is the one who looks like hes in trouble. The temperature is at about 27-28 degrees. The air bubbler pumps through two sockets. The fish has no nipped fins, but hes currently rather pale, but with very visible black stipes and his fins appear to be always up. I cannot see any growth anomalies or any visible issues (white, black spots, brown gills, rotting fins).

Anybody have any advice on how to help him out? Id hate to lose him...
I currently do not have a hospital tank as I have given it to my parents...
Thanks guys.


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## whatupcichlids

oh id just like to add that hes not gasping for air every second, only occasionally, and when hes not, he hangs out in the cave...


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## triscuit

How did you solve the ammonia/nitrite problem? Unless your filter is fully cycled, you could still see problems. What do you have for filtration?

Your fish is obviously stressed in part from the NH3/NO2, and you can add some salt to help him cope. I suggest 1 TBS Epsom per 5 gallons, added over time. So, for your 95 gallons you will need to add just over a cup of salt. Dissolve 1/4 cup in hot water, and add it every 4-6 hours.

While your fish are recovering from poor water quality, keep the lights off, feed very lightly (once a day, and only what they can eat within a minute), and keep measuring the NH3/NO2 twice daily.

Good luck!


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## whatupcichlids

triscuit said:


> How did you solve the ammonia/nitrite problem? Unless your filter is fully cycled, you could still see problems. What do you have for filtration?
> 
> Your fish is obviously stressed in part from the NH3/NO2, and you can add some salt to help him cope. I suggest 1 TBS Epsom per 5 gallons, added over time. So, for your 95 gallons you will need to add just over a cup of salt. Dissolve 1/4 cup in hot water, and add it every 4-6 hours.
> 
> While your fish are recovering from poor water quality, keep the lights off, feed very lightly (once a day, and only what they can eat within a minute), and keep measuring the NH3/NO2 twice daily.
> 
> Good luck!


Thanks for that. My tank was cycled as I used previous established filters, rocks, gravel etc. Everything was all well and good until 3 days ago when I noticed that my nitrites and ammonia went up abit while I was doing my weekly 25% water change. I put a post earlier asking the forums why my tank did this because it was completely random. Nothing had been changed in my tank, no added stock, only that I added a new internal filter. I couldnt find a real answer as to why my tank took a nasty turn. All I did to solve this was do 30% water changes everyday to dilute it until the water settled down. I was very relieved to see it clean and in great condition again when I came back 
At the moment in my tank I have a 1100 lph canister fiter and 2 internal 800 lph filters.


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## PfunMo

It's possible for one fish to be damaged more by poor water that other fish in the same tank. Sounds like a definite water quality case. You will need to check the water carefully and often. Just saying it tests good does leave the chance that you are overlooking something which others may spot with the reall readings. I would suggest there may be a flaw in the way the tank has cycled or perhaps the cleaning of filters was too much. I would not clean any more filters until sure they bacteria has caught up with the bio load fully. Was the new filter fully rinsed and cleaned before it was put in? Maybe oils left from manufacture? Cut back on feeding, change more water and test more until you get a firm idea of what happened. It is most likely still working in your tank. Be very alert for diseases to follow the stress they have had.


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## whatupcichlids

PfunMo said:


> It's possible for one fish to be damaged more by poor water that other fish in the same tank. Sounds like a definite water quality case. You will need to check the water carefully and often. Just saying it tests good does leave the chance that you are overlooking something which others may spot with the reall readings. I would suggest there may be a flaw in the way the tank has cycled or perhaps the cleaning of filters was too much. I would not clean any more filters until sure they bacteria has caught up with the bio load fully. Was the new filter fully rinsed and cleaned before it was put in? Maybe oils left from manufacture? Cut back on feeding, change more water and test more until you get a firm idea of what happened. It is most likely still working in your tank. Be very alert for diseases to follow the stress they have had.


Hey thanks for the post. I have not cleaned any of my filters lately. All I did was add a washed brand new one. When I got back today ammonia was at .25ppm again while nitrites where at 0ppm and nitrates were at about 10. I decided to take out my new filter as I believe the current it was creating was starting to piss off my fish. Also I cleaned my internal powerhead with a bucket off my aquariums water. The filters sponge did look extremely dirty and im hoping that it wasnt pumping gunk back into the water! I did a 50% water change and the others appear to be happier....
Also I noticed that my fish is not gasping for air as much as he is lounging and hiding in rocks/caves etc. Hes acting the same way he was when he lost his fight against the dominant male. Also I noticed another one of my fish hanging near the top (like 1 1/2 inches away from it), but not gasping. Does this mean anything or is he just up there for fun?

Thanks guys.


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## PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn

if the ammonia is 0.25ppm then your filters aren't coping.

the 50% WC will help remedy this temporarily, but until the filter is established you need to keep an eye on it. I would also suspect you need to increase the overall amount of filtration in the tank.

if the filter had a lot of gunk that will be causing an increase the overall bioload, possibly causing the ammonia spike.

hth


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## kmuda

What kind of filters? What filter media are you using?


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## whatupcichlids

PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn said:


> if the ammonia is 0.25ppm then your filters aren't coping.
> 
> the 50% WC will help remedy this temporarily, but until the filter is established you need to keep an eye on it. I would also suspect you need to increase the overall amount of filtration in the tank.
> 
> if the filter had a lot of gunk that will be causing an increase the overall bioload, possibly causing the ammonia spike.
> 
> hth


Thank you. I have been told by friends aswell that I needed more filtration. I just got a new 2000 lph UV canister filter from a friends shop at discount  I have a feeling that will solve the problem.
Thanks alot guys for the help


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## Robin

I'll just throw a few thoughts into the mix even tho you say the problem is solved.

If your tap water has chloramines added to it then Stress Coat may not be taking care of them. You need a dechlorinator that binds the 'free' ammonia after breaking the ammonia/chlorine bond. Otherwise your tank will experience a spike in ammonia after every water change. An established filter will eventually take care of this free ammonia but not right away. So water changes will stress your fish and the larger the the water change the worse it will be.

Fish will hang at the top for a number of reasons--poor water quality is one and it's true that sometimes just one fish will react to the poor water quality in this way, but they will also hang at the top if they are being harassed by another fish. We often think of harassment and aggression resulting in nipped fins and various other injuries but sometimes a dominant fish will just prevent a sub dominant fish from swimming freely around the tank. You have to watch the tank closely to determine if this is the case because you won't see much if any actual contact between the two fish. The fish at the top will start to move away from the surface and you'll see one of the other fish react--it may just turn ever so slightly in the harassed fish's direction but that's all it takes to send it back to its spot at the surface. 

Robin


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## whatupcichlids

Robin said:


> I'll just throw a few thoughts into the mix even tho you say the problem is solved.
> 
> If your tap water has chloramines added to it then Stress Coat may not be taking care of them. You need a dechlorinator that binds the 'free' ammonia after breaking the ammonia/chlorine bond. Otherwise your tank will experience a spike in ammonia after every water change. An established filter will eventually take care of this free ammonia but not right away. So water changes will stress your fish and the larger the the water change the worse it will be.
> 
> Fish will hang at the top for a number of reasons--poor water quality is one and it's true that sometimes just one fish will react to the poor water quality in this way, but they will also hang at the top if they are being harassed by another fish. We often think of harassment and aggression resulting in nipped fins and various other injuries but sometimes a dominant fish will just prevent a sub dominant fish from swimming freely around the tank. You have to watch the tank closely to determine if this is the case because you won't see much if any actual contact between the two fish. The fish at the top will start to move away from the surface and you'll see one of the other fish react--it may just turn ever so slightly in the harassed fish's direction but that's all it takes to send it back to its spot at the surface.
> 
> Robin


Haha all these posts are starting to freak me out again! lol anyway what kind of dechlorinator do you recommend then? Thanks alot for the help.


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## Robin

Well first you might check with your local water company to learn what they actually put in your water.

Check out the link below on dechlorinators for more info. Personally I use Seachem Prime in my tanks. It does everything. \
But it's not the only choice.

Freaking you out? I was trying to do just the opposite :lol:

Robin


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## whatupcichlids

I will too use seachem prime from now on. Thanks for the site, so many options. Seachem looks like the way to go cause youre using it


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## whatupcichlids

My BN just died. @#$%. 
I just retested my water and ammonia is now at .50 nitrite 0 and nitrate 10. I just did another water change. 
What is up with this 
I noticed another 4 of my 44s hanging around the top (not gasping for breath but hanging there, 2 of them mostly hiding behind rocks) 
What should I do from here?


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## Robin

Use the Prime at the dosage recommended to remove ammonia. 
Putting fresh carbon in the filter will help to absorb the ammonia. (But don't completely replace media)

Have you pulled your filter media out and looked at it? There shouldn't be a build up of waste. If there is rinse the media out in a bucket of tank water. 
Also check and make sure that there's a good strong flow coming out of the filter return.

Keep doing daily partial water changes of 30% using the Prime each time until the ammonia is at 0.

Robin


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## whatupcichlids

Robin said:


> Use the Prime at the dosage recommended to remove ammonia.
> Putting fresh carbon in the filter will help to absorb the ammonia. (But don't completely replace media)
> 
> Have you pulled your filter media out and looked at it? There shouldn't be a build up of waste. If there is rinse the media out in a bucket of tank water.
> Also check and make sure that there's a good strong flow coming out of the filter return.
> 
> Keep doing daily partial water changes of 30% using the Prime each time until the ammonia is at 0.
> 
> Robin


Ok cool thanks for the help. Ill check my canister filter


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## whatupcichlids

Ok I cleaned out my canister filter yesterday and I notcied today my ammonia at 0! Its good to see nitrites at 0 and my nitrates at about 20. I think my problems fixed! Thanks alot everyone.


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## Robin

Just to be on the safe side. . .

keep testing the water daily/ever other day for the next month.

But I'm glad that things seem to be okay now.

Robin


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## whatupcichlids

Robin said:


> Just to be on the safe side. . .
> 
> keep testing the water daily/ever other day for the next month.
> 
> But I'm glad that things seem to be okay now.
> 
> Robin


Will do! thanks for all the help


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