# krib breathing heavily



## labido27

I got a pair of Kribs for my 30 gallon on Saturday. The pair had babies but I only got the pair, no babies. Ever since I put them in the tank, with proper accumulation of course, the female has been breathing heavily. The male is fine and all the other fish are fine. Only the female has been breathing heavily since I got her. I don't think its water conditions, otherwise all the fish would be having problems and I checked ph and nitrates and all was good. IS it possible she is upset from losing her babies? Is there anything I can do to help her calm down or start breathing normally? I really do not want to lose her. She could be sick but I see no indications of any diseases. any help would be appreciated, thanks.


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## Deeda

Is this a brand new setup?

Are the only parameters you are testing are for pH and nitrates? It would be helpful to know what those numbers actually are.


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## labido27

No I tested for everything and all were good. I can get another reading later today. But all seemed normal. The tank has been setup for a couple of years so no it is not new at all. There were convicts in it that I traded out on the same day I got new fish. 
Maybe the ph is different from the store ph so she is having trouble adjusting.


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## labido27

Got a reading. Ph 7.0, Alkalinity about 60 ppm, hardness 75 which is soft, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0. Water temperature 77 degrees Fahrenheit.


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## Deeda

A nitrate reading of Zero ppm is highly unusual unless you have a lot of plants in the tank. Are you using test strips or liquid test kit?

I thought you got both kribs at the same time, it would seem odd that only the female was experiencing problems.


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## labido27

The nitrate was close to 20 ppm sorry, i didn't look at the exact number. I did add both kribs at the same time, that is why I am wondering why only the female is having problems.


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## rennsport2011

How is she now?


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## labido27

Not good, now she is resting on the bottom of the tank kinda just sitting there. She still swims around but lousily, and she is still breathing rapidly. The only thing I can think of is she is stressed and maybe now she is sick with something, though I cannot see any signs of sickness other than resting on the bottom and rapid breathing. I really do not want to lose her, but I don't know what to do to help her. All other fish in the tank are doing great so far so its only her.


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## Deeda

I see your other fish seem to be fine, is there any way you can increase the surface agitation of the tank either by adding an air bubbler or adjusting the filter output to increase agitation? It can't hurt anything and may help.


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## labido27

she is still alive but still breathing heavily. She seems a little better but is sitting on the bottom like yesterday. I put another bubble wand in, I already had one in the tank so now there are two. So I will see if that helps.


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## labido27

The female krib now has all her scales sticking out, what disease could cause that? She has shown no signs of getting better, she hasn't eaten anything and has only stayed sitting on the bottom breathing heavily.


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## rennsport2011

labido27 said:


> The female krib now has all her scales sticking out, what disease could cause that? She has shown no signs of getting better, she hasn't eaten anything and has only stayed sitting on the bottom breathing heavily.


Could be dropsy... could be bloat. White feces?


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## labido27

did not see any feces. I had to take her out because she was looking too bad and I do not want to infect my other fish if it is a disease. It could have been bloat because her body looked very rounded, but females are rounded so there is no way to tell for sure now. Is there any chance, if it was dropsy or bloat, it can infect my other fish? Though if my other fish are healthy they shouldn't get it right?


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