Almost Looks Like Gills Are Bleeding? Help

[MadameFizzgig]

I've posted a lot on here about my violet goby, but here's the rundown.
 
I got him from a place where he was living in fresh water, I didn't know about cycling so I'm forced to do a fish-in cycle. His tank is too small for him (5g and he's about 4 inches long) but it's only temporary and he's the only fish in the tank.
 
I've been trying to combat the ammonia poisoning (I think the reason for the red gills) but clearly it's not working quickly enough. I've been doing water changes daily, usually about 2/3rds of the water in his tank. I've also been cleaning the gravel. I also added beneficial bacteria, and I've been trying to acclimate him to brackish water over the last couple weeks. He's currently at about 1.005.
 
Is there anything I can do for him? I've been doing the water changes and dechlorinating the water, I don't know what else I can do. He has been eating, but he's been gasping at the surface a lot more often over the last day or 2.
 
He was living in water that had over 4ppm of ammonia (he was living with a ton of fish when I bought him) and I've gotten it down to closer to .25 - what else can I do? I absolutely can not take him back to where I bought him, he would be in an even worse position than he is now, and there is nobody else that can take him.
 
Should I get some ammonia chips or something?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Well, we will need a little more info again.
 
What are the current water stats?
Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Also ph and gh.kh may be useful if you have those tests.
 
As you already know, 5 gal tank is far too small for his guy, the stress of being in sucha  small tank will not help matters. So, if you can, upgrade the tank, and ensure you do large change water daily or get cycled media in order to keep ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels as low as you possibly can.
 
Try to keep ammonia levels at 0.25 ppm or less is better.
 
How long has the goby been in your tank /s ?
 
Have to admit I know very, very little about brackish / sw salinity so I cannot offer advice on that side of things.

 

[MadameFizzgig]

Well, we will need a little more info again.
 
What are the current water stats?
Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Also ph and gh.kh may be useful if you have those tests.
 
As you already know, 5 gal tank is far too small for his guy, the stress of being in sucha  small tank will not help matters. So, if you can, upgrade the tank, and ensure you do large change water daily or get cycled media in order to keep ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels as low as you possibly can.
 
Try to keep ammonia levels at 0.25 ppm or less is better.
 
How long has the goby been in your tank /s ?
 
Have to admit I know very, very little about brackish / sw salinity so I cannot offer advice on that side of things.

Alright, I'm now actually able to give more stats because I bought the tests.
 
Keep in mind this is after many water changes, so ammonia definitely was higher.
 
Ammonia = .25
Nitrate= about 10
Nitrite= about .5 (but he's brackish, so I think the salt helps him from being affected by this?)
Alkalinity= not sure
pH= abou 7.8
 
I just went out and got some Prime and added it to his tank, so I'll test again once it has a bit of time to set in. I also got something to help regulate the pH, since it's a bit high.
 
I know 5 gallons is small, it's temporary. I'll be getting a larger tank soon.
 
He has been in the tank for a little over 2 weeks, and he's the only fish in the tank.

 

[NickAu]

 
I also got something to help regulate the pH, since it's a bit high.

It's not that easy to lower PH. I wont go into the technical aspects of it as I don't fully understand it my self but in my opinion these " magic fix in a bottle " can do more harm than good, What products like this do is cause your PH to yoyo up n down and that is no good for the fish.

 

[MadameFizzgig]

 

 
I also got something to help regulate the pH, since it's a bit high.

It's not that easy to lower PH. I wont go into the technical aspects of it as I don't fully understand it my self but in my opinion these " magic fix in a bottle " can do more harm than good, What products like this do is cause your PH to yoyo up n down and that is no good for the fish.
 

Well, unfortunately I don't have much of a choice at this point. It's the seachem brand, same as the Prime. I do frequent water changes anyway, not to mention the fact that I've been testing the water lots and as of yet there's been no significant yoyo. 
 
The pH wasn't really the point of this post though, it was the ammonia.

 

[the_lock_man]

Hi there, almost certainly the red gills is due to ammonia poisoning.
 
The fact that you are doing a daily water change is good. Given that it's a large fish in a small tank, I would suggest that you test water twice a day, and see what it's like 12 hours after the last water change. Follow the instructions in this thread, depending upon what level of ammonia you see.
 
You are quite right that the salinity will be helping the nitrite issues.