Gasping For Air

[laura120381]

hi everyone.

i have just carried out a 25% water change on my 80l tank. the tank currently has 10 tiger barbs. two of the barbs are significantly smaller than the others so hide a bit more but always come out at feeding time. however i have just noticed one of the small ones is kind of hovering above the filter and appears to be gasping for air. any ideas?? could it just be stressed because of the water change?? it was feeding fine this morning.

thanks for your advice,

L.

 

[Harlequins]

Could be the shock of the fresh water going in,especially if they were underneath the flow...

Did you temperature match?

 

[KittyKat]

Water parameters? Decor? Did you dechlorinate water before adding to the tank or after? Water temperature?

 

[laura120381]

hi again,

panic averted!! they all seem fine now!! i was trimming the plants etc today so my hands were in the tank longer than usual!! think they were just stressed. i de-chlorinated the water before adding it and matched the temperature to that of the tank. (24 celsius) does all that sound ok?? water parameters are normal - no ammonia, nitrate or nitrite.

thank you for all your replies.

L

 

[bristlenoseitplecoman]

They are not actually gasping for air but trying to get the most oxygen rich water in the tank. It is possible that they need more oxygen than other fish and the water changes stress caused alot of oxygen being used up. glad to hear they are fine now.

 

[KittyKat]

does all that sound ok?? water parameters are normal - no ammonia, nitrate or nitrite.

Water change regime sounds ok.. do you wash your hands well under tap water before starting on the maintenance? No perfume or anything like that on them? No hair gel?

Your water parameters don't sound ok though.. do you know why you have no nitrate? That is very unusual! It is more common to see a reading of 5-50 ppm for that. It could be that your test kit is malfunctioning, in which case it's worth checking expiry dates on all of them.