Lack Of Oxygen?

[kevarms]

Hi all,
Recently had a severe outbreak of whitespot in my tank. Fish are looking much better now after daily 20% water changes and treatment with Interpet Anti Whitespot but noticed one of my neons is still spending a lot of time on the surface gasping for air. After doing a bit of research I'm not sure if this could be because the whitespot has affected his gills in some way, or whether the tank doesn't have enough oxygen.

I have a small pleco who often jumps up to the surface before settling down in his little spot. He does that more often in the evenings I've noticed. I read that plecos do this as they need oxygen to control their buoyancy, but wondered if I could have a problem with oxygen deficiency.

Any thoughts? And what's my best option (ie. cheapest effective option) if that's the case.

Thanks in advance,
Kevin

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes it could well be, some medications will say you should get extra oxygen into the water when using them as they affect it in some way.

the best way to get oxygen into the water is absolutely free.. yay! you need to get more surface agitiation, so set your filter output so that it's above the surface of the water just slightly so it breaks it all up and makes it 'choppy' on the water surface. this will get plenty of oxygen in.

assuming you've finished your course of treatment and everyone is well you should do what you can to remove the meds from the water, a large water change and adding a carbon insert to the filter should do it.

 

[ox5477]

Also, tetras are very sensitive to whitespot treatments. I'm sure it says this on the container but don't rush your treatment and go off killing your tetras trying to cure them . I did this with my first tank.... I had a shoal of 16 neons, treated the tank over night and in the morning.... all of them were floating and stuck in strange places.... quite gruesome to have to fish out the dead fish from all the little crevices in my tank

 

[juwelfan]

Hi,
I have had just done the same thing, the same treatment, the same fish. 3 days later i lost a Neon in the same way. I increased the surface agitation and set my venturi kit to bubble more air to break even more of the surface. Since then all my fish have been much more active. I'm guessing this was due to the extra oxgyen they had to 'breathe'.

Hope you dont lose anymore!

 

[kevarms]

Hi again and thanks for all the replies and great tips. I can see this forum will come in very useful. Unfortunately I can't adjust the filter output to the surface as all the filter and heater setup is enclosed with a hole for the nozzle to come out. Any other options to increase the oxygen levels? What exactly is an air stone?

Just got in from work and all looks well. Tomorrow I'll just do the 20% water without the whitespot treatment, and see how things look Saturday.

Juwelfan... I see I have the same aquarium as you, but you mention a venturi kit. Is that something extra you added, or it comes as standard and I've missed it?

Thanks again everybody,
Kevin

 

[kevarms]

I'm an idiot! Thought I'd check the CD that came with my aquarium, just to see if there's anything useful on there. Apart from learning what all those different coloured filters are for I read the installation instructions (I know, I know...that means I'm supposed to read it *before* I set the thing up!) The diagram looks to have the outlet nozzle pointing up. Don't ask me why, but I assumed it should be at 90 degrees to the surface. It also mentions two (!) nozzles. I thought the other was a spare! Doh! So it looks like if I attach that and turn the whole thing upwards I'll be able to get some surface agitation going after all. Very, very dumb, lol.

 

[kevarms]

Fitted the 'spare' nozzle and turned the output so it's 45 degrees to the surface (straight up I was worried I'd just get a fountain effect). Water is well agitated and fish look to be doing very well. Even noticed the pleco's breathing rate has slowed considerably. Before he looked to be panting like a dog. Hopefully that's my oxygen worries sorted. Fingers crossed the whitespot won't come back now.

(A Very Sheepish) Kevin

 

[Liam]

Great that you got it sorted, its confusing sorting everything with a new tank even if you read the instructions. Nothing to be sheepish about, if the whitespot is gone that should be the end of it unless you introduce new infected fish.

 

[xoedusk]

Gasping can also be nitrite spike. Are you chemical stats okay?

 

[juwelfan]

Hi again and thanks for all the replies and great tips. I can see this forum will come in very useful. Unfortunately I can't adjust the filter output to the surface as all the filter and heater setup is enclosed with a hole for the nozzle to come out. Any other options to increase the oxygen levels? What exactly is an air stone?

Just got in from work and all looks well. Tomorrow I'll just do the 20% water without the whitespot treatment, and see how things look Saturday.

Juwelfan... I see I have the same aquarium as you, but you mention a venturi kit. Is that something extra you added, or it comes as standard and I've missed it?

Thanks again everybody,
Kevin

I had some similar problems so i spent £6.95 on a Venturi kit from Juwel 'here'. It fits on the end of your nozzle and takes air in and pass it through the stream of water, as the bubbles burst on the water surface it allows more gas transfer, hence more oxygen in your water, in theory.
You can also fit 6mm standard tube into the bottom of the Pump adapter (there is a little rubber thing blocking the hole, but you can just pull in out) and it will do the same job. However be warned, this is only a temporary measure as the impeller can stall, reducing the live of your pump.

I had loads of problems getting the Venturi kit to work, but after a good play around its now fab!

 

[Tommy Gunnz]

I am glad to hear that you are having better luck with your fish! Congrats on getting through it well...

Your pleco is always going to 'jump' to the surface of your tank regardless of the oxygen levels in the water. It is only doing this to fill its swim bladder which will help it to swim easier since it can better control its bouyancy. It has to go to the surface to do this in order to get enough oxygen quickly and it is not a sign that it cannot breath. Most people do not see this happen too much since they do it when they are more active, usually at night time. So, taking a positive look at things, you may have helped your pleco feel safe enough to be out and about during the day time...or at least at dusk, when you say it happens more often than not. Dont worry about this at all.

However, you also say it is breathing hard or looks to be doing so. This is probrably from the lack of gas exchange (O2 in, CO2 out of the water) and it sounds as though you have that problem under control.

Airstones can also help you with gas exchange, but it is not from the actual bubbles that help, but the surface aggitation that occurs when the bubbles hit the surface of the water. They are also nice because you can place them in the tank opposite of your filter or in an area that does not get affected by the filter return flow. Just another thing to think about if you are still looking for ways to increase the oxygen levels in your water.

Good job and good luck! It is great to hear success stories like yours!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Fitted the 'spare' nozzle and turned the output so it's 45 degrees to the surface (straight up I was worried I'd just get a fountain effect). Water is well agitated and fish look to be doing very well. Even noticed the pleco's breathing rate has slowed considerably. Before he looked to be panting like a dog. Hopefully that's my oxygen worries sorted. Fingers crossed the whitespot won't come back now.

(A Very Sheepish) Kevin

marvellous! glad it's worked out and your fish are looking beter