Platys - Air Breathers?

[draxis]

My platys seem to go up and grab air then immediately continue about. They do not gasp or stay longer then a split milisecond

This is normal? No other species tends to do this in my tank other then feeding time when they go crazy across the top together.

 

[msasa19]

i think that is normal, mine have always done it

 

[fm1978]

Just to be sure, how's your ammonia levels?

 

[Madjonny]

They do in my experience, always have... And my water is fine...

 

[draxis]

0 ammonia

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Could be a particle was floating and they ate it.
 
Platies are not air breathers.

 

[the_lock_man]

Could be a particle was floating and they ate it.
 
Platies are not air breathers.

 
I agree - they probably keep thinking there's food there.

 

[snazy]

I've noticed with platies soon after feeding the tank and the visible food is gone from all over including the bottom, then quite a few would line up on the surface and gulp left over dust that ends up there from the dissolved bits of food I presume. And they stop eventually until I feed them the next day It used to freak me out before
 
But if there's a problem of some kind, all of them tend to go to the surface, in corners mostly, and breath quite visibly with difficulty instead of just digesting liquified food from the watersurface. That happened when I loaded up too much CO2 sources at once.

 

[draxis]

Yeah mine just swim up normally take a gulp of air and go about their day. I guess since they are not gasping or lingering...

I did read an article that some fish actually can be air breathers and do this due to low oxygen homes (lfs). They are smart and want to survive. Eventually, you get a batch of fish that are not dying but used to this method and therefore keep doing it as it works for them.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

Bettas are an example of fish that do that... but fish that do that need a special organ to process the air, livebearers do not have this organ.  I think it is called a labyrinth organ.

 

[snazy]

Yes, platies are not labyrinth fish.
If all of them line up way too often at the surface, then there maybe indeed a water quality issue.

 

[the_lock_man]

Yeah mine just swim up normally take a gulp of air and go about their day. I guess since they are not gasping or lingering...

I did read an article that some fish actually can be air breathers and do this due to low oxygen homes (lfs). They are smart and want to survive. Eventually, you get a batch of fish that are not dying but used to this method and therefore keep doing it as it works for them.

 
That's not something I've come across before. Some fish naturally do it, but not because of low oxygen at the LFS. My instinct is that fish aren't in the LFS long enough, really, to learn such a behaviour. Could be wrong, though.
 

Bettas are an example of fish that do that... but fish that do that need a special organ to process the air, livebearers do not have this organ.  I think it is called a labyrinth organ.

 

 
 
Corydoras species also breathe air, although they don't have a labyrinth.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

As already written by others, I expect they were investigating some potential food.
 
Amongst my collection, my Hoplo catfish; Weather Loach; African Butterfly Fish; Leopard Bushfish; African Brown Knife Fish all regularly breathe air.