Urgent Help Needed Please

The August FOTM Contest Poll is open!
FishForums.net Fish of the Month
🏆 Click to vote! 🏆

kkcrd11

Fish Fanatic
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
90
Reaction score
0
Ive noticed over the past few days that some fish were gasping at top . I tried turning up the oxygen pipe and then the next day they started again so i treated the water with aquasfafe and did a 25 % water change . today they started again so i did another 25% water change . but now ten mins later i have a fantail floating upside down at the top gasping what can i do ?? all water p[erameters are normal . whats going on i've just added a dose of swimbladder treatment :(
 
OK, more information will help us to help you.

How big is the tank, how many of what sort of fish and how long has it been running with what kit etc?

Did you do anything else unusual recently?

What do you mean by normal parameters? I've heard several different versions of normal and everyone will keep asking until they get numbers off you. Given em everything, they'll be able to offer more detailed advice then.

From an initial reaction without much to go on, your fish are gasping, therefore they can't get oxygen in, you have oxygen therefore there's something irritating their gills.

Ammonia or nitrite would be my prime suspects, and if the levels are toxic enough to get this reaction I'd be going for closer to 90% water changes (with dechlorinator if appropriate).

Hope things turn out OK for you.
 
Tank is 100 litres . 3ft tank established a few months maybe two months but had these fish longer it was just a tank change everything else filters water etc went over with them .

water stats :
Amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20

ph is low but so is my tap water its usually in the 6.4 range

the only other thing i did was take a little media out of one of my filters the other day and changed it with clean but it is a stingray so has two lots of filter in. i changed the smallest part to seed another tank with . I have two filters running on his tank as its a little too small for my goldies but my larger one ruptured .

he is in with a black moor and another fantail . blackmoor has showed no gasping etc just the fantails
 
OK, so the testable stats look good.

Annoyingly that still leaves us with all sorts of things. Various toxins can cause havoc, from the more obvious like biological stuff building up that we take out with water changes (which I suppose messing with the filters could dislodge some of), to the more subtle, such as air fresheners and plug ins. Even chlorine can do it in good doses if the waterboard decided to have a good flush of the pipes.

The tank hasn't suddenly got warmer for any reason has it? That'll change the biological demand of a good sized fish, so will increase the demand of a goldfish.
 
Tank is 100 litres . 3ft tank established a few months maybe two months but had these fish longer it was just a tank change everything else filters water etc went over with them .

water stats :
Amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20

ph is low but so is my tap water its usually in the 6.4 range

the only other thing i did was take a little media out of one of my filters the other day and changed it with clean but it is a stingray so has two lots of filter in. i changed the smallest part to seed another tank with . I have two filters running on his tank as its a little too small for my goldies but my larger one ruptured .

he is in with a black moor and another fantail . blackmoor has showed no gasping etc just the fantails

That looks reasonable enough I guess, your pH doesn't shift around does it? Do you try to adjust it? Any new fish or decorations? Could be something in the tank poisoning them since it's a newish tank. Next stop for me would be gill flukes or some kind of parasite, could be some kind of bacterial infection of the gills.

Now for the hard part, you need to look at the gills of one of your dead to see if they look like they are eroded away or have any kind of dead looking tissue. Also using a magnifying glass, look for tiny parasites attached to the gill. You can see flukes like this, but allot of other possible candidates are only visible with a microscope. I know it's an unpleasant task, but it would be well worth it if you could positively identify a problem and save your other fish.

OK, so the testable stats look good.

Annoyingly that still leaves us with all sorts of things. Various toxins can cause havoc, from the more obvious like biological stuff building up that we take out with water changes (which I suppose messing with the filters could dislodge some of), to the more subtle, such as air fresheners and plug ins. Even chlorine can do it in good doses if the waterboard decided to have a good flush of the pipes.

The tank hasn't suddenly got warmer for any reason has it? That'll change the biological demand of a good sized fish, so will increase the demand of a goldfish.

Very good points, especially about the temperature and incoming water. Warmer water doesn't hold as much oxygen.

EDIT: That's weird, how did that happen. It made my reply as part of my last post.
 
The tank temp is 22-23 . which is about right for my front room

it seemed that as soon as i added fresh water (left sat overnight and added tetra aquasafe) he swam near the air pump which i have set quite high swam back a bit (maybe he took in some bubbles ) then started to belly flop and got stuck in a plant i poked him a little and he swam down and with the help of another fish he righted himself again . I added swimbladder as he did look a little bloated but its hard to tell with him hes fat anyway .

he looks a little better now hes maanging to stay the right way up, but has gone pale in colour (he's a calico) . hes hanging out by the filter now and is mamnaging to stay off the bottom /top.

Is it possible he just was in the wrong place at the wrong time Got a mouthful of bubbles when i turned the airstone back on ??

ph is same all the time .

i dont have any dead fish to test and hoping i dont all other fish seem fine right now :)
 
more likely he was in the wrong place and got a shock from a change between the water in the tank and the tapwater. I'd keep a close eye on and be ready to do more water changes if needed.
 
ok I'm reluctant to do the water change now in case he gets worst . I've covered the tank to give him some chill time im going to check on him in a little bit. I'll prepare some water in case he needs it later . thanks for your help its much appreciated im very fond of these three :good:
 
ok I'm reluctant to do the water change now in case he gets worst . I've covered the tank to give him some chill time im going to check on him in a little bit. I'll prepare some water in case he needs it later . thanks for your help its much appreciated im very fond of these three :good:

Out of curiosity, is it really cold where you are? When you put water in the tank do tiny bubbles form on the surface of the glass or decorations? If so, you may be putting in water that is supersaturated with oxygen. This can cause gas bubbles to form inside the fish, something like the bends in humans. Sometimes it can result in benign but unusual looking bubbles in the fins. It can also cause sudden and tragic consequences. It is often referred to as gas bubble disease. I'm not saying that's what it is, but based upon some things you said I thought it worth mentioning.
 
I usually try to make the water an adequate temperature by using some boiling water added in till it feels tepid so don't really have that issue unless im settign up a new one with no fish in and in that case i wouldn't add the hot . Thanks :)
 
I usually try to make the water an adequate temperature by using some boiling water added in till it feels tepid so don't really have that issue unless im settign up a new one with no fish in and in that case i wouldn't add the hot . Thanks :)

I didn't mean to imply that I thought you were pouring cold water into the tank, though you might be surprised how many people do. But, if bubbles form on things, then it is because their is still excess oxygen in the water. Pouring the water in a few inches above the surface will help to jar the oxygen out of the water. Even though you heat the water, it can still remain supersaturated for a while. The thing to really look for is bubbles forming on things after pouring the water in.

Again, not that this is your problem, just clarifying and expanding upon the subject for the benefit of anyone finding it in the future. I've seen people asking about mysterious bubbles on their fish and this is most likely the cause.
 
I didnt think you were being funny at all or implying anything I appreciate all the help i can get right now :good:

Thanks again its something else to look for i haven't noticed really but i will keep an eye out now just in case . wow looking after fish is so complex lol .

so when you say supersaturated are you saying its possible to have too much oxygen ? I thought the more the better or is there a fine balance ?

Because i have two filters on a relatively small (100L) tank and an airstone on full im wondering if this could be the a problem with too much oxygen what do you think ??
 
I didnt think you were being funny at all or implying anything I appreciate all the help i can get right now :good:

Thanks again its something else to look for i haven't noticed really but i will keep an eye out now just in case . wow looking after fish is so complex lol .

so when you say supersaturated are you saying its possible to have too much oxygen ? I thought the more the better or is there a fine balance ?

Because i have two filters on a relatively small (100L) tank and an airstone on full im wondering if this could be the a problem with too much oxygen what do you think ??

You can't put too much oxygen in the water yourself by using airstones in the tank. Like soda pop, the water becomes supersaturated because it is under pressure in the pipes. Also like soda pop, it wants to come out when you lower the pressure and/or raise the temperature. Also like soda pop going flat, it won't just suddenly fly out on it's own but will dissipate over time. I use an airstone in my water buckets when I am heating them to actually help remove the excess oxygen from the cold water. I also get my water from an outside tap (to avoid iron pipes) and I let it really shoot into the bucket to help get the majority of the excess dissolved gasses out. Still, when I use that water the same day some bubbles will still form in the tank on decorations and the glass.
 
oh thanks i understand now . I will keep a look out and do as you do with the airstone and pour from a height :good:
 
I've never heard that about the oxygen in the water before - I'm learning something new every day! I'll be sure to take this advice on board for my water changes in the future. For example, I use 5L bottles to store my new water in for about 24 hours before a change but I always close the lid, I should really be leaving it off right?

Sorry if this classes as a threadjack!
 

Most reactions

Back
Top