Suffocating Fish

[gadgetguy]

I have a 55g somewhat planted tank. According to the advice on the local aquarium society forum, I removed the bubbler from the tank which allowed me to remove the glass tops and bring my light down lower which will hopefully help my plants do better. It has been removed since noon yesterday and I'm worrying about the well-being of my fish. I don't have a lot of experience in keeping aquaria with about 1.5 years under my belt now. I have included a video (3 seconds, QuickTime format, 7.8 MB, quality on my camera is overkill!) Could someone please tell me if my fish truly are suffocating?

Thanks!

Video Link: http://www.cyberguy.ca/fish/suffo_fish.mov

 

[Skyrmir]

Sorry I can't view quicktime movies. However if the fish are gasping at the surface, then yes, they are looking for oxygen. Without an air stone you need to have some good surface agitation in the tank. The other way around it is to use a wet dry filter.

Personally I just picked up the cheap glass covers for my tanks. They sit right at the top of the tank and lights can be put right on top of them. They do get dirty from bubble splash, but they're easy to clean. Also they make a fairly decent humidity shield that tends to keep evaporation down.

 

[rkilling1]

It's hard to tell from that video. You would know better then anybody about how your fish are acting.

Without knowing what setup you have, it's very had to give advice. If you are NOT injecting CO2, then having a bubbler is a good thing. It will maintain the CO2 at atmospheric levels.

A nice growing planted tank will provide more O2 then surface movement or a wet/dry will will ever do.

Some of us high-light guys have to run surface agitation to REMOVE O2.

 

[tropicfishman]

a longer clip, maybe around 2 minutes would be better to tell, are they rapid gilling or anything at the surface? nice looking angel though

 

[JustOneMore20]

If the reason for removing the bubbler was because its too powerful and splashing water out of the tank, then you can buy valves that will reduce the airflow. That should allow you to have the bubbler and have the light close without a glass top.

 

[gadgetguy]

Skyrmir: They aren't gasping at the surface, their fins are just moving very quickly. I do have glass tops, it's just that my lighting is so intense that it grows algae on them in a matter of days where the bubbles splash up. One of my main reasons for removing the bubbler is that.

tropicfishman: I can get you a 2 minute clip... if you want to spend all night downloading about a gig of video . Thanks!

JustOneMore20: Yeh, I know I can buy valves (I've got a bunch) but by the time I reduce to the point it's not splashing, there are no more bubbles!

Thanks for the help everyone! Unfortunately, I've found out that I don't have enough oxygen in my tank in the form of my prized Pictus Catfish dying. I decided to just stuck glass tops back under and clean them regularly.

 

[rkilling1]

Sorry to hear about the Pictus catfish. I know how it feels to lose a wonderful pet. Hope all gets better from here.

Randy