Rapid Breathing

[dr.diggler]

Last night thought I noticed my jardini arowana breathing rapidly. This morning I woke up and my three reticulated stingrays and my catfish were all breathing rapidly. The only thing different that I did yesterday is I removed two penguin 400's that I was using on that tank. I have had two rena xp3's running. Is it possible that that had some effect. I can only think that what ever was on those bio wheels was helping the tank. I put a air stone in about twenty minutes ago hoping to get some O2 into that tank. Checked my water parameters ammonia and nitrates are 0 and my ph is a lil low 6.5-6.6. Any ideas.

 

[severum mama]

Sorry, I can't really help you, but maybe you'll get some answers soon if you post this in the unhealthy fish forum. Hope your fish are ok.

 

[BrianNY]

Rapid breathing can have several causes. The first that comes to mind is ammonia poisoning. I would have the water retested as test kits lose effectiveness with age. It is possible that by removing the bio wheels, the reduction in nitrifying bacteria might cause a mini cycle.

The gills of fish are susceptible to a host of parasitic, bacterial and fungal infections. It's also possible that feeding live foods contributes to one of the above. Unfortunately, the only way to diagnose gill infections accurately is with a microscope. If your water tests negative for ammonia, I would begin treating for parasites with something like Parasite Clear from Jungle Labs.

Good Luck.

 

[dr.diggler]

Replaced the carbon in one of the canister filters about a hour and a half ago. Looks as thought the breathing has slowed down. The jardini's breathing looks to be normal. Dont understand why the removal of my two other filters would cause this, because adding five gallons of RO water to a 125 gallon tank wouldnt have this kind of effect. I am going to leave the airstone in for the rest of the day. Thanks for helping.