Fish gasping for air

[AquaAussie]

T looks like my fish are gasping for air at that top but I'm not sure. The only things I've changed lately are that I've been treating the tank daily with maracyn. I have 2 more days left to go of it an I'm changing my water tomorrow. Any thoughts of what they are doing?

 

[bettaowner]

There could be a lack of oxygen.

 

[imtcurveball]

Get an air pump or a powerhead.

 

[jlk]

Have you checked your water parameters? Do so ASAP. Antibiotics do not discriminate between 'good' bacteria & 'bad' bacteria and may effect your biological filter (bb) negatively. If there are ammonia/nitrite spikes, do a water change tonight.

 

[HN1]

There could be a lack of oxygen.

Get an air pump or a powerhead.

^ This. What are you treating for? How long set up? Size & stocking?

I'm probably going to recommend a large water change.

 

[blert]

Have you checked your water parameters? Do so ASAP. Antibiotics do not discriminate between 'good' bacteria & 'bad' bacteria and may effect your biological filter (bb) negatively. If there are ammonia/nitrite spikes, do a water change tonight.

+1

That is quite the reflection on the top of the water, I see no ripple at all in the pic. How is your surface movement? If it is low, as that pic seems to suggest, you need to get that water moving.

 

[mohican]

I recommend using a quarintine tank! I personally never medicate my display tank. What kind of fish are they. Gourami have labyrinth organ that allows them to breath air from the surface. At least get an air stone going to oxygenate the water.

 

[AquaAussie]

I am treating the tank for five days with maracyn for Cyanobacteria/algae. I have a 100g tank with about 35 fish. They water flow at the ends is fine in fact they could go to the ends and there is more airation. I'll take a pic. I also added co2 booster a week ago. Does that choke fish?

 

[jlk]

Maracyn will not kill algae. It has been proven effective against cyanobacteria. However, as the cells die, they release a variety of cyanotoxins (dependent upon species & strain of bacteria). This may be further affecting & poisoning your fish. I would still recommend a big water change tonight even if your parameters are fine.

 

[jetajockey]

Test for ammonia/nitrite? Maracyn kills the biofilter so you could be having a toxin issue.

 

[aqua_chem]

I've used erythomycin (Maradel Maracyn) extensively and have never had it adversely affect BB. Erythomycin is most effective against gram-positive bacteria, and our BB are gram negative. You will sometimes see a spike in nitrogenous waste after treating with erythromycin, but that's most likely from a sudden increase in ammonia caused by the death of other bacteria, such as the type of cyanobacteria we call BGA. The increase in activity from your biofilter breaking down these compounds will also use up oxygen in the tank and might be problematic if oxygen is in short supply.

So yea, airstone or other form of surface agitation ASAP.

 

[AquaAussie]

I have an airstone that I use to grow brine shrimp and I put it in. Seems to have done the trick. Big water change tomorrow. Btw it was for Cyanobacteria. It seems to be working slowly.

 

[AquaAussie]

Pics. Thanks guys. I have two more days with this medicine then I'll do another big water change. This app is super helpful.

 

[AquaAussie]

@aqua_chem do you think I should change the substrate in my filter too?

 

[aqua_chem]

You should never change your filter substrate short of a handful of extreme circumstances.

 

[AquaAussie]

Never? I thought you change half of it every so often? Also I wonder if you know do I need to put that prime dechlorinator into RO water when I do water changes? I have just been using it as is for the fish and they have seemed fine.

 

[paytertot]

Never? I thought you change half of it every so often? Also I wonder if you know do I need to put that prime dechlorinator into RO water when I do water changes? I have just been using it as is for the fish and they have seemed fine.

Don't change out filter media until its pretty much falling apart. And when you do, put in new media for a couple weeks before removing old media to prevent a mini cycle, because when you throw away media, you are throwing away BB.

 

[BlaseMrNiceguy]

A couple of things I saw anyways, technically you could have over dosed co2 which would cause less oxygen in the water. Also r/o water isn't the best thing to be using in freshwater aquariums because there is other nutrients in the water the fish need, so if you are using r/o water you need to be adding those vital components back into the water.

 

[aqua_chem]

1) CO2 doesn't displace oxygen in water.
2) He/she is using a liquid carbon supplement, not CO2.

3) You're absolutely right on RO needing to be reconstituted, especially if it's high quality (low TDS) RO water, with something like Seachem Equilibrium.

 

[AquaAussie]

I don't want my water too hard because I would like to get discus but equilibrium looks good. I'm down with that. Might be better than the API plant food I have