Gasping fish

[Mylittlemollies]

Help please!! I did a 50% water change yesterday and my water is now cloudy. I understand the bacteria cycle and wasn't overly concerned until all my fish started swimming in the top corner of the tank, appearing to be gasping!! Ph is spot on, have added conditioning salts, checked filter and temp but no improvement. I'm so scared I'm going to lose my fish. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.


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[anteatergoanna]

Hi, sorry to hear about your fish. Did you treat the water with a water conditioner like Prime before adding it to the tank? Was the water temp the same as your tank water? What are the water parameters, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate..what size tank and how many fish? The more info that you can give the better, that way we may be able to help.


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[PB_Smith]

How long has the tank been set-up and why did you do a 50% water change?

Can you hook-up an air pump and drop an air stone or two in there?
when fish are gasping at the surface that indicates reduced oxygen levels OR the fishes capability to "breath" is compromised.
either way you need to create a lot of surface turbulance to help oxygenate the water better.
Have you tested for ammonia, nitrite? high ammonia levels effects the gills and cause the fish to "gasp".
contrary to some folks advice, 50% water changes are not advisable unless there is a problem with water quality.

 

[Camescu]

I had this a while back. Cloudy water pointed to a bacterial bloom, which (in my case happened at night whilst the plants start taking in oxygen as well) meant there was a competition for oxygen that the fish were losing.

+1 on the air stone.


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[Camescu]

Looks like you already have one judging by your pic.


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[Mylittlemollies]

I do have an air stone in. I have to admit I'm very new to this!! The tank has been running for approx 4 months, I have 3 balloon mollies and 6 guppies. I did the 50% water change because I thought I had to :-( I don't even know how to test nitrate? The one issue I am rectifying at present is the fact the tank was in front of a large window, and sat very close to a heating duct. I moved the tank this morning.


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[Camescu]

In not 100% on this, so maybe someone in the know can confirm, but temperature has an effect on oxygen in water. The move may be a good thing to reduce fluctuations.


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[PB_Smith]

In not 100% on this, so maybe someone in the know can confirm, but temperature has an effect on oxygen in water. The move may be a good thing to reduce fluctuations.


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Yes, higher temps = less dissolved oxygen, but I doubt that is the issue here.

What type of food are you using? If you have been using primarily flake food, mix it up with some frozen brine or similar. Too much/poor quality flake food can also contribute to cloudy water.
Also DO NOT clean the filter pads/floss/whatever until you have solved the issue or that will compound the problem.

 

[Mylittlemollies]

Very sad morning. Have woken up to 3 dead fish and all the others look terrible. I have just realised that a little visitor that was over yesterday possibly put some chemical/body spray in the water. Is there any way to save my other fish?? So sad


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[PB_Smith]

Very sad morning. Have woken up to 3 dead fish and all the others look terrible. I have just realised that a little visitor that was over yesterday possibly put some chemical/body spray in the water. Is there any way to save my other fish?? So sad


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Oh, that sucks!

You could try another substantial water change, activated carbon and rehouse the fish if possible.

The worst will be if you have to tear down and re-start from scratch.

 

[Mylittlemollies]

After speaking to my LFS I felt I had no choice but to strip back the tank! I had lost 8 of my 12 fish and the remaining don't look good either. I am utterly devastated!


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[absolutangel04]

I disagree about 50% pwc being undesirable. I suggest doing a 50% every week. Not because something is wrong, but to keep things from going wrong. I find this especially true when a tank is not planted, and I see a lot of people develop issues in their tanks when they are doing smaller water changes. Of course, that depends some on how much stock you have and filtration and may not be necessary in all cases, but I think it is a good basic standard, especially for new fish keepers.

I am sorry to hear about your fish. Having some chemicals sprayed in there could definitely have caused an issue. I also suggest doing a large pwc. Are your remaining fish also gasping? You may end up having to do several.

For future reference, in order to test nitrates, you need a test kit. You can get one at most pet stores. Liquid are more reliable than the strips. If you just want one time help, most pet stores will test your water for free also.

 

[Mylittlemollies]

Thank you Absolut for your advice. I was told that a 50% water change weekly was a good idea also. The remaining 4 fish don't appear to be gasping but hanging either very low in the tank or at the surface. Thank you for your advice on testing too. I ph test the tank regularly but didn't know what other tests I should do. I found out it was toilet cleaner that was put into my tank by a friends small child. I know stripping the tank back to scratch is probably not the best scenario for the remaining fish but leaving them in toilet cleaner wasn't going to end well either.


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[absolutangel04]

Thank you Absolut for your advice. I was told that a 50% water change weekly was a good idea also. The remaining 4 fish don't appear to be gasping but hanging either very low in the tank or at the surface. Thank you for your advice on testing too. I ph test the tank regularly but didn't know what other tests I should do. I found out it was toilet cleaner that was put into my tank by a friends small child. I know stripping the tank back to scratch is probably not the best scenario for the remaining fish but leaving them in toilet cleaner wasn't going to end well either.


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Since toilet cleaner is designed to stock to hard surfaces despite being wet, I do agree that stripping it your best option. I am sorry to hear that you had this happen! If it was me, I would thoroughly clean everything I could after draining it and I would just buy new substrate to be safe. What kind of filter did you have? Was it an HOB with a pad of some sort in it or a canister?

 

[Mylittlemollies]

The tank is an Aqua One with a built in filter system with a cotton type pad that goes in the filter. The fish are still gasping at the top of the tank, is there anything else I can put in the tank to help?


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[absolutangel04]

I think your best bet for their relief would be a water change again. They may have the cleaner clinging to their gills thus decreasing their ability for gas exchange though. Normally, I do not suggest changing the filter pad too much because of the beneficial bacteria. But, if you use filter pads with activated carbon, a new filter pad will have new carbon and might help some for now.
Do you have a spare bucket or large rubbermaid or anything like that? If so, you can put new water in that and then move the fish out of the tank after acclimating them, just like you would have done when you bought them. I have had to do this in emergency situation a couple of times.