Hey guys. I have a heavily planted 65 gallon tank with CO2 injection. It's a community tank with 3 discus, 2 angels, and a big variety of tetras, rainbow fish, corydoras, rasboras, and loaches. All the plants are healthy and thriving as well as the fish. The CO2 and lighting are on a timer for 6 hours a day. All seems well except early in the morning when I get up to get ready for work, I notice most of the fish are at the surface of the water gulping for air. I'm not sure what's going on. The CO2 is off when the lights are off so it cannot be that the water is too acidic. I try to keep the pH above 7 but it always seem to fall to about 6.8. I think the discus have gotten used to a more acidic pH. Ammonia and nitrite levels are both at zero. In any case, everything appears fine, they eat normally, and the angels are even breeding, so this whole gulping thing is perplexing. The gulping lasts for a while too. In the 45 minutes it takes me to get out the door they are still gulping. Can anyone shed some light on this?
Gulping for air
- Thread starter mbraet
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vance1013
Aquarium Advice Addict
It sounds like there isnt enough oxygen in the water whats your aeration like bubble stone bubble wand etc..
I don't have any aeration. I have a Fluval canister filter that was expelling too powerfully and causing black hair algae to grow so I made a DIY spray bar out of a PVC pipe and now the water flow is pretty calm. So I'm guessing it's too calm and isn't creating enough water flow around the tank? Should I invest in a bubble wand? I just hate the way bubbles look in an aquarium. I want to have as natural an aquarium that mimics the fishes natural environment as possible and bubbles blowing around looks just tacky IMO... but for the sake of my fishies' health, I'm willing to overlook it.
phishfriend
Aquarium Advice Addict
Can you raise the spray bar? If you can get it so the water exits just above the waterline. That should help a lot!
vance1013
Aquarium Advice Addict
phishfriend said:
+1 that would work too just need surface movement for gas exchange to help release co2
It's pretty difficult to raise the spray bar since the part that bends over the rim of the aquarium doesn't allow the expeller to go any higher than 6 inches from the top of the tank. The only way I can have surface aeration is to keep the water level at least 6 inches low. Maybe I can angle the holes on the spray bar upwards so it blows that water surface. If not then I'll get an air stone or wand. Thanks for your help.
phishfriend
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yeah if you can angle that spray holes up that could work!!
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