Knight Goby

[markunas]

I've had my freshwater tank for about a month and a half now. I recently noticed my knight goby (freshwater) has had some labored breathing and his mouth is usually open. He still eats, his poop looks normal, I've seen no discoloration, spotting or swelling. I have a liquid test kit and everything is normal. I'm not sure if he always breaths like that (and I am just acting like a paranoid mother) or if something more serious could be wrong. I also have a leopard cat fish and they get along great. The cat fish has no abnormal looking breathing patterns. PLEASE HELP!

 

[siva]

Hello and welcome to AA!

It is my understanding that knight gobies, although often found in FW in the wild, in captivity do better in brackish water.

Are you familiar with how the nitrogen cycle works? Do you have a test kit? If the answer is no, do a large water change right way. If you've had this tank about 6 weeks and have not been cycling it properly, there is a build up of toxins in the water and your fish could be near death. Check out these links which should help:
The Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

 

[markunas]

And here is some more information about my tank

sick fish - Knight goby
tank - 10 gallon, set up for a month and a half, no live plants, two plastic plants and two hiding places for the goby that have been in the tank since day one, also aeration stone in center of tank
filtration - Bio-wheel power filter penguin 100 3-stage filter (gph = 100)
fish - 2 current fish, small leopard catfish (1 inch approximately), knight goby (2 inches approximately)
water quality - Water change three days ago (use RO water) 25% and about two a week, pH - 7.6, temp - 79, ammonia - .25ppm, nitrite and nitrate are 0
diet - bloodworms, tubifex worms, algae wafers and a flake formula. Feeding around twice a day but only small amounts that the goby will eat immediately, no changes in diet recently

 

[bettaowner]

Knight gobies are territorial.