Kribensis gasping for air????

[aashby12]

Hey everyone! I just got a new 10 gallon tank, a few live plants, power filter, heater, etc. So far the plants were doing well and the pleco has been fine. We've added 2 honey gouramis, 2 bolivian rams, and 2 kribensis. One of the kribensis has begun to lay low by the bottom, behind the plants and seems to be gasping for air and not really eating anything. Everyone else is doing fine, eating well and acting normal. When I feed them bloodworms he may have one or two, but never goes for the flakes. I don't have anything to test water yet, and am not really sure what's best to get for that. Any advice will help!
Thanks!!

 

[bluerose]

Welcome to AA!

Did you cycle the tank beforehand? (If not, read up on fishless cycling so you can understand the cycling process.)

How long has everything been running and when was your last partial water change (PWC)? When did you add the fish? What filtration are you running?

Get a test kit ASAP (the API Master Freshwater Test Kit is good).

You're overstocked, and your pleco will outgrow the tank pretty quickly if it's a common pleco, so keep that in mind. Your krib is likely suffering from ammonia or nitrite poisoning and your other fish will probably follow suit.

Do a 50% PWC now, and be sure to match water temperature and dechlorinate. You may want to be proactive and do another 50% PWC tomorrow as well, and anytime ammonia or nitrite gets over .5ppm.

 

[neilanh]

yeah, I suspect your ammonia levels are spiking, and is what's causing your fish to act strange. Read the articles in my signature about the nitrogen cycle, this will explain everything. Getting a good test kit (I recommend the API freshwater master test kit) will be the best investment you can make.

Like bluerose said, you have a lot of fish in a 10g tank. Keeping the ammonia and nitrIte levels down in a safe range for your fish is going to require large water changes every day I would imagine.

I'd recommend that you return the fish to the store and fishless cycle your tank, then get some fish.