Fish Gasping.

I need some pointers on how i can stop my fish from gasping at the surface for air, thing is i have a 55 gallon, 1xpowerhead agitates the surface, along with the cannister filter return, besides this i have a airline skimmer createing billions of bubbles, my fish 1 clown and the one in the picture more so, is at the surface gills and mouth going mad, what else can i do to create more air, salinity is at 1.024, temp at 80 i know you can only have so much oxygen in the water depending on these factors, so what else if anything could i do to cure this, i tried a airstone in the tank for a day also, still the same, i don't know what else to do, any ideas thanks/???

 

From my own experiance fish tend to "gasp" for air when there is not enough oxygen in the water column, what types of filters are you using?

BTW what type of Damselfish is that? very beautiful.

Matty

 

Thank you reefer, its a neon velvet damsel, filter is a external xp2 cannister filter, as i stated in last post i tried a airstone in the tank now for 24 hours there still gasping?

 

hmm, any other fish that are displaying this odd behavior? if its only him, there could be something wrong with his gills thats not allowing him to get the full amount of oxygen required.

Matty

 

I have 4 tangs 1 foxface and a pink tail Trigger. they all gulp at the surface especially after they eat. I have tested my O2 levels and they are above recommended. I think some fish just do that. I think Amcarrig had a thread on this some time ago


J

 

That's good info. It's always nice when someone can dispel your worst fears. When I read in the OP that there's an airstone creating billions of bubbles, I thought it couldn't be O2 defficiency.

I suppose a very telling answer would be if your other fish are exhibiting this same behavior. Even if they are, after Jason's post, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a defficiency of oxygen. Another important question would be when did the problem start? Any precipitating events you can think of?

Keep us posted, and good luck!

 

Thanks for the swift relies guys, he as been doing it for a good couple of weeks to be honest, but just lately getting worse, i have seen my clown up at the surface to over the last couple of days..?

 

Try angling the koralia in the pic so that you get some serious surface agitation. If there are any covers on the tank, take them off. Try that for a couple of days and see if it works. Also. check your water params to see if they are in line. I agree with everyone else that it sounds like an oxygen issue, but slightly elevated params can add to stress during oxygen deprivation.

 

what is the overall general health of your fish? they may just be exhibiting some very odd behavior, or they could be bored ;D

Matty

 

params are as always.

Nitrate 5ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
Ph-8.0/8.3
Salinity 1.024
Temp-80f
phos-0ppm
No covers on the tank,

i have the powerhead agitateing the surface on the other side but i will tilt that one up to the surface for tonight and see how they look in the morning, will keep you updated...