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Thread: Fish grasping for air and die

  1. #1
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    Fish grasping for air and die

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    Hi.

    Everyday, a few of my fishes will die... before that, they'll be at the surface of the water grasping for air. However, this happens to some of the fishes only... the rest of the fish population seems fine. Also, one of my fish became deformed... what bacteria is infecting my fishes? Dont think my co2 injection is the cause as my malayan shrimps are still thriving well.

    Btw mine is a planted tank.. what kind of medicine do i need to buy and will not affect my plants?

    Please help

  2. #2
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    Can you give more details about your tank? Use the newbie questionaire at the top of the planted tnak forum.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
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  3. #3
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    Hmmm... one more thing... describe the state of the fishes when they die, swellings, check the gills etc. Ammonia or nitrite poisoning would likely kill more fishes sooner and shrimps should be affected as well. Some kind of gill parasite or disease could be the cause in this case.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  4. #4
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    no swelling or other special symptons after they die.

    Mine's a 2feet tank, pH between 6.5-7.0 CO2 injection at 1bps. the rest i'm unable to measure as i dun have the test kits.

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    We need more info to even begin to guess. Try to use the form... leave blank the things you don't know .
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
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  6. #6
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    At this point, can you stop injection of Co2 for one or two days. And probably give a slight aeration with a air pump.
    I am not sure if it is Co2 overdoes, but the sympton looks like.

  7. #7
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    Hope these info helps

    Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 60x30x30cm (2feet tank)
    Tank Volume (litres or gallons): approx 57litres or 15gallons
    Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 30watts FL, 55watts PL (approx 5.6watts/gallon)
    Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : as above
    No. of Hours your light is on : 8-10hrs
    CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : 1bps
    Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : Tank
    Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): Spiral diffuser
    Substrate Used : Dennerle Crystal Quartz gravel
    How Thick is your base fert : 2cm
    How thick is your gravel : 3cm
    Liquid Fertilizers Used : Dr. Malek's Lush Grow
    Frequency of fertilization : After every weekly 40% water change
    Tank Temperature : 24-26 degrees
    Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : Int. Filter
    Filter media used : Bioglass and sponge
    How long has your tank been set up : approx 2mths to 3mths
    Other equipment : DIY DC FAN

    Chemical Properties (Fill what you can)
    ---------------------------------------
    Carbonate Hardness (KH): Unknown
    Total Hardness (gH): Unknown
    pH : 6.5 to 7
    NH4 (ppm): Unknown
    NO2 (ppm): Unknown
    NO3 (ppm): Unknown
    PO4 (ppm): Unknown
    Fe (ppm): Unknown

    Bioload (Your Fish and Plants)

    FISH:
    Cardinal tetra (x2)
    Lamp eye (x9)
    Rasbora (x9)
    SAE (x4)
    Golden Suckling loach (x1)
    Puffer (x1)
    Guppy (x4)
    Panda Cory (x3)
    Small Angel (x5)
    Oto (x2)
    Clown Killie (x1)
    Emperor tetra (x2)
    Platy (x2)

    PLANTS:
    RICCIA and others (don't know the name [] )

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    wow! u got so many fishes in a 2 ft tank. Dun need to inject co2 also can.

  9. #9
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    Bio overload....ammonia or nitrite is the most possible cause.
    Plant Physiology by Taiz and Zeiger

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    You have a bit too many fish for the tank. Angels will grow into large fish, so i think it's best you find a bigger home for them, while the rest should be fine.

    In the meantime, I think the best thing is to change water (40-50%) more frequently, and not forgetting the anti-chlorine. If your overall setup is ok, with plants obviously thriving, the nitrifying bacteria should take care of the excessive ammonia, nitrite and nitrate that's probably affecting your fish.

  11. #11
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    When did you add those fishes? Did you add a lot of them recently?

    I concur that it could be a bio-overload. Unfortunately, I doubt the internal filter can handle it. Remove some of those fishes or go get an external filter.

    Even if you get an external filter, put part of your internal filter's media (after rinsing in a bucket of tank water) in the external filter. This will ensure that whatever beneficial bacteria you had is retained.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
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  12. #12
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    The fishes were slowly introduced into the tank. Yes, i think my bio load is too much, but too bad i only have a 2feet tank.

    Will get a test kit to check the nitrate and ammonia level soon

  13. #13
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    Get a nitrite kit would do...
    Plant Physiology by Taiz and Zeiger

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    roger.

  15. #15
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    On a separate note, you should be careful where you buy your fishes from. Sometimes, there are dead fishes in the tank that the fishes were purchased from. Although they have no visible sign yet, they are already disease carriers. Be more discerning in your selection of fishes will help reduce casualties in your tank.

    If the fishes are gasping for air, it could be nitrite poisoning as stated earlier. However, breathing difficulties, rapid gill movements, increased respiration rate are also symptoms of the following diseases:

    1. Gill flukes
    2. Vevlet disease
    3. Chilodonella
    4. Cryptocaryon
    5. Fish TB
    6. Columnaris
    7. Internal bacterial infection

    Do a search on the net for the above to get more details.

    Since you are not keeping very sensitive fishes, a little bit of aquarium salt may help too.

    Cheers,
    I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?

  16. #16
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    think i know why my fishes are dying. Discovered that the pH value was at 4.5!

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    ----------------
    On 9/28/2003 1:11:11 PM

    think i know why my fishes are dying. Discovered that the pH value was at 4.5!
    ----------------

    That's probable. What's your KH value? Try to raise it to about 2 to 4 KH using sodium bicarbonate to help prevent your pH from crashing. One note though, do not raise it beyong 2 degree of hardness per day, you will stress your fishes more.
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  18. #18
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    im having the same problem, my apisto was also gasping for air b4 it died. 3 of em juz died. From Different tanks...the problem is the other fishes in the tank dun seem to have this problem. Need Help.

    Thanks[]

  19. #19
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    need help here bros...
    another 1 juz died, same problem.

    Thanks

  20. #20
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    anybody....anybody???
    need help here.

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