help! my fish are breathing rapidly.

[poopsy]

I have just finished my cycle and my cardinal, rummy nose tetras, tiger barbs are breahting very very fast, My platies seem to be ok. They are not going up the surface to get oxygen. They are staying middle and bottom level of the tank but are breathing like they,ve ran a marathon. My tank size is 60 x 24 x 19 inches.

My readings are: GH 12, KH 8, PH 7.2, CO2 20, NH4 0.25 ppm, NO2 0, NO3 10 ppm, PO4 10 ppm, Fe 0.

Any one with any suggestions.

[aquariumfishguy]

So ok, this is about a 118 us gallon tank (100 uk gallons). Correct?

If you are still seeing any ammonia and/or nitrites, you have not completed the cycle process. All you should see is nitrates (20-30 ppm is considered acceptable).

The fish sound generally stressed. Perhaps a water change is in order, do a 30-40% water change if possible. This is a large tank, so water changes. Also, make sure you are not messing with the filtration media too much, if you wipe away any beneficial bacteria, it resets the whole cycle process... or will at least cause a mini-cycle.

[Karnaaj]

Agreed. If your cycle was finished you would be showing no ammonia.

[blueturq]

oh no,

It sounds like you cycled with all of those fish, and they are in shock, from the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels going up and down :(

[poopsy]

My NH4 ammonium reading is 0.25. My ammonia reading NH3 is 0.