Gasping fish

[rmcder]

Long story as short as possible: I had a tank with 2 male and one female hrp. Males started "gasping" for no apparent reason. I was away for a couple days, and when I came back they were both absolutely coated with ick. One died.

I've been treating the ick with Quick Cure, and using melafix for any skin irritation. The signs of ick have subsided, but the gasping persists. The usual culprit is O2 depletion, but that can't be it since the other fish aren't being affected. Secondary is stress, and I DID discover that the female (older and larger) was doing some chasing, so the male is now being treated on his own in a 10g tank. Still gasping. Ideas anyone?

[liv2padl]

The usual culprit is O2 depletion actually the usual culprit is ammonia and/or nitrite toxicity. it's very hard to have insufficient O2 in your tank water as long as you've got a filter running. other potential culprits are any parasite that affects the gills, since this will inhibit maximum respiratory exchange of O2 and CO2. gill flukes?

[Sully]

and ich loves to set up camp in the gills--damaging the gill membrane. killing fish.

[Star_Rider]

make sure you complete the treatment. generally ich is treatable in it's free swimming stage(tomite).

[rmcder]

I've been treating now for at least a week and all obvious signs (of ick) have disappeared. I figure another three days to be sure.

[Star_Rider]

I would recommend the full course of treatment 14 days.( so add the extra days to make it two weeks to be safe) I did that once thinking the oich was gone..guess what?? yup it reappeared

the problem is when the ich drops off..the tomites may remain inactive for a few days(dependant upon temp) warm water stimulates the tomites to break out of incubation and free swim(when they are suseptible to most treatments)

we generally raise the temp to 82-84 degrees to stimulate the tomites.

in cooler water this gestation may take longer.

sonce the ichis best treated in the free swimming stage it is generally recommended to treat for 14 days from the time you see ich.

what makes the copper safe meds work is the fact that they remain in the tank for so long(actually never really leaving the tank)

[rmcder]

I figured three days at 80 degrees after they are off the fish would cover things, but I can certainly extend that a bit farther to be safe. Thanks for the advice.

[EahInMass]

I have a problem with my angels always gasping and have yet to figure out why it is they're doing it. They are the only fish in the tank that seem to do it and the male seems to do it the most. Any suggestions? There are no signs of illness otherwise but it is really starting to bother me about as much as it bothers him! What is the reason behind this and what can I do to stop it? I do about a 30 percent water change (40 gallon tank) about every two to three days.

[rmcder]

Anyone in the tank harassing them? Sounds as if your water is ok, which kind of leaves only general stress as a factor. Too much traffic around the tank?

[Cathy G]

Eahinmass,
This could be the onset of something else, could you add an extra airstone and get more oxygen into the water? What do you condition your water with - perhaps there is some residual chlorine or something getting into the water. Have you double checked that there is no ammonia/nitrites? How long have you had these guys? What's your tank's temperature?
Cathy

[EahInMass]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. The tank temp is around 80 degrees and I don't believe I am overstocked....though thinking maybe it could be my Apisto Grama Inca that could possibly cause the stress. As far as the chlorine and nitrates, I have not purchased any test kits just yet so am unsure about their levels. I've had these guys for over a year...we actually started out with six angels originally which I felt was a bit much....two ended up getting killed by the other pairs, and two I recently gave to my local fish guy because I was tired of seeing them fighting (when they paired up I realized I had one immature angel with two females and one male). Needless to say...the two females would fight over their eggs and there was lots of stress in the tank. I have kept the Inca's for one reason - my hun used to breed them in our twenty gallon but I made him take the tank down when he decided to go saltwater. Should I put my foot down and give this breeding pair of Inca's up? My confusion is really because when the other angels were in the tank and the stress was obvious - I don't recall them gasping. I use the same water (direct from the faucet), and know that I am not overdoing the CO2. This has been carrying on for weeks now, and I haven't seen any illness...I am so confused.

[Star_Rider]

get a test kit and test the parameters. pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

since you are running CO2 you need to monitor that..the plants won't use much CO2 at night.

any number of things can cause stress. by getting tank parameters you can start the process of elimination.