Fish and shrimp gasping for breath, day after water change!

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punch

AC Members
Mar 25, 2002
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Petaluma, CA
Don't understand why? Did 20% water change yesterday and this morning everybody is gasping for air at the top! I don't even have my CO2 on because last week I had the same problem only much worse, (because of the C02) and 2 rams died. Help! What's going on here?
 

TheFishBoss97

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Feb 12, 2011
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San Jose, CA
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Ritap
i have no idea what is happening. Do you have enough O2 in the tank, any oxygenation? did anything get into the tank water/water column?

what size tank? what are the parms? did u use water conditioner?

thanks, good luck. but u need to answer those quesitons b4 anybody can make an educated guess as to whats happneing.......^
 

punch

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Mar 25, 2002
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Petaluma, CA
44 gallons, used water conditioner. Ph 6.2 alkalinity 60. Hardness 120. nitrites and nitrates are o. I know screwy water. And it is a planted tank. So I don't use and air stone. This shouldn't be a problem in a planted tank.
 

Fozzybear

wocka wocka wocka!
Mar 16, 2011
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Ellis
what did you have on your hands?

I've seen the gasping behavior when i put my air pump suction down on a piece of wood that was freshly stained and it nearly killed the fish with poison bubbles. Try putting activated carbon in the filter for a couple days.
 

BettaFishMommy

finkids make me happy :-)
Mar 17, 2008
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Sherry N.
what kind of dechlorinator are you using? some brands will not detoxify chloramine, and your city's water supply may have switched over from chlorine (which most dechlors will handle), to chloramine recently. Prime is the one commonly found dechlor that works with chloramine treated tap water.

are the fish showing red gills at all? have you done an ammonia test?

you posted your nitrate result as zero. unless your tank is chock full of tons of plants, there should be nitrates showing.

have you cleaned your filter lately? how did you do it?

call your water supply and ask if there has been anything different going on with how they treat the water.

find out if anyone in your house used your water change bucket for any other purpose lately.

right now, drop your water level down so that your filters splash the water surface more - this will create better gas exchange and allow more oxygen in the water.

until you figure out the problem, don't do water changes with your tap water, in case there is an issue with it.

adding carbon to the filter is a good idea right now, to pull out any pollutants that might be in the tank water.
 

punch

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Mar 25, 2002
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Petaluma, CA
Thanks all. Busy day! Tested my nitrates again, under 10 anyways 0-10 and it always has measured that low. I don't know, maybe my test kit is off, but both of them?
 
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dundadundun

;sup' dog? ;woof and a wwwoof!
Jan 21, 2009
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S.E. PA
1. where are you getting your water from? well? city water?

2. can we get pics of the tank? plants specifically?

3. i assume that's the ph in your tank? what's the ph of your supply water after degassing overnight?
 

authmal

Pseudonovice
Aug 4, 2011
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Phoenix, AZ
Thanks all. Busy day! Tested my nitrates again, under 10 anyways 0-10 and it always has measured that low. I don't know, maybe my test kit is off, but both of them?
What kind of test kit? What's the ammonia number?
 
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