CO2 and fish?

C

cyber_ecco

AC Members
Dec 31, 2005
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Hi guys...I have finally got my CO2 going and the tank seems to have stabilized. PH is at 6.8 and Kh is at 6. So by my calculations my CO2 should be at 26ppm. That seems about right. Had one question though. Yesterday I notivced my fish seem to be breathing quite heavily. Is this normal with elevated CO2? Everything seems healthy and nothing is dying or not eating. Fish seem quite active, but the Rams especially seem to be breathing quite heavy. Any advise? Thanks.

Gord.
 
I assume that it's a planted tank?
how big is the tank and what c02 system are you using, and how many bubbles per second?
if there isn't a way for the C02 to escape, you could have a problem, otherwise it might not be related to C02 at all.
 
Its a planted tank. It is quite heavily planted, that are all doing very well. I have a 32 gallon with 2 X 65W PC lighting. I'm just using the DIY CO2 hooked up to a CO2 ladder (Nutrafin) in the tank. Looks to me like its producing about 1 bubble per sec. I've been doing regular water changes. About 25% every 3 or 4 days. Nitrates are around 20.

Livestock in tank:

4 small corys
4 guppies
1 small pleco
3 german rams
2 Apistograma dwarf Cichlids
2 Killifish
4 lampeyes
1 small clown loach
7 small cherry/amano shrimps

All my fish are relatively small and seem to be doing well. Since I have introduced CO2 they have been breathing quite a bit harder.

Thanks.

Gord.
 
Hrm, IMO you are a little overstocked and perhaps there is not enough oxygen in the water to support all those fish? I'm assuming that you have little surface movement in order to try to retain CO2.

I'd cut back down to 20ppm and up the surface agitation and see if they improve.

Roan
 
Are your plants pearling during the light cycle? How much current do you have? A high light, CO2 supplemented tank with healthy growing plants with little current will have higher O2 level then the same tank with alot of surface agitation. Excess surface agitation under high growth conditions will actually reduce the O2 content of your water (to atmospheric levels). It may be that the ram is taking a little longer to acclimatize to the new CO2 levels. If your fish do not seem to be in real distress then I'd just observe for the time being for any significant changes. If you are really concerned then you could back off on the CO2 level then increase it over a longer period of time. Keep in mind that oxygen levels and CO2 levels are independent of each other.
 
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