Fish gasping for air!! please help!!!

[FishKeeper-16]

I have put in new mollies in my tank and it is a male and female sailfin breed and the female and several of my platys are gasping at the surface of the air and it looks like they are trying to reach for food when when not being fed. I have plenty of circulation and air stones in the tank. My filter is a bio wheel power filter.

 

[gonefishin]

lotsa fish do this, cories, loaches, goldfish, etc. I've not heard of these guys doing it, but I also didn't know loaches did untill I got one. nice ride BTW, wanna race an '83 datsun z sometime?

 

[TKOS]

Sounds like there is a spike in the cycle. If you have test kits do a check for ammonia or nitrite, probably nitrite as it blocks the gills ability to get oxygen to the blood.

If you don't have test kits do at least a 30% water change right away. Adding new fish can lead to a spike in ammonia and nitrite. Over feeding can as well. So for the next few days really cut back on the food.

 

[FishKeeper-16]

I tested my nitrites/nitrates, ammonia, and pH and all seems to be fine and I did my maintanence last night (replace filter, partial water change, pruning plants, ect.)

 

[Kasakato]

Replacing the filter media might of killed too much good bacteria and you might be going through a mini cycle. Id say test the water again. How much media did you take out?

 

[bortsamson]

well, no one has really asked the question, so I will
what are your "normal" levels?
what is the ammonia level?
nitrite?
and I doubt very much that its a bacteria loss. 90% of the bacteria live within the tank, not the filter. Prolly more then that.
anyways
so, mollies and other surface dwelling fish have upturned mouths and they can seem like they are gasping for air, so, the only real way to know if they are having trouble is, are they still moving around normally? are they semi vertical? as in trying to jump out?
see if this helps

 

[FishKeeper-16]

They swim okay and my male sailfin molly will swim with his dorsal fin clamped and will sometimes have it erect for a brief amount of time and I use qickdip test strips and the nitrates/nitrites are below 5ppm I think and it says my ammonia is safe and the pH is neutural. I have a marineland bio wheel filter that replaced my old regent aqua-tech power filter and has been running sice thursday and I also add a tiny bit doc wellfish aquarium salt to the water.

 

[emoore]

So you replaced the whole filter? That might be causing another cycle. Nitrate and Nitites are 2 different things. Some nitrate is ok but nitrite is toxic to fish. I would doing some water changes to get the nitrite down until your cycle is complete.

 

[FishKeeper-16]

But all of my tests are fine. Can I add about a 2 teaspoons of STRESS ZYME to the tank? My tank is a 29 g.

 

[butterflylove]

i aslo just replaced my filter, could be this harmful to the fish??? will i start my cycle over??