Gasping for air, wah

H

hineigger

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Apr 23, 2003
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Tank = 125g.

Plants are sparse, tank only 3 weeks old. Added 3 very small goldfish a few days ago as cycle/test fish. Oops! Did I say test fish?? :)

They are doing well, very fat and active.

Anyways Im using the Hagen co2 thing with a bell system. There is very little surface agitation, if any at all. Once again, the tank is very sparse in plants.

Fish are ok during day. But in the morning after the whole night they are gasping for air.

I realize this is probably because... Who knows. Not enough plants to make good o2.

So how do I fix this? Theres so many damn tradeoffs in this hobby. If I increase surface agitation then I lose co2...

Is my only fix to add more plants or something??
 
Well, if there's so much CO2 that the fish are gasping, then it's way more than enough for a few plants. You didn't mention if you've measured your CO2 concentrations. You do this by measuring KH and pH, and reading the CO2 conc. off a chart such as at the Krib: http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/kh-ph-co2-chart.html Your CO2 concentration shouldn't be higher than 30 or 40 ppm, this is plenty for plants and okay for fish. Most people keep it in the 20-30ppm range.

I realize you have a huge tank, but your best bet is still to get tons more plants. Just get a lot of cheap ones, you can get rid of them later. Cheap ones are always the best growers. You're more likely to avoid algae problems if you have a lot of plants.

For now, I would suggest increasing surface agitation. You don't need so much CO2.
 
Thanks,

Ill go get the testing supplies today for those tests.

I doubt I have to much co2 though, because this little hagen thing isnt made for a bigger tank.... But you never know, since I am using a bell and everything...

Ill get some tests and plants
 
Keep in mind that at night the plants are no longer producing O2, but are consuming it just like the fish. You could have a small powerhead set up on a timer, so that it generated a small amount of surface agitation just at night. You'd still lose some CO2, but it doesn't sound like that's a limiting factor in your tank right now.
 
I hate to say it, but you really are kidding yourself with that Hagen CO2 system. It won't produce nearly enough CO2 to make a difference in your tank. I have 2 operating on my 20 gallon (with an active reactor!!! and powerhead) and max out at around 30ppm CO2 (perfect :) )

The main thing you need to decide is whether you want a planted tank or a tank with a couple plants. There is a difference! You will not need to add additional CO2 to a sparsely planted tank. It's wasted! If you want lush greenery and nice plants. Get a pressurized system for your size tank. Otherwise, just save the Nutrafin CO2 system for another smaller tank.
 
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