I tried doing a search and couldn't find the answer I was looking for. I cleaned the tank yesterday and this morning I found all my fish gasping for air. They all either hover together at the top of the tank or at the bottom and all breathing really hard.
I'm thinking that there just isn't enough oxygen in the water. What can I do?
do you have any kind of bubble mechanism? if you don't, i would recommend getting a bubble disc of some sort. it helps oxyegnate the water and it's a nice asthetic addition to your tank. what are your water parameters? high nitrites can cause gill damage. also, how did you clean the tank?
What kind of filter are you using? What is the temperature of the aquarium? If it is a HOB then try removing some water so that it creates more disturbance of the water surface this will allow more oxygen to be absorbed.
I don't have any test kits so I have no idea what the water parameters are. I have a bubbler in the tank, but last night it wasn't working right so I took it off and have just the tube in there now pushing more bubbles in the water. My 12 year old was over feeding the fish and my gravel cleaner wasn't able to keep up so I tore the tank down and started over. I used Ammonia Clear, Aquarium Salt, PH regulater, and a small dab of Wardley's Chlor Out since the Ammonia Clear is also a water conditioner.
I have a Aqua Tech 5-15 power filter. The water temp is 78 degrees. The tank is full of water so I will reduce it some.
I would stop adding the salt and the and the pH regulator. There is no need to add these. It sounds like you will have to get the cycle going in the aquarium again. Do a 50% water change and use the ammonia clear. I would recommend using Prime in the future in place of this. The best thing you can do at this point is try to find a store that sells Bio-Spira and add it to the aquarium. You are also going to have to buy a test kit if you want these fish to live. You should also consider getting a better filter for your aquarium. Get that test kit and let us know the NH3, NO2, NO3 results. Good luck!
i agree with homer santa man. you need to test that tank from time to time. try doing it weekly. you're going to need those basic test kits.
also, do not use pH regulator. I know it sounds like a great idea and the packaging looks like its a wonderful product. it is not. it's crap. your fish will adapt to your water chemistry from your tap better then those regulators. even if your tap pH isn't close to what your fish live in the wild at, its ok and they will more then likely be fine. those pH balance additives are way more trouble then helpful in my opinion.
another note, you may want to lower your temperature a little bit, to say 76 degrees or 75. the lower the temperature, the more oxygen in the water.
i recommend a water change too. also tearing down your tank to start over is prolly the worst thing you can do. it kills all your bacteria that help your fish stay healthy. also try not to overfeed. its a surefire polluter of your tank.
you should stop adding all of the salt and pH regulator as H3D said, as they are only going to mess up your aquarium and the pH regulator is gong to make the pH in the tank fluctuate and stress the fish. you should go out and get a test kit so you can test the water of your tanke very day. your fish are most likely handing around the top of the tank because they cannot get enough oxygen from the water because the ammoina in your tank is so high.
