Fish Gulping Air

[saph.st24]

hi p4ddy
keep an eye on him

but i would put a bit of extra air in your tank anyway, if you have to treat with medications extra air is recommened as treatments knock the disssolved oxygen levels down

They dont have to be struggling to breath to be oxygen deprived just hanging around/under surface of filter/waterfall return, dissolved oxygen levels can change within hours not days like ammonia or nitrites,


you should really test water weekly.
I agree with wilder invest in your own water test kit theres lots around and some work better then others.
so look at recommended kits by other pond/tank keepers you will need... ammonia,chlorine and chloramine, nitrite, nitrate, oxygen and ph,
you can buy these seperate or as a kit
this is the one i have and yes i use it on the pond and my tank, hopefully others members will recommend some others test kits

 

[Colin_T]

Goldfish are greedy buggers and will often hang around the surface looking for more food. If you wave your hand above the tank the fish will often come up and start gulping at the surface (looking for more to eat). When they are well fed they often grub about on the bottom, again looking for more food.

Goldfish are primarily vegetarians and do well when fed plant matter on a daily basis. If they don’t get enough plant/ vegetable matter in their diet, they will eat aquarium plants. This is good for them and should not be discouraged.
You can offer various fruits and veges to the fish and this will reduce the number of aquarium plants they eat. Many people use pumpkin, zucchini, carrot, peas, apple, etc. You can feed them most things but avoid onions and potatoes.

If the tank has plenty of oxygen then it is probably the fish is simply looking for more to eat. However I would try increasing surface turbulence (as suggested by saph) and see if that helps. Bigger older fish will succumb to oxygen depravation well before smaller fish do.

If you increase the surface turbulence and the fish still gasps regularly, then it could have gill flukes or another problem. Perhaps try treating the tank for intestinal worms and gill flukes, (Flubenol) will usually do both. Then see how the fish looks after that.

To work out the volume of water in the tank
measure Length x Width x Height in cm
divide by 1000
equals volume in litres

When measuring the height, measure from the top of the gravel to the top of the water level. If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove them before measuring the height.

Before you treat the tank do a 50% water change and complete gravel clean. This will reduce the gunk in the tank and allow the medication to work more effectively. It will also lower the pathogen count in the water and mean there are less nasties around to infect the fish.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating otherwise it will absorb the medication out of the water.

 

[p4ddy]

Not been on for a while. He still does it & his poo is still clear. We do a 30% water change every 2 weeks including a full gravel clean (although the wife just said it was after 3-4wks without a change that this started). We have a nitrate kit which always shows it's clear. It's a Juwel Rio 400 so it's a big tank. It has the matching Filter system plus a Tetra 400ltr bubbler. The water flow is good & circling the tank. He's definatley NOT looking for food as he's predominantly a bottom feeder (more so because he's a bit stupid & doesn't seemed to understand he can eat live food aswell). We've just got some Interpet Anti Internal Bacteria treatment to try but i've not put it in yet as it say's to remove the carbon & the zeolite media from the filter??? Now i assume they mean the black carbon sponge on the top but what's the zeolite media?? All i know is we have 2 blue fine, 2 blue coarse, a black carbon & a white thin polypad.

 

[WILDER]

Is the fish still eating.
Does he look bloated or skinny.

Remove the black coarse sponges from the filer that black carbon.
Zeolite another type of black carbon.

 

[saph.st24]

p4ddy

how long has the black filter media/activated carbon block been in the filter ? as it only active for a few months and should be replaced

the reason they say remove activated carbon is because it removes the medication from the water so remove the black stuff leave the other media in place

is your filter built in or is it an external filter?

 

[p4ddy]

I've just noticed that the carbon sponge has gone 8wks. I've just changed it & will see what happens over the next few days. Yes they are all eating. Another thing he's doing is when he goes & takes air he shakes his head sharply like a jerk. It's like maybe he's trying to dislodge or shake of something?? we cannot see any obstructios in his mouth or gills?? Also i'm a bit worried about that anti bacterial treatment as it say's ensure maximum aireation during treatment. Well how much more aireation can i give them other than the filter & a 400ltr bubbler??

 

[saph.st24]

p4ddy
youve got the extra air going in
what it means is that pond/ tanks with only the filter return as aireation need extra air
head shaking can mean somethings stuck
but head shaking is also sign of gill parasites or gill flukes and its attempting to rid its gills of them but to confirm this you will need to get a scrape done
have you tried a salt bath on the fish


you will need a bucket full of tank water then add the salt 1oz per uk gall for up to 30 minutes no longer for 2-3 days . (only use aquatic salt or rock/sea salt as these dont have anti-caking agents in which are harmful to fish)
the fish may roll on its side if this happens put it straight back into the tank