Small Molly Gasping For Air?

[spazzinout53]

ok ive had my molly for a while in a 5 gallon tank, i no its to small for him, but hes still small

well for the past 2 days or so hes been gasping for air at the top of the tank
what should i do?

theres an oto and a few guppies in the tank with him

i just adjusted the ph to 7.0 and last time i got my water tested amonia nitrite and nitrate were finee

thanks for the help

 

[foxycatfish]

Hi what filter have you got in tank if any?

 

[edgelgil]

Your not getting enough disolved oxygen into the water with all them extra fish. Do you have live plants in the tank as well? They will help but not as fast as your other fish are depleating the oxygen count. Turn the air bubbler up and get a good layer of bubble going. It will help fold the water in the tank and actually get it moving with a medium roll over.
The sooner the better, he is the first and your others are soon to follow.

Maximo

 

[spazzinout53]

theres a marineland bioweel filter
yes there is a bubler
its a wisper one

 

[edgelgil]

You need to open it up and get some bubbles rolling. Is this bubbler on a stone or in a lift tube?

 

[spazzinout53]

its on an airstone, what do you mean i need to open it up? i think im going to move the airstone more to the middle of the aquarium then on the side like it is now during my next water change

 

[edgelgil]

OK, some people have their air stones regulated with a small needle valve. I would move it asap to the back side of the tank and get the bubles rolling. the sooner you get the water to fold and oxygen mixing in the water, the sooner your fish will survive this deficiency in your tank. If your fish is breathing real hard and comes to the surface often, say more then 2 times an hour. Or every few minutes, you might have domino effect in play and stand to loose your whole tank of fish. The more oxygen your fish use up, the sooner your fish might go belly up.
Just a word of caution.

 

[spazzinout53]

ohh ok sorry i didnt no you were asking for if i had a valve or not, i do so i took it off, wow now are there a lot of bubles or what, the mollys still hanging like around the top quarter of the tank but i think that hell go into different regions as the bubler works its magic

thanks so much edgelgill

 

[edgelgil]

It will take about couple hours for the tank to fold a few times and be back to near normal. Good you opened up the air flow. Also, you can add a water filter to your air feed before the tank. it will help filter impurities before it hits the tank. I use model R/C fuel cells and fill the cell 50% water, my feed line is all the way to the bottom and hte pick up is just inside the cell. These come with brass tubing and a expansion plug to seal the small tank. It is about $10 for a pint size poly fule cell, which is stronger then any soda bottle on the market. Good luck....Maximo

 

[spazzinout53]

ok sorry but now i have no clue what your talking about could you possibly send me a link of one of thes R/C fuel cells??i would really apriciate it