Right now I have 2 small oscar, 1 small arowana and 1 pleco in my 10g tank. My 2 oscar most of the time are floating on top of the water surface I'm not sure if their in need of an air pump/air stone thingy. Are they gasping for air? Right now I have everything but the air pump in the tank. Im gonna get a 65g tank soon and am going to moved them to that tank. My water seems a bit cloudy the food that I feed my oscars are pellets and sometimes they don't eat it all and some of'em get stuck on the filter. Some of the food they eat are turn to little ones and are now on the bottom of the tank I clean it yesterday but today it came back. Would I stress them out if I change the water alot? every couple of days when the food goes to the bottom. I dont have a testing kit so I cant tell you about the water result thing.
Would I Need An Air Pump/air Stone For Me Fish?
- Thread starter lchesterl
- Start date
dude get them into that 65g asap! do you know how overstocked that is? No wondering there gaping for air the waste produced by those two fish alone is way way way to much for that size tank, test the water i can pretty much garintee that the ammonia and nitrite are off the charts. If anything i'd add another powerfilter or canister filter to help cope with the bio-load.
PS your going to need a bigger tank then 65g just so you know. Arrowana end up need around a 400g tank and i'd guess the two oscars and pleco alone would atleast need a 110-120g but maybe someone esle can tell you for sure.
PS your going to need a bigger tank then 65g just so you know. Arrowana end up need around a 400g tank and i'd guess the two oscars and pleco alone would atleast need a 110-120g but maybe someone esle can tell you for sure.
xoedusk
Fishaholic
How small are you oscars and plecs? Just cute little things? Or 1/2 adult size?
How long have you had your tank? How long have the fish been in there?
They may be gasping for air due to high ammonia/nitrite, and/or low oxygen levels. Yes, an airstone set to high should help.
Do a 25% water change now. Do it daily until you can get a water testing kit. Make sure it can test pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate.
As for feeding, feed them much, much, much less than you are now. Just a couple of pellets at a time. Don't feed them if they are uninterested in the food. They should be all over that food. If pellets are sinking to the bottom and getting clogged in the filter, you are feeding too much. Cut down to one feeding per day.
How do you clean your tank. Do you have gravel on the bottom? Please purchase a gravel vac if you haven't already.
How long have you had your tank? How long have the fish been in there?
They may be gasping for air due to high ammonia/nitrite, and/or low oxygen levels. Yes, an airstone set to high should help.
Do a 25% water change now. Do it daily until you can get a water testing kit. Make sure it can test pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate.
As for feeding, feed them much, much, much less than you are now. Just a couple of pellets at a time. Don't feed them if they are uninterested in the food. They should be all over that food. If pellets are sinking to the bottom and getting clogged in the filter, you are feeding too much. Cut down to one feeding per day.
How do you clean your tank. Do you have gravel on the bottom? Please purchase a gravel vac if you haven't already.
Underwurlde
Always look on the bright side of life..
Yo,
I used to think that an airpump & airstone was used to increase the oxygenation levels in a tank - I thought of it as effectively increasing the surface area of the water in the tank that is in contact with air - hence more oxygenation.
However, a lot of other forum members then pointed out that the actual time taken for any given air bubble to reach the surface is far, far quicker than the time needed for any actual oxygen exchange (??) to take place and that then made a whole lot more sense to me!
Therefore what they were saying is that the only thing that these airpump / airstones is good for is to make the tank setup look pretty. Another point was that because the air bubbles disturb the surface of the water that this is not good to promote CO2 exchange so watch out if you have plants.
But what do I know? I am just reiterating what other far more experienced members have told me! I could be way wrong on this....
Andy
I used to think that an airpump & airstone was used to increase the oxygenation levels in a tank - I thought of it as effectively increasing the surface area of the water in the tank that is in contact with air - hence more oxygenation.
However, a lot of other forum members then pointed out that the actual time taken for any given air bubble to reach the surface is far, far quicker than the time needed for any actual oxygen exchange (??) to take place and that then made a whole lot more sense to me!
Therefore what they were saying is that the only thing that these airpump / airstones is good for is to make the tank setup look pretty. Another point was that because the air bubbles disturb the surface of the water that this is not good to promote CO2 exchange so watch out if you have plants.
But what do I know? I am just reiterating what other far more experienced members have told me! I could be way wrong on this....
Andy
Miss Wiggle
Practically perfect in every way
actually the best way to get oxygen into the water is through surface agitation, set your filter output so it breaks the surface of the water and makes waves, this will get plenty enough air in.
however as others have said that's far from the worst problem in this tank and is probably a symptom of the overcrowding and bad stocking.
you're gonna need a massive tank to keep all those fish, and soon too, the Oscars and plec will have outgrown the 65g by the time they're a year old so don't think that getting the 65 will buy you time to save up or whatever.
oscars shouldn't be kept in pairs unless they're a proven breeding pair, chances are once they start to get a little odler and towards sexual maturity they will turn on one another and one will end up being killed.
I would seriously advise you to take all your fish back to the fish store and do some more research before you buy anything else.
however as others have said that's far from the worst problem in this tank and is probably a symptom of the overcrowding and bad stocking.
you're gonna need a massive tank to keep all those fish, and soon too, the Oscars and plec will have outgrown the 65g by the time they're a year old so don't think that getting the 65 will buy you time to save up or whatever.
oscars shouldn't be kept in pairs unless they're a proven breeding pair, chances are once they start to get a little odler and towards sexual maturity they will turn on one another and one will end up being killed.
I would seriously advise you to take all your fish back to the fish store and do some more research before you buy anything else.
sorry to say guy but ten gallons isn't big enough, for any one of your fish now, never mind, all of them tomorrow! they are gasping coz they are on the edge of expiring.
joking aside you are killing these fish!!! follow Miss Wiggle's recommendation.
lol perhaps packing sardines into a tin, would be a better hobby for you! lol
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