Rapid breathing and gasping for air

[oldschoolculture]

Hey guys,

i have a few problems with my discus. They are all breathing rapidly. One in particular, whom i assume is somewhat of a runt is breathing the heaviest and gasping for air. I have done a 50% water change. Water parameters are as follows:

nitrates - 0 (not happy with that as tank has been running for 3 months now)
ammonia - 0.5
Ph - 6.2
Gh and kh - normal

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[kalebjarrod]

whats the temp?

and do you run an airstone?

[Merrilyn]

Hi OSC. Something is definately not adding up there. That ammonia reading, was that before or after the 50% water change. Same with the nitrate reading. You should have some nitrates, even with a water change.

Rapid breathing can be caused by lots of things, including a high ammonia reading, lack of oxygen in the water (do you run extra airstones) velvet or gill flukes, to name a few.

Give me as much information about your tank as you can, and we'll see if we can work it out.

[oldschoolculture]

Hi,

bad news. The runt died during the night. I am running an airstone. Temp is 30. My tank is planted, using pool filter sand as substrate. LR the nitrate reading was 0 after i did the water change. I am completely lost as to why she died, and why the others are breathing so quickly.

Helpppppp

[AdelaideAnt]

I'd say it is ammonia, and it has probably done the damage already. It could also be that your temperature is too high, 30 is usually fine but the higher the temperature the less oxygen in the water.

It could have even been a shift in PH that caused your problem. You say your ph and Gh are normal but what is normal? If your ph is 6.2 id say that your water is very soft there fore your tank is susceptabel to both a sudden drop in ph and an ammonia spike. No ammonia should be detectable. If i were you id buy some Ammolock, it's a product that detoxifies ammonia and works!! it doesn't solve your problem but should help.

[oldschoolculture]

Yup...i do use ammolock all the time. Also my ph is 6.4 from the tap. Usually drops to 6.2 after a day or so

[AdelaideAnt]

wow 6.4 from the tap??? In Adelaide the ph is sometimes up to 7.6.

Anthony

[Merrilyn]

If you're using a product like Ammolock, you will still register a reading of ammonia in the tank, but it will not harm the fish.

How long have you had these fish, and have you recently added any new fish to the tank.

Have a look at the breathing of the fish. Are they breathing from one gill only at a time, with the other gill clamped shut. Are any of them flicking against objects in the tank. This could mean gill flukes.

The second guess is velvet, which can also affect the fish and cause rapid breathing. It is very difficult to see on Discus, I suspect because of their particular type of slime coat.. There is an excellent article on the treatment of Velvet by Andrew Soh at the top of this forum.

[jim from sydney]

Yup...i do use ammolock all the time. Also my ph is 6.4 from the tap. Usually drops to 6.2 after a day or so

heavens above where do you live...6.4 from the tap is a crazy level for human consumption...are you sure????

[oldschoolculture]

Yup...........positive mate

[jim from sydney]

where do you live???

[oldschoolculture]

north melbourne

[jim from sydney]

since all the advice....is it any better?????keep in touch....good luck..Jim

[oldschoolculture]

Hey,

thanks for all the adv. Everything has settled down. I have added another filter for a bit more circulation and 02. All discus are happy........well except for the dead one. :oops:

Thanks

[jim from sydney]

good news...well done