# My friend needs help with his 90. Fish are all breathing at surface



## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

All the fish in his African cichlid tank are acting like theres no air in the water, but you can clearly see the bubbler working on the right. Whats going on???


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

anyone have any ideas


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

My friend said he took out 15 gallons and replaced 10 gallons, and the fish have been doing this since last night at approx 10pm


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

Check water parameters. Could be a nitrate problem, But likely to do with lack of air. Does the tank have an oily film on top of the water? If it has an oily film, Its an issue with air exchange.


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

AWW said:


> Check water parameters. Could be a nitrate problem, But likely to do with lack of air. Does the tank have an oily film on top of the water? If it has an oily film, Its an issue with air exchange.


Negative on the oily surface


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## mikebike (Sep 8, 2010)

I'd try increasing the air/ more airstones


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## Korya (Jun 21, 2013)

Did your friend maybe forget to add water conditioner? Since this started after the water change?

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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

what kind of hatchet fish are those?


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Looks like not enough aeration. Get a powerhead to direct to surface of water or add a few more airstones.

Afterwhich, check the water parameters especially PH.

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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

Could be too much chlorine in the water, could also be too much ammonia in the water although that wouldnt make too much sense with a recent water change


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

nigerian prince said:


> what kind of hatchet fish are those?


They're all african cichlids with 2 oscars and a JD


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

Steve said:


> Could be too much chlorine in the water, could also be too much ammonia in the water although that wouldnt make too much sense with a recent water change


that seems strange because everything has been fine for over a year and all of a sudden when Im visiting I notice all his fish breathing at the surface. He did the -15 +10 change this morning, after this all began


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

first thing first, do a water testing. check out the water parameter. Air bubbles do not mean O2 in your tank. Gas exchange happens when there is surface moment.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

If i may add, it looks like there is only 1 filter in there, possibly a xp3 or 4? There isnt much water moment either. The tank is way overstock with the type of filtration and water condition as is now. Do a water testing, maybe clean out the filter if it hasnt been clean for a while and see if the condition improve.


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## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

+1 on water testing. My guesses for most likely culprits are pH and temperature, swings in those can cause that behavior. Nitrogenous wastes are a less likely culprit, but I don't know your friend's maintenance regime.

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## mrbob (Aug 9, 2012)

major w/c right away this happened to me nitrate ammonia 75% w/c then 50% w/c everyday until water parameters are better! vacuum gravel when he does w/c!! conditioner for sure??


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

First thing id do is add an air pump and air stone. Check water parameters and do another water change. Usually fish gasping at the surface is low oxygen levels from not enough surface agitation as mentioned by others


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

I would change water big time (75%) right away. Nitrite, ammonia and those kind of things can cause this because it takes away the fish's ability to absorb oxygen through their gills. Thier gilles may look very red too if that is the case. At high pH ammonia is more potent.


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

charles said:


> If i may add, it looks like there is only 1 filter in there, possibly a xp3 or 4? There isnt much water moment either. The tank is way overstock with the type of filtration and water condition as is now. Do a water testing, maybe clean out the filter if it hasnt been clean for a while and see if the condition improve.


Its a fluval 404


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

we can all keep guessing here but without water test results its just still guessing. if he doesnt have any more airpump or any powerhead on hand try doing another w/c and then lower the water level so the output on the filter is above waterlevel so it can mix oxygen from the atmosphere into the tank water creating a current. also try and raise the airstone closer to the very top of the water level so the bubbles agitate the surface as much as possible


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

That filter is too small


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

A fluval 404 can handle a 90.


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

Update: he did a 75% water change and changed the filter in the fluval 404. The fish are all happy now

Thanks for all the advice, im sure the fish are grateful


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## nigerian prince (Mar 8, 2013)

was it the nitrates?


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Actually a Fluval 404 based on specs can handle a 100g BUT that all depends on how it is stocked and I believe there was a couple previous comments about the tank being over stocked, so that Fluval 404... is to small for your bio-load regardless of size of tank.


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

nigerian prince said:


> was it the nitrates?


we'll never know, he doesnt have any testing equipment.


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

kacairns said:


> Actually a Fluval 404 based on specs can handle a 100g BUT that all depends on how it is stocked and I believe there was a couple previous comments about the tank being over stocked, so that Fluval 404... is to small for your bio-load regardless of size of tank.


Maybe you should go back and read whose tank it is. and stop replying in my threads. forever. 

Your opinions are neither welcome nor needed


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## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

Seems like a nitrate/nitrite issue. That 75% water change cut them down a lot but I bet they are still high. I would continue to do a daily 50% water change until you can get the nitrates down below 20ppm. Seriously though, IMO your fish might be fine but I am willing to bet if it was a nitrate issue your nitrates are still very high. It takes some seriously high nitrates to make your fish do what they were doing.

So you are running 2 filters on the tank now? Was surface agitation considerably improved? Without water tests no sure way to know what was the cause... still think it was high nitrates based on the fact you mentioned this exact setting up was running for over a year without issues.

Did you ever test the water? What were your findings?


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

mikeross said:


> Seems like a nitrate/nitrite issue. That 75% water change cut them down a lot but I bet they are still high. I would continue to do a daily 50% water change until you can get the nitrates down below 20ppm. Seriously though, IMO your fish might be fine but I am willing to bet if it was a nitrate issue your nitrates are still very high. It takes some seriously high nitrates to make your fish do what they were doing.
> 
> So you are running 2 filters on the tank now? Was surface agitation considerably improved? Without water tests no sure way to know what was the cause... still think it was high nitrates based on the fact you mentioned this exact setting up was running for over a year without issues.
> 
> Did you ever test the water? What were your findings?


I will pass along your suggestions. unfortunately I cannot answer your questions because its not my tank and I have no idea what he did other than the water change and filter change.

I asked for an updated pic for this thread which he sent to show those whose suggestions were followed


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Everybody is just trying to help. 
I had my 72g over stocked but looked beautiful, I had xp3 running which wasn't really enough but I did water changes every 2 weeks so it worked out good. That's why they are commenting this things cause is part of finding out what the problem is.


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

Theres only one persons advice Im not interested in. Everyone elses advice is welcome!


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Wow.... People try and offer suggestions/help to you, so you can pass it onto your friend and you need to come back as a ***** about it... Sorry to hear that you don't want to take the advice of others such as Steve and Charles since what I said was just restating what others had said and added to it in a attempt to educate someone who clearly has a large ego and obviously no knowledge.

The blind leading the blind seems like a wonderful idea...


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## Fire_eel (Aug 12, 2013)

kacairns said:


> Wow.... People try and offer suggestions/help to you, so you can pass it onto your friend and you need to come back as a ***** about it... Sorry to hear that you don't want to take the advice of others such as Steve and Charles since what I said was just restating what others had said and added to it in a attempt to educate someone who clearly has a large ego and obviously no knowledge.
> 
> The blind leading the blind seems like a wonderful idea...


Maybe you cant read, but everyone elses opinion is more than welcome.

YOURS ISNT. NOW BUZZ OFF


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

You remind me of someone.... <--- not a opinion but a statement. Is that allowed oh holy internet god?


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

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