# weird fish breathing



## micus (Jan 7, 2004)

ok, my fish had this weird ass whit splotch on his eye, i decided to treat the tank with salt, i did the usual 1 tblsp per 5 gallons, and it did NOTHING

so i went out the next day and bought melafix to treat the tank with since i couldnt stand lookin at this p's splotchy eye,

before adding melafix i did a 25% water change and dosed the tank with 1 tsp per 10 gallons, its a 75 gallon tank, so i have been adding 8 tsp's a day since basically that is what is suggested on the back of the bottle, now im not done my dosing yet and still have 2 days left in the week before i have to do the water change,

now since i got this tank i have noticed taht my piranhas gills have been workin a lil harder then i have been used to, i think this is because before i had ac 500 and emp 400 filters which distrubred the surface alot more makin much more oxygen in the water, and now the tank i have now has a fluval 404 which disturbs the surface about 0,

ok so i come home tonight from the restaurant and find my fish's gills pumpin like MAD and they are all at the top of the tank with theyr mouths partiallly out of the water, i was like ahhh my babies, so i turned on the powerhead with the bubbler and it seems to of worked,

the snorkle bubbler on the powerhead is noisey so i turned it and the powehead off since i figured taht they had had enough oxygen to last them, but i come back and check the tank and they are doin the same damn thing at the top of the tank, with the mouths out of the water, gills pumpin,

so can someon tell me wuts up wtih the fish, what is wrong with there breathing im kinda worried ill wake up and find all my p's dead and flaotin around at the top of the tank, ahhh,


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## SiameseDream (Sep 7, 2003)

> the snorkle bubbler on the powerhead is noisey so i turned it and the powehead off since i figured taht they had had enough oxygen to last them, but i come back and check the tank and they are doin the same damn thing at the top of the tank, with the mouths out of the water, gills pumpin,


The problem is that. 5 6" reds are going to use up alot of oxygen pretty quick in that size tank. Go out and buy an aerator tomorrow, while leaving the powerhead on until you get it, unless youd rather have dead fish instead of noise







. I have 6 caribe in my 75 but I also have a power head, aerator and 2 filters to stir up the water for plenty of oxygen.


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## zygapophysis (Jul 16, 2004)

well, id add a little less salt to begin with, maybe like a tablespoon per every 8 just my opinoin, id do a water change, immediatly like 25% caues they are trying to get oxygen, throw soe bubblers in there to add extra oxygen


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

It's the melafix. Turn the powerhead back on near the surface first of all. Second of all, lower your temperature about 2 or 3 degrees as cooler water holds more oxygen. Should be fine from there as it's likely the meds and not the salt causing your low oxygen levels. I just recently put 18 tbsp of salt in my 40 gallon and the well stocked community tank is having no oxygen troubles because salt doesn't really lower levels THAT much. It's def a combination of turning off your powerhead and the meds.


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