Another Q - Rapid Breathing

minigod · Post by **minigod** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:56 pm

theres a zebra up against the side of the tank and it seems to be breath very quickly....his gills are almost a blur.

NeoCult · Post by **NeoCult** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:57 pm

to me that aint a good sign, have you tested your water??

minigod · Post by **minigod** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:59 pm

not yet but was thinking of doing it.

NeoCult · Post by **NeoCult** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:00 pm

id do it now just incase, then get water changing etc if the nitrite/nitrate/ammonia levels are high

minigod · Post by **minigod** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:08 pm

ph - 6.8
ammonia - 0.25
nitrite - 0.25
nitrate - 0

NeoCult · Post by **NeoCult** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:10 pm

hmmmm dunno then, id do a 10% water change just to get them all back to 0 etc, hows the other fish in the tank doing?

minigod · Post by **minigod** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:13 pm

they seem fine. i have a fighter, molly, danios, tetra and a red tailed shark and they dont seem to be too bad.

minigod · Post by **minigod** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:17 pm

ive added a long airstone to try bring up oxygen levels and i'll just go out to the shed to get my siphon and bucket.

minigod · Post by **minigod** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:31 pm

right, so i have changed 10% of the water, aggitated the sand and added a long airstone, hopefully this should help.

my substrate is made up of 2-3cm of gravel with sand on top about 3cm. how often do you think i should aggitate the sand so not to get gas pockets?

looking at my older. bigger male he doesnt seem to be breathing so rapidly but my younger, smaller ones are.

NeoCult · Post by **NeoCult** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:34 pm

re substrate i do mine once or twice a week and have no probs

has the zeb got plenty places to hide etc also? maybe they have been scared off by the male?

put the tank light out also to try and calm it

minigod · Post by **minigod** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:38 pm

ok i'll keep that in mind about substrate. only did it yesterday but thought i'd do it again.

as for places to hide there is plenty.

*lights out* *nighty night lil zebs*

NeoCult · Post by **NeoCult** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 10:47 pm

good luck n let us know how it goes

husky_jim · Post by **husky_jim** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 12:53 am

minigod wrote:ph - 6.8
ammonia - 0.25
nitrite - 0.25
nitrate - 0

Ammonia and Nitrite without Nitrate means an uncycled aquarium......do something about it and do it quick as zebras do not like bad water conditions...

Post by **Barbie** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:23 am

Definitely agree there. Your nitrites would be 0 in an established aquarium. 0 nitrates means the biological filtration isn't working. If you have a second tank, swap filter media into the zebra tank after a 50% water change. DO NOT FEED THEM! Right now their worst enemy will be more waste in the water. If you have access to biospira, that would also work. This is definitely an emergency!

Barbie

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 10:03 am

I'll give my 2 cents here too, even though the problem is already identified. Zebras handle Nitrites and ammonia very poorly. Any ammount of Nitrites will soon give the fish a Baryancistrus looking tail, it's eating away their fins at the smallest amount, and you could easily loose the fish with water conditions like you have now.

A fully cycled tank is a must for the Zebra, they should never be in a tank during the cycling process.