# Fish Gulping Air- What to check for?



## greenseaships (Nov 2, 2013)

Hi all. For a while, I've seen my pearl gourami occasionally take a gulp of air from time to time from the surface, and I read that it is normal among gouramis.

However, from today, I observed my red swordtail gulping air for a LONG TIME. Now I'm genuinely worried about the condition of the water. 

What should I be checking for? And how to correct it as quickly as possible?

The filter is more than adequate for the size of the tank (29 gallons) and the filter bag was changed 2-3 weeks ago.

PH is about 8.0 which is within the comfort zone of the swordtail according to liveaquaria.com. I don't know how to check for nitrates, nitrites or how to treat that. 

Any other ideas?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Don't know how to check for nitrites or nitrates? Easy..get a liquid test kit and throw away the strips if you have them. They are useless.

A general rule of thumb and easy thing to do when you believe something may be up in your tank is to do a 50% water change (dechlor added). No matter what it is it is unlikely that you will be able to add something to "fix" it. Those things just don't exist. A water change is nearly all you can do in every situation once the water is or appears not good for your fish. Once that is done you can figure out what is causing the issue. In the meantime your fish can start to recover from whatever the problem is.

What are your general maintenance practices? Water changes, frequency/%...?


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## greenseaships (Nov 2, 2013)

jrman83 said:


> Don't know how to check for nitrites or nitrates? Easy..get a liquid test kit and throw away the strips if you have them. They are useless.
> 
> A general rule of thumb and easy thing to do when you believe something may be up in your tank is to do a 50% water change (dechlor added). No matter what it is it is unlikely that you will be able to add something to "fix" it. Those things just don't exist. A water change is nearly all you can do in every situation once the water is or appears not good for your fish. Once that is done you can figure out what is causing the issue. In the meantime your fish can start to recover from whatever the problem is.
> 
> What are your general maintenance practices? Water changes, frequency/%...?


Thanks! Water was changed about 3 weeks ago. It was about a 75% change. I wouldn't have thought it needed a change again so soon, but what you say makes sense and I'll give the tank a 50% change as soon as I can. 

I should add that there are plenty of fish in this tank, but the sword is the only one I see gulping air. Aside from the gourami doing his thing.


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## Marshall (Jul 8, 2013)

most of us do around 50% change every week,

How many fish are in the tank?


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## vreugy (May 1, 2013)

Water should be changed a minimum of once a week at 50% to 75%. Smaller changes are almost useless. And very large changes farther apart only shock the fish. The liquid test kit is the best. Strips are notorious for being inaccurate. Also, don't change your filter media until it is falling apart. Only rinse it in the water you take out of the tank and only when it isn't letting enough water thru. Don't forget the dechlorinator if you are on city water. I guess not changing water often enough would be like living in a room sealed off from everything. We wouldn't last for three weeks. Good Luck


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

How many fish are in this 29g tank?


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## greenseaships (Nov 2, 2013)

Marshall said:


> most of us do around 50% change every week,
> 
> How many fish are in the tank?


There are 5 red eye tetras, a school of 7 panda cories, a pearl gourami, red mouse platy and the swordtail.

This is the first time I've read about doing water changes that often.

I do notice that the swordtail hasn't been gulping air today. Maybe someone farted in the tank yesterday? :fish9:


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

You are pushing it for tank size vs number of fish. Given that, I think your normal practice should be 50% weekly. I would be very surprised if your nitrates weren't pretty high in the tank and with that many fish you really should invest in a liquid test kit to keep track of it. You can let the reading dictate how much water to change. Long term exposure to high nitrates can cause fish deaths, sterilization, etc.

I do 50+ weekly in my 5 tanks and 3 of them are 75g or higher. Small tanks like yours take 10min to do a 50% change.


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