# Gourami gasping for air HELP!!



## FishPerson6

Hi all. I have a 30 gallon tank with tiger barbs, silver dollars and a moonlight gourami. When I was doing my water change yesterday, afterwards I noticed my moonlight gourami gasping(opening and closing month and thrusting gills) I decided to leave it alone, but this morning I noticed him still doing it, but much harder and faster.( like 2-3 "gasps" per second).he is also trying to eat all my plants, not something I would normally see that particular fish doing. Most people would say this is an oxygen problem, but it is not because I have two large air stones in there and all of the other fish are fine. Water temp is 82 if that helps. PLEASE HELP I HATE SEEING THIS FISH SUFFER!!!!


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## chenowethpm

Does it go to the surface for air?


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## FishPerson6

chenowethpm said:


> Does it go to the surface for air?


I goes to the surface occasionally but other than that it is swimming around normally.


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## chenowethpm

Gouramis breath directly from the surface. One thing I do know about gouramis is that if they are kept with overly aggressive fish they can stress out and stop eating and hide in the corner. What are your water parameters for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?


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## FishPerson6

chenowethpm said:


> Gouramis breath directly from the surface. One thing I do know about gouramis is that if they are kept with overly aggressive fish they can stress out and stop eating and hide in the corner. What are your water parameters for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?


Parameters according to API master test kit: Ammonia: 10 ppm , Nitrite: 0 , Nitrate : 5ppm , pH : 6.5 (it has always been low I have no clue as to why)


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## coralbandit

If your ammonia is really 10ppm you need like a 99% waterchange again!
Have you tested your source water and are you sure your ammonia reading is correct?ALL YOUR FISH SHOULD BE DEAD LAST NIGHT?


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## FishPerson6

coralbandit said:


> If your ammonia is really 10ppm you need like a 99% waterchange again!
> Have you tested your source water and are you sure your ammonia reading is correct?ALL YOUR FISH SHOULD BE DEAD LAST NIGHT?


Oh crap, sorry, .10 ppm! My bad. LOL


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## FishPerson6

coralbandit said:


> If your ammonia is really 10ppm you need like a 99% waterchange again!
> Have you tested your source water and are you sure your ammonia reading is correct?ALL YOUR FISH SHOULD BE DEAD LAST NIGHT?


Yea I just checked again its .10ppm. Sorry to freak you out there, and you freaked me out a little too. Is .10 ppm still bad?


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## coralbandit

I would consider .10 to be a false positive reading.The API test are good but not exactly lab quality(none of our test are).So with 0 nitrItes and some nitrAtes I would roll with 0 for ammonia.
Are you sure you used dechlorinator on your waterchange.In the Spring many water suppliers add extra "stuff" to the water as all things within the water table are easily washed out into our supply water.


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## FishPerson6

coralbandit said:


> I would consider .10 to be a false positive reading.The API test are good but not exactly lab quality(none of our test are).So with 0 nitrItes and some nitrAtes I would roll with 0 for ammonia.
> Are you sure you used dechlorinator on your waterchange.In the Spring many water suppliers add extra "stuff" to the water as all things within the water table are easily washed out into our supply water.


 I did use dechlorinator actually i used API Stress Coat + which says it removes chlorine. Should i stop using this and just roll with normal water conditioner?


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## FishPerson6

coralbandit said:


> I would consider .10 to be a false positive reading.The API test are good but not exactly lab quality(none of our test are).So with 0 nitrItes and some nitrAtes I would roll with 0 for ammonia.
> Are you sure you used dechlorinator on your waterchange.In the Spring many water suppliers add extra "stuff" to the water as all things within the water table are easily washed out into our supply water.


And yes it is an established tank i have had it for 1.5 yrs incase anyone was wondering


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## coralbandit

Most here use Seachem Prime as it is the most economical choice over the long run and can deal with chlorine OR chloramine.Do you know what your water supplier treats with?The internet should offer any info you need to know if you know the name of your water supplier,they have to publish public test results I believe 2x a year.
Matt was correct on your gourami,they are labarynths and actually NEED to breath oxygen from the surface.
Fast gill movement and "rapid breathing" could be ammonia,chlorine,or a disease issue.Have you seen any of the fish "flash"(itch themselves or rub on things)?


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## FishPerson6

coralbandit said:


> Most here use Seachem Prime as it is the most economical choice over the long run and can deal with chlorine OR chloramine.Do you know what your water supplier treats with?The internet should offer any info you need to know if you know the name of your water supplier,they have to publish public test results I believe 2x a year.
> Matt was correct on your gourami,they are labarynths and actually NEED to breath oxygen from the surface.
> Fast gill movement and "rapid breathing" could be ammonia,chlorine,or a disease issue.Have you seen any of the fish "flash"(itch themselves or rub on things)?


I have not noticed fish rubbing on things, and like matt said, it is the only labyrinth fish i have so it must have something to do with that. And i highly doubt it is a disease because i have not added any fish in 6 + months and i am up to date on my water changes. i have no information on my water supplier's water quality or name. (i do not pay the bills)


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## FishPerson6

coralbandit said:


> Most here use Seachem Prime as it is the most economical choice over the long run and can deal with chlorine OR chloramine.


Thanks i just ordered Seachem Prime from their website.


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## FishPerson6

Does anyone else have any suggestions? thsnks *c/p*


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## hotwingz

How about behavior. Is it acting any different? Or is maybe are other fish acting different towards it? Stress can make a fish do this. Barbs can become less tolerant of other fish as they get bigger/older of there aren't enough of them in the tank.


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## FishPerson6

hotwingz said:


> How about behavior. Is it acting any different? Or is maybe are other fish acting different towards it? Stress can make a fish do this. Barbs can become less tolerant of other fish as they get bigger/older of there aren't enough of them in the tank.


This particular fish has always been a loner. Meaning it has never participated in the chasing/ nipping that the tiger barbs and silver dollars and danios do. It does not get picked on, but it does not pick on the other fish either, as if it is not even included in the pecking order. One strange behavior that it is doing is nipping/ trying to eat my fake plants. I have never witnessed this fish doing that until today. And all of this started after a water change yesterday and it was fine before that and I have not gotten any additions. Strange right?


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## hotwingz

Well fish will nip at fake plants sometimes if there's algae on them. So that doesn't strike me as odd. And a fish doesn't have to decide to be apart of getting chased, the other fish will decide that for them! What kind of hiding places does he have? Stress will do strange things.


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## FishPerson6

hotwingz said:


> Well fish will nip at fake plants sometimes if there's algae on them. So that doesn't strike me as odd. And a fish doesn't have to decide to be apart of getting chased, the other fish will decide that for them! What kind of hiding places does he have? Stress will do strange things.


Well i have a hollow ceramic driftwood type object with holes in it. that is the centerpiece. Then i have 5 fake plants scattered around the tank. Seems like enough hiding places to me. Plus, i have a very old diamond tetra (about three years) and he gets bullied by the tiger barbs then he goes and hides inside my structure. Hope this helps!

Also, i plan to get live plants some time in the near future, so maybe that would provide more sufficient hiding places if that is the issue.


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## hotwingz

How many tiger barbs do you have?


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## FishPerson6

hotwingz said:


> How many tiger barbs do you have?


I currently have 5 tiger barbs. 3 orange stripy ones and 2 green ones.


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## FishPerson6

hotwingz said:


> How many tiger barbs do you have?


5 
Should I get more? I had three die shortly after I got them


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## hotwingz

I would pick one certain color and get a minimum of 5-7 total. I have all three color morphs in one of my tanks and they do not like each other much.


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## FishPerson6

hotwingz said:


> I would pick one certain color and get a minimum of 5-7 total. I have all three color morphs in one of my tanks and they do not like each other much.


Yea I might get a few more. I will get the normal kind next time. My two colors get along fine though


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## hotwingz

Ya a few more barbs and maybe a few more plants. Cluster them together a little bit. And they like to hide close to the top so even a floating plant or something tall.


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## FishPerson6

hotwingz said:


> Ya a few more barbs and maybe a few more plants. Cluster them together a little bit. And they like to hide close to the top so even a floating plant or something tall.


Ey I was planning to get plants but I just found out that silver dollars will eat pretty much any plants  are there any plants that they will not eat if you have ever experimented?


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## coralbandit

Java fern are a low requirement plant that has tough leaves and supposedly does not taste good to fish.


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## FishPerson6

coralbandit said:


> Java fern are a low requirement plant that has tough leaves and supposedly does not taste good to fish.


So my seachem prime came in the mail today. Added it to the tank and my gourami stopped gasping within a few hours. Don't know why, but it isn't gasping anymore so yay:fish-in-a-bag:


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