geophagus brasiliensis

[J9000RAMS]

One of my geophagus brasiliensis have been breathing kind of hard for about a week or so i move her to another tank and she hasnt stop doing it. I dont know what to do/

[imagirlgeek]

Is he hanging near the surface or around the filter intake?
Are his gills pumping open and kind of staying flared instead of closing between breaths?
Can you see his gills? If so, what color are they?

Have you added any additional aeration? Can you drop an air stone in there and see if the extra aeration helps?
Did anything happen that would have stressed this fish in the original tank?

[J9000RAMS]

yes he sometime hang around the surface but when i get close he swim away or hide.
he breath hard an hold it in for about a second , keep doing
im not at home to see what color his gills are but when i do i will let u know.

I havent add nothing and the other tank has a bigger filter on it.
no none of my other fish pick on it cause i bought it with a pair an the other one is doing fine just that one acting up

[imagirlgeek]

I'll be honest, heavy breathing is a pretty broad symptom. You'll see that in fish that are stressed, or that have a gill disease caused by parasites or bacterial infection, and even in illnesses not even related to the gills.

The first thing I would do is add some salt (aquarium salt or rock salt) to his tank. 1 tablespoon for every 5 gallons. The salt will help him breathe if it is, in fact, an issue with the gills. And if it isn't a problem targeting the gills, it won't hurt.

Here are some things to check when you get home....

1. Check to see if the gill cover is staying open, or if you can see anything (mucus or puss) on the gills.
2. Color of the gills. (red, pink, pale pink, white, or gray)
3. Are his pectoral fins clamped close to his body? This could be one fin or both fins. Keeping one pectoral fin clamped is a sign of gill problems.
4. Is he eating? If he IS eating, make sure he's not just taking the food in his mouth and then spitting it back out. If he's doing that, it's a sign of intestinal problems (parasites or bacterial infection in the gut).

Also, clean water does wonders for fish showing the initial signs of any disease or illness. So if you can start with clean water and some aquarium salt while we try and figure out what's going on, it'll help buy some time.

[J9000RAMS]

Ok i will let u know im do a 20% change on both of my tank an move him back in the bigger tank and if he still doing the samething i will go to the pet store get some aquarium salt or rock salt.

I havent seen him eat anything when i feed them...

[mark razmandi]

check for bloat.

[Mzungu]

+1 on everything imagirlgeek said.

Also, how long have you had the pair?

Do you have any test kits at home?

Nothing changed when you moved the fish to the other tank? I.e. It's still breathing hard? Did this start happening immediately after you brought it home, or after you'd had the fish a while, or after you'd done something different to the tank?

[Mzungu]

Also, be careful moving this fish back and forth between tanks. Not only will you stress him/her out, which will not help the healing process, but also, since we don't know what's going on yet, there's always the possibility of spreading something to other tanks.

[J9000RAMS]

how do i that...

[J9000RAMS]

I only change her once , havent done nothing to the tank when i bought it an put it in the tank she immediately breathing hard an stop for like 10 min then started it up again dont know why.

yeah I was gonna put her back her in the bigger tank once she calm down .
i had the pair for couple week an the other one is doing good.

[J9000RAMS]

Her gills is red.
Her fins are not clamp together

[LittlePetro]

i think try to add some aquarium salt, it helps most of the time.

[J9000RAMS]

Don't have none right now but I will get some....thanks

[imagirlgeek]

Her gills is red.
Her fins are not clamp together

That's really good. Red gills are healthy.

*Note: Pale gills are a sign of anemia which usually indicates internal organ failure/problems.

It's still a good idea to add some salt though. When you go get salt, take a water sample with you so the people at the LFS can test it for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Most places will do it for you for free.

[J9000RAMS]

Yeah thanks very much....do I need to changing the water before adding salt or after...

I probaly go to fish ranch to get the salt