PLEASE HELP Fish Gasping for air

[finfan]

hi guys, i've had my 65gallon heavily planted tank for 7+ months now without any real problem, i usually change 30% to 50% water every 1 or 2 weeks,

• about 2 weeks ago when i did a water change at night and went to sleep, when i got up in the morning the fish were vigorously gasping for air,
• i quickly did a 50% water change and that pretty much took care of the problem, that was the first time i have ever had this problem,
• i did not change anything about the water change, i used prime and excel in recommended doses just like i have been in this tank since i set it up 7 months ago and nothing about the process was changed, when i did the 50% water change the next day i did not use excel just used prime
• last night i did a 45% water change and right after the change the fish started gasping for air, i immediately did another 50% water change and they seemed to be settled
• this morning i wake up and they are all gasping again, i tested and the ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are all fine, so i think maybe prime bottle has gone bad, so i run get a new bottle, i just dumped dosage for all 65gallon and it has gotten better, but some fish are still gasping
• i am very puzzled why this is happening? its an ADA120p, so it is open top, lots of oxygen on the surface, there is also an airbubble going
• is there a way to see the oxygen level of the water from my tap?
• what else can i test for?
• i am now scared to do a water change again next week
• PLEASE HELP

[finfan]

btw, i live in the galleria area san felipe/fountainview area, just in case anyone around here had tap water issues

[ImaGuyGeek]

Couple of questions.
What kind and how many fish?
Are there any power heads or surface agitation?

[jeebus]

Immediately I think there's something up with the water source. Maybe the city added a little too much chemical..

[jeff]

i agree w/ jeebus. if the city works on a water line they amp up the chems.

[CichlidFan]

I'm very concerned about city water and the amount of chemicals they use.

I have air sponges and power sponges in all my tanks to suppliment the oxygen content, if you don't have either, consider adding one or both.

CF

[finfan]

thanks guys, i also think its the water, i just wish i could confirm that, after i applied a full dose of prime for the entire tank, it looks like they have all settled down now, i am thinking its either the water or my old prime, i will just use double dose of prime next time i change water and see what happens

[fishlady]

in my humble opinion i would venture to say if you have a container that you can fill up and treat the water a few days before you do the water change i would do that until your tap water settles down from the new chemical boost they gave it....i had to do that here in cypress due to a chlorine boost they did on the city water here.....it worked though....i used a powerhead to get the water into my tanks using a python without the hardware on it....

[finfan]

i would love to do the hold/treat water in container before putting in tank, i think that is the best way, but space is very limited where i am and so unfortunately i don't have anything that can hold 25 or so gallon for a few days before i do water change, i guess i could always use the bathtub lol

[fishlady]

i would love to do the hold/treat water in container before putting in tank, i think that is the best way, but space is very limited where i am and so unfortunately i don't have anything that can hold 25 or so gallon for a few days before i do water change, i guess i could always use the bathtub lol

if you have a closet near the tank area....you can get a 30 gallon garbage can ...you could even put a couple of small holes in the lid and let it sit for days....to let the gas's escape.....thus eliminating the space issue....

[jeff]

try holding water w/ a 1 & 2 year olds
they can make a big mess. dont worry the water gets locked up when im out of view of the buckets. the baby gate gets in the way of the older 2 so the little one sneaks behind my back and splashes. memories

[jeff]

BTW 30% a week is a lot. maybe too much. correct me if im wrong.

[Mzungu]

Not too much at all.

I've never heard of prime going bad, but now I'm going to be extra careful! The thing that came to mind first was if anything changed with the CO2 level in the tank. But the weird part is that this is happening after water changes...Hmm...This is the tank with CO2 injection, correct?

I'm right around San Felipe/Voss, so we are pretty close to one another. I haven't noticed any weird behavior after water changes lately, so it might be possible to rule that out.

[OneSickPuppy]

Im at westheimer/voss and not experiencing the problem. Did a 40% change on a 55 and a 29 friday ... all is fine here.

[eklikewhoa]

I have been hearing lots of problems with fish dying/gasping with water changes and the use of Prime.

I am starting to think there is something in common here.