Comment by Peter on November 11, 2013 at 10:21am

Yes its normal wen a fish is sick or dying.

Comment by Jhonsel on November 11, 2013 at 3:00pm

well i mean their new and there not sick so i mean is it just because their new or what they only do it now and then the rest of the time they act like normal fish swimming around and also they are eating

Comment by Bob Fletcher on November 11, 2013 at 4:53pm

Sometimes the gills of new fish get stressed if the tank they are moved to has very different water chemistry than where they just came from. Sudden changes in temperature, pH, mineral content, etc. can stress a fish. Most people know that you should let a new bag of fish come to temperature for 20 minutes or so, but it may also be a good idea to add small amounts of tank water to the bag, over a period of time, to allow the fish to adjust to the new water chemistry. I have noticed that whenever I buy a group of schooling fish, there are always a couple that seem to be quite stressed, and take a few days to adjust, while the rest of the shoal fits in like they have always lived there.  All that being said, I have noticed that platys like to suck air or something at the top of a tank, even if they are healthy. 

Comment by Jhonsel on November 12, 2013 at 7:24am

thanks abd do platys prefer more plant based foods or meat i have frozen bloodworms from hikari but people say that bloodworms are unhealthy and have zero nutrition. I was considering buying the frozen spirulina brine shrimp i am currently feeding the nls small fish formula

Comment by Robert Jango on November 12, 2013 at 11:38am

The only reason fish gasp for air at the surface is because they're suffocating. It could be lack of oxygen or too much ammonia in the water. (Ammonia burns their gills and makes it hard for them to breathe) There are other causes too but these are the two most common.

No matter how you spin it, this is not a good thing. 

Comment by Chuck P on November 12, 2013 at 4:52pm

How long did your tank cycle before adding the platies?

Comment by Jason Taylor on November 16, 2013 at 7:57pm

Could be high nitrogen levels.. Especially if tank hasn't cycled long enough.

Comment by Jhonsel on November 17, 2013 at 1:45am

thats not it thr tank has been cycled since the begining of july and would u think 3 guppies and 3 platies in 10 gallon is ok cause aquadvisor says it would be a fullystocked aquarium and i only have 3 platies in there

Comment by Michael Allen on November 17, 2013 at 4:26am

ive had many platties guppies and mollys in my day so i can tell you seeing them taking gulps of air is not uncommon at all. also because all three fish are similar they can pretty much survive in low oxygenated water. now stress is another thing if you nitrates/nitrite/ammonia levels are fine check your ph levels most people dont realize that live bearers prefer 7-8.5 ph levels in the aquarium. under 7 for a ph generally stresses them.

Comment by Robert Jango on November 17, 2013 at 12:02pm

Taking gulps of air and gasping at the surface are two different things. 

Livebearer's affinity for low oxygen environments? Guppies come from shallow streams of running water in Barbados. This is highly oxygenated water. And Mollies come from large bodies of water - some of which are connected to the ocean. 

But they may be able to survive in low O2 environments like you say. I'm not sure. I also know that Mollies are very sensitive when it comes to ammonia. Lately, I've learned to ignore anything that has to do with PH. I had Discus that thrived in a pond that swung between 5.4 and 9+ Ph - same thing happens in nature.  But generally speaking I think that livebearers don't like soft water.

PS

Here's something to know about PH. In tanks with a PH near 5.0 ammonia turns into (mostly) non-toxic ammonium. If the PH suddenly goes up (and you have lots of ammonium) you'll instantly get a bunch of dead fish. But this isn't a direct result of the PH swing. It's because the ammonium turned back into ammonia. 

Comment

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page