Fish heavy breathing

[clownfish_reefer]

Hi everyone, I was gonna perform a water change today but all I did was clean the glass and remove hair algae off the rocks and sand. I noticed my newly mixed water wasn’t the same temp as the tank so I threw a heater in there and decided to wait until I put it in the tank. During that I cleaned my pumps and protein skimmer but left my powerhead on so the fish have some flow for oxygen. Now they are breathing heavily and I don’t know what to do. I didn’t disturb the sand bed too much and didn’t add anything to the tank. Any help would be appreciated

 

[Doctorgori]

So did you actually change the water or no

 

[clownfish_reefer]

So did you actually change the water or no

No I didn’t just removed hair algae and cleaned glass

 

[Doctorgori]

How did you remove the algae? did you remove the rock and scrub it with something?
…gotta ask if you used one of those cello blue sponges, on the off chance…
…did you clean the outside glass with anything?
and when shutting off the pumps did you agitate the water or just circulate it?

Added. is the situation improving or static (has their respiration improved)

 

[clownfish_reefer]

How did you remove the algae? did you remove the rock and scrub it with something?
…gotta ask if you used one of those cello blue sponges, on the off chance…
…did you clean the outside glass with anything?
and when shutting off the pumps did you agitate the water or just circulate it?

Just removed it by hand and made sure to rinse hands well before putting into tank. Nothing used to clean glass except a scraper. Didn’t shut off pumps while cleaning alagae just did it when I removed them for cleaning which was about 10 min. Throughout that time left the power head on. Once pumps were back in turned them on for more oxygen. Right now the chromis isn’t doing well. It’s on the sand bed

 

[Doctorgori]

for the life of me I’m miffed…
going down the list:
doesn't sound biological given the speed and association with a event, unless someone dumped a cup of flukes in …unlikely I’d think

doesn’t appear to be chemical given your stated protocols but I still think this is the most likely …ammonia?

I don’t think it’s a dissolved gas thing unless it’s a N deficiency from high temps, a possibility if mixing hot water, but doesn’t sound like you did….I “think” high CO2 could bring similar symptoms but that’s out of my league. Low O2 would be the most likely gas issue but I’ve lost power for long periods before seeing breathing symptoms

I got nothing

 

[clownfish_reefer]

for the life of me I’m miffed…
going down the list:
doesn't sound biological given the speed and association with a event

doesn’t appear to be chemical given your stated protocols but I still think this is the most likely …ammonia?

I don’t think it’s a dissolved gas thing unless it’s a N deficiency from high temps, a possibility if mixing hot water, but doesn’t sound like you did….I “think” CO2 could bring similar symptoms but that’s out of my league. Low O2 would be the most likely suspect but I’ve lost power for long periods before seeing symptoms

I’m honestly lost on what it could be. No temperature changes, no oxygen was depleted, and no chemicals added. Did an ammonia test and the level is less than 0.25. At this point I’m just hoping for the best. Do you think I should proceed with the water change or just leave it for now? My tomini tang is now laying on its side breathing heavily too.

 

[Doctorgori]

when I’m in trouble and in doubt I always do a massive water change…my logic being a entire bucket of salt is usually cheaper than a single frag

 

[williamCreery]

Check your salinity asap.

Cause of heavy breathing is low salinity. And sometimes gets the best of us when changing water or never checking up on it after a while.

Had a coral bleach 3 weeks ago while doing a water change for the heck of it I checked the salinity 50:50 new water and already tank water. Unfortunately the discovery was that it was down to 1.023 ppt and my fish did move less I noticed (harder to breath.)(less active than usual) solved a lot of my concerns.

 

[clownfish_reefer]

when I’m in trouble and in doubt I always do a massive water change…my logic being a entire bucket of salt is usually cheaper than a single frag

I appreciate the help but sadly all my fished passed away. I still don’t know what happened they were breathing heavily and one by one they were gone. I don’t know if I should continue forward with this hobby or just give it up.

 

[clownfish_reefer]

Check your salinity asap.

Cause of heavy breathing is low salinity. And sometimes gets the best of us when changing water or never checking up on it after a while.

Had a coral bleach 3 weeks ago while doing a water change for the heck of it I checked the salinity 50:50 new water and already tank water. Unfortunately the discovery was that it was down to 1.023 ppt and my fish did move less I noticed (harder to breath.)(less active than usual) solved a lot of my concerns.

Salinity was at 1.025 at the time this was happening tempature was 75 degrees. I have a ato system to make sure it doesn’t get too high. As for my situation all my fish passed away. Still don’t know what caused this and don’t know if I should continue on with the hobby or not.

 

[person]

What is your ammonia at? Are you sure this hasnt been going on from before?

 

[clownfish_reefer]

What is your ammonia at? Are you sure this hasnt been going on from before?

Ammonia was 0.25 or below. Before with the incident from my firefish people said it was likely ammonia or oxygen or the water used. This time left my pumps on same with heater. Couldn’t be water because I didn’t put any new water in. I’m still not sure what it could be.

 

[SlyPuffer]

I appreciate the help but sadly all my fished passed away. I still don’t know what happened they were breathing heavily and one by one they were gone. I don’t know if I should continue forward with this hobby or just give it up.

I’m sorry for your loss… Don’t give up! All we can do is try to learn and grow from our experiences. I’m sure everyone on R2R has had disasters happen on multiple occasions and some to no fault of the reefer. Eventually with enough patience and willpower you can find your enjoyment again! But by all means you know yourself better than anyone and I wish you the best of luck in the future regardless of your decision!

 

[clownfish_reefer]

I’m sorry for your loss… Don’t give up! All we can do is try to learn and grow from our experiences. I’m sure everyone on R2R has had disasters happen on multiple occasions and some to no fault of the reefer. Eventually with enough patience and willpower you can find your enjoyment again! But by all means you know yourself better than anyone and I wish you the best of luck in the future regardless of your decision!

Thank you for your kind words I really appreciate it. Planning on just building up my corals as those seem to be doing fine and maybe down the road start rebuilding my fish community. Gonna try to take it very slow.

 

[bakbay]

Hi everyone, I was gonna perform a water change today but all I did was clean the glass and remove hair algae off the rocks and sand. I noticed my newly mixed water wasn’t the same temp as the tank so I threw a heater in there and decided to wait until I put it in the tank. During that I cleaned my pumps and protein skimmer but left my powerhead on so the fish have some flow for oxygen. Now they are breathing heavily and I don’t know what to do. I didn’t disturb the sand bed too much and didn’t add anything to the tank. Any help would be appreciated

Sorry to hear about your loss. Trust me, I understand! I got hit with a velvet outbreak recently and 80% of my fish were breathing heavily and withered away - very stressful & sad. Even "pros" here on R2R, LFS, and commercial facilities suffered tank crashes. You find this opportunity to learn & improve.

Just want to clarify: you changed water, shocked your tank with temp fluctuation, cleaned pumps & skimmer, and stirred up the sand bed? I suspect that the combo of water change and toxic sand bed that did it. I assume that you didn't introduce anything by "cleaning" pumps & skimmer -- no soap?

Good luck!

 

[stewy14]

im so sorry for your loss

 

[clownfish_reefer]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Trust me, I understand! I got hit with a velvet outbreak recently and 80% of my fish were breathing heavily and withered away - very stressful & sad. Even "pros" here on R2R, LFS, and commercial facilities suffered tank crashes. You find this opportunity to learn & improve.

Just want to clarify: you changed water, shocked your tank with temp fluctuation, cleaned pumps & skimmer, and stirred up the sand bed? I suspect that the combo of water change and toxic sand bed that did it. I assume that you didn't introduce anything by "cleaning" pumps & skimmer -- no soap?

Good luck!

I will say what happened in order just to clear things up. Began with cleaning the glass with a scraper and from there rinsed my hands without any soap and began to remove hair algae off the rocks and sand.(didn’t mix up sand bed just removed algae off the surface and around here is when they started to act a bit strange) from there I remove my return pumps and skimmer to clean them as I haven’t done so in a month. While doing this I left my powerhead on for some flow/oxygen. Took about ten minutes for the cleaning of the pumps and skimmer. When I was done I plugged the pumps back in for even more oxygen because I saw fish breathing heavily. From there I didn’t want to proceed with the water change because new water wasn’t the same temp as tank and also didn’t want to do so as my fish were already struggling. Hope that clears things up! And yes no soap was introduced into anything at all I’m sure of that

 

[clownfish_reefer]

im so sorry for your loss

Just the tank tank itself or is there anything specific?

 

[stewy14]

Just the tank tank itself or is there anything specific?

no, I didn't see your post about the loss, im so sorry for your loss