Is it possible my tank has low oxygen?

[msavoy]

I’ve had my tank for over a year now and everything has been going well. I noticed last night that my red toothed trigger fish was going to the top of the tank and what looked like taking gulps of air. This was the first time I’ve seen him do this. Then this evening I notice one of my chromis do the same thing although only once. The trigger fish hasn’t done this at all today that I’ve noticed.

I was wondering if this could be a sign of low oxygen. Is it a common problem? I have a pretty big skimmer and I’ve read they oxygenate the water. Maybe I’m just being paranoid but I want to be on the safe side. Would there be something that could all of a sudden after a year cause low often in my tank? Also nothing has changed in the tank, I haven’t adding anything new. Thanks for your help.

 

[Miami Reef]

I’ve had my tank for over a year now and everything has been going well. I noticed last night that my red toothed trigger fish was going to the top of the tank and what looked like taking gulps of air. This was the first time I’ve seen him do this. Then this evening I notice one of my chromis do the same thing although only once. The trigger fish hasn’t done this at all today that I’ve noticed.

I was wondering if this could be a sign of low oxygen. Is it a common problem? I have a pretty big skimmer and I’ve read they oxygenate the water. Maybe I’m just being paranoid but I want to be on the safe side. Would there be something that could all of a sudden after a year cause low often in my tank? Also nothing has changed in the tank, I haven’t adding anything new. Thanks for your help.

What’s the temperature of your tank? Do you have surface agitation?

 

[msavoy]

What’s the temperature of your tank? Do you have surface agitation?

The temperature is around 79 degrees. I have a red Reefer 170 and the rites flow does agitate the water a bit. There used to be a stronger flow coming out of the return pipe when I first bought the tank. I guess there may be a bit of buildup in it making the return force not as strong but it still seems to be agitating the surface. Here’s a little video clip to show.

 

[msavoy]

 

[vetteguy53081]

What is your Ammonia-ph-salinity-nitrate levels
What test kits are you using?

Assure:
Temp 77-79
ph 8.1-8.3
salinity 1.025
nitrate < .5
phos < .04
Ammonia < .03

 

[brandon429]

gill inflammation, decreased ability to use otherwise safe o2 is a possibility

post a full tank shot, shows ratios and scape details and bioloading and fish position details in the shot and sandbed loading details, biological and chemical oxygen demand details etc.

how do you prep the tank against disease

the video wont load for me at work can u post a pic

 

[msavoy]

What is your Ammonia-ph-salinity-nitrate levels
What test kits are you using?

Assure:
Temp 77-79
ph 8.1-8.3
salinity 1.025
nitrate < .5
phos < .04
Ammonia < .03

I use Hanna checkers and Salifert test kits. The only value that is a bit high at the moment is phosphates at 0.06 but I have PhosGuard in there and it is coming down.

 

[msavoy]

gill inflammation, decreased ability to use otherwise safe o2 is a possibility

post a full tank shot, shows ratios and scape details and bioloading and fish position details in the shot and sandbed loading details, biological and chemical oxygen demand details etc.

how do you prep the tank against disease

the video wont load for me at work can u post a pic

Here’s the shot of the tank. I’m not sure what you mean how do I prep against disease. I do routine water changes every 2 weeks. Clean my filter sick everyday and I also have a skimmer

 

[msavoy]

Here’s a video of the return flow to the tank. I think it’s agitating the surface enough.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I use Hanna checkers and Salifert test kits. The only value that is a bit high at the moment is phosphates at 0.06 but I have PhosGuard in there and it is coming down.

Phosphates would not initiate this. If possible, give the fish a freshwater dip for 4-5 minutes with water the same temp as display tank to eliminate possibility of gill flukes or other irritants.

 

[brandon429]

details that stand out to me:

chromis and tangs are some of the top most likely disease vectors we can buy from a pet store. Not saying they come from one, you may have bought them already quarantined and put them into a fallow tank. If not, if that was skipped, disease cannot be ruled whatsoever and I'm also not saying they're harmed either, just that those sets of fish are notorious vectors, like studio 54 attendees in 1978.

the reef is exceptionally well built and I do not think for one second that's low on o2. it has decent surface ripple and the layout of the pump from the bottom makes nice barrel-rolling and mixed current turnover.

The fish are evenly distributed so far, if the problem only happens at night and never in the day time perhaps that will matter as others spot troubleshoots.

do they behave oddly solely at night, even if you check at say 5 am vs midnite? do they ever act the strange way in the daytime moreso?

*if there's nothing in pattern they're doing then maybe nothing is wrong and they're not having any issues. they certainly look fine above. perhaps its a weird feeding response/ pattern and repeat odd behavior would stand out.

excellent reef, excellent. if I owned a large reef I'd want it to look just like that.

 

[msavoy]

Phosphates would not initiate this. If possible, give the fish a freshwater dip for 4-5 minutes with water the same temp as display tank to eliminate possibility of gill flukes or other irritants.

Thank you so much for this info. I didn’t realize this was something that was possible.

 

[msavoy]

details that stand out to me:

chromis and tangs are some of the top most likely disease vectors we can buy from a pet store. Not saying they come from one, you may have bought them already quarantined and put them into a fallow tank. If not, if that was skipped, disease cannot be ruled whatsoever and I'm also not saying they're harmed either, just that those sets of fish are notorious vectors, like studio 54 attendees in 1978.

the reef is exceptionally well built and I do not think for one second that's low on o2. it has decent surface ripple and the layout of the pump from the bottom makes nice barrel-rolling and mixed current turnover.

The fish are evenly distributed so far, if the problem only happens at night and never in the day time perhaps that will matter as others spot troubleshoots.

do they behave oddly solely at night, even if you check at say 5 am vs midnite? do they ever act the strange way in the daytime moreso?

*if there's nothing in pattern they're doing then maybe nothing is wrong and they're not having any issues. they certainly look fine above. perhaps its a weird feeding response/ pattern and repeat odd behavior would stand out.

excellent reef, excellent. if I owned a large reef I'd want it to look just like that.

Thanks so much for your response. Yeah I was a little hesitant to get these fish at all. The person at the LFS told me these fish were bred in captivity so hopefully they’re disease free. I’ve had them for months now and everything seems to be ok except the gulping for air last night. And honestly last night was the first time I noticed and I only noticed because I could hear the trigger fish actually making a sound when it came up for air and I was like what is that noise. Like I said he hasn’t done it today so maybe it was just a one off sort of thing. I can’t say for sure if it happens during the day or not. At least not that I’ve noticed.

I’m glad you think there is enough surface agitation. I really didn’t think that could be the issue after all this time. I’ll keep an eye out to see if it’s happening again.

You’re right it could have sometime to do with feeding time since it was just a bit before I normally feed them.

Thanks for the nice comments on the tank. I started this hobby a year ago and I thoroughly enjoy it. Everything has been going great so far. If all continues to go well I’d like to upgrade to a bit bigger tank next year so I can have the option to get some more fish. Thanks again for your help.