Fish Rapid Breathing - Nitrate Poison??

[Justin Boucher]

Be careful using the words Nitrate and Nitrite.

Your fish are behaving as though they suffer from excess nitrite. Nitrite
inhibits the gills ability to absorbe oxygen and fish typically are seen
gasping for air at the surface. It is possible to have a nitrite spike and
very low ammonia and nitrate reading. Especially in a newly established
tank.

Typical water conditioners do not resolve the nitrite issue. I know of only
one that claims to reduce nitrite (amquel plus). There may be others but
you specifically want to reduce the nitrite.

Large water changes may help reduce the nitrite levels to more managable
levels, but you need to allow the tank to cycle through. Typically the
nitrite spike is much shorter than the ammonia spike (time wise). However,
it is still very toxic to fish.

As for nitrate. I'm not aware of any freshwater fish that have poor
reactions to high nitrate levels. We're talking 100ppm and higher. High
nitrate levels usually come from overstocked tanks that don't get water
changes.

Justin

"Sean-in-Georgia" > wrote
in message ...
>
> Hello,
> First time poster here. I have a 5 week new 55 gallon. I cycled for a
> couple weeks with Zymes, added 3 barbs, then a week ago added the other
> 6 fish and also added some Turbo Start 700 with them (per shop's
> advice).
>
> Today, I noticed one of the Plat Gouramis was breathing rapidly ~
> little mouth and gills working overtime ~ so I tested the water. Temp
> is slightly higher than norm at 81 degrees... ammonia was nil, nitrate
> also nil, pH at it's constant ave of 7.2-7.4..... However, the nitrite
> was somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 ppm.
>
> I found it odd that the nitrite was spiking and yet there was no
> noticible amount of ammonia or nitrate. In any case, to alleviate the
> nitrite burden, I did a 25% water change and added some Stress Coat as
> well.
>
> Tonight, the Gourami was still gasping (although he's swimming fine).
> So, thinking that he might have nitrite poisoning, I added 1.5
> teaspoons of salt (which is much less than recommened for that much
> water). I also added a small amount of Turbo Start 700 to add some
> bacteria to counter the nitrite.
>
> Immediately after adding these two things, all three Gouramis started
> really breathing fast and gasping and are continuing to do so. Also, my
> normally hyperactive Barbs are swimming around as slow as snails! I have
> no idea why? I tried to help one fish, and now the hole tank is
> depressed and gasping. I didn't think Barbs nor Gouramis were
> intolerant to salt, especially at such a small dose, nor did I think
> the sprinking of live bacteria would cause any problems?
>
> Any ideas???
> Thanks!
>
>
> --
> Sean-in-Georgia

[Justin Boucher]

On a side note:
If memory serves me right, Gouramis are a type of fish that have very
primitive lungs in addition to gills. There's a special name for it, but it
escapes me. Someone with more knowledge on this type of fish can hopefully
weight in on this.
It may be normal for Gouramis to breathe at the surface. But then comes the
difference between excessive surface breathing and normal.

Justin

"Sean-in-Georgia" > wrote
in message ...
>
> Hello,
> First time poster here. I have a 5 week new 55 gallon. I cycled for a
> couple weeks with Zymes, added 3 barbs, then a week ago added the other
> 6 fish and also added some Turbo Start 700 with them (per shop's
> advice).
>
> Today, I noticed one of the Plat Gouramis was breathing rapidly ~
> little mouth and gills working overtime ~ so I tested the water. Temp
> is slightly higher than norm at 81 degrees... ammonia was nil, nitrate
> also nil, pH at it's constant ave of 7.2-7.4..... However, the nitrite
> was somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 ppm.
>
> I found it odd that the nitrite was spiking and yet there was no
> noticible amount of ammonia or nitrate. In any case, to alleviate the
> nitrite burden, I did a 25% water change and added some Stress Coat as
> well.
>
> Tonight, the Gourami was still gasping (although he's swimming fine).
> So, thinking that he might have nitrite poisoning, I added 1.5
> teaspoons of salt (which is much less than recommened for that much
> water). I also added a small amount of Turbo Start 700 to add some
> bacteria to counter the nitrite.
>
> Immediately after adding these two things, all three Gouramis started
> really breathing fast and gasping and are continuing to do so. Also, my
> normally hyperactive Barbs are swimming around as slow as snails! I have
> no idea why? I tried to help one fish, and now the hole tank is
> depressed and gasping. I didn't think Barbs nor Gouramis were
> intolerant to salt, especially at such a small dose, nor did I think
> the sprinking of live bacteria would cause any problems?
>
> Any ideas???
> Thanks!
>
>
> --
> Sean-in-Georgia

[Sean-in-Georgia]

Hello,
First time poster here. I have a 5 week new 55 gallon. I cycled for a couple weeks with Zymes, added 3 barbs, then a week ago added the other 6 fish and also added some Turbo Start 700 with them (per shop's advice).

Today, I noticed one of the Plat Gouramis was breathing rapidly ~ little mouth and gills working overtime ~ so I tested the water. Temp is slightly higher than norm at 81 degrees... ammonia was nil, nitrate also nil, pH at it's constant ave of 7.2-7.4..... However, the nitrite was somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 ppm.

I found it odd that the nitrite was spiking and yet there was no noticible amount of ammonia or nitrate. In any case, to alleviate the nitrite burden, I did a 25% water change and added some Stress Coat as well.

Tonight, the Gourami was still gasping (although he's swimming fine). So, thinking that he might have nitrite poisoning, I added 1.5 teaspoons of salt (which is much less than recommened for that much water). I also added a small amount of Turbo Start 700 to add some bacteria to counter the nitrite.

Immediately after adding these two things, all three Gouramis started really breathing fast and gasping and are continuing to do so. Also, my normally hyperactive Barbs are swimming around as slow as snails! I have no idea why? I tried to help one fish, and now the hole tank is depressed and gasping. I didn't think Barbs nor Gouramis were intolerant to salt, especially at such a small dose, nor did I think the sprinking of live bacteria would cause any problems?

Any ideas???
Thanks!

[Ozdude]

"Sean-in-Georgia" > wrote
in message ...

Sounds like the tank is only recently cycling - about 1 week out?

Anyway - I checked about.com for you and this is what they say about
nitrite:

" If at any time fish show signs of distress, such as rapid breathing or
hanging near the surface seemingly gasping for air, test for nitrite. If
levels are elevated perform an immediate 25-50% water change and test daily
until levels drop. "

So water changing will help, just that you're going to have to do it every
time the levels rise, as even 1ppm nitrite can be lethal to some fish.

The cycle will take quite a bit longer whilst changing all of this water
out, but you have no choice if your fish are to survive.

Good luck.

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith

[Gfishery]

"Justin Boucher" > wrote in message
...
> Typical water conditioners do not resolve the nitrite issue. I know of
only
> one that claims to reduce nitrite (amquel plus). There may be others but
> you specifically want to reduce the nitrite.

Here's another:

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/Prime.html

[Margolis]

start some large water changes immediately (50% every day or even twice a
day). Nitrite is extremely toxic. Your tank isn't cycled yet. You need to
get the nitrite reading as low as possible as fast as possible until the
cycle is complete and the nitrites are taken care of naturally.

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Scott]

Labyrinth fish...

"Justin Boucher" > wrote in message
...
> On a side note:
> If memory serves me right, Gouramis are a type of fish that have very
> primitive lungs in addition to gills. There's a special name for it, but
> it
> escapes me. Someone with more knowledge on this type of fish can
> hopefully
> weight in on this.
> It may be normal for Gouramis to breathe at the surface. But then comes
> the
> difference between excessive surface breathing and normal.
>
> Justin
>
> "Sean-in-Georgia" >
> wrote
> in message ...
>>
>> Hello,
>> First time poster here. I have a 5 week new 55 gallon. I cycled for a
>> couple weeks with Zymes, added 3 barbs, then a week ago added the other
>> 6 fish and also added some Turbo Start 700 with them (per shop's
>> advice).
>>
>> Today, I noticed one of the Plat Gouramis was breathing rapidly ~
>> little mouth and gills working overtime ~ so I tested the water. Temp
>> is slightly higher than norm at 81 degrees... ammonia was nil, nitrate
>> also nil, pH at it's constant ave of 7.2-7.4..... However, the nitrite
>> was somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 ppm.
>>
>> I found it odd that the nitrite was spiking and yet there was no
>> noticible amount of ammonia or nitrate. In any case, to alleviate the
>> nitrite burden, I did a 25% water change and added some Stress Coat as
>> well.
>>
>> Tonight, the Gourami was still gasping (although he's swimming fine).
>> So, thinking that he might have nitrite poisoning, I added 1.5
>> teaspoons of salt (which is much less than recommened for that much
>> water). I also added a small amount of Turbo Start 700 to add some
>> bacteria to counter the nitrite.
>>
>> Immediately after adding these two things, all three Gouramis started
>> really breathing fast and gasping and are continuing to do so. Also, my
>> normally hyperactive Barbs are swimming around as slow as snails! I have
>> no idea why? I tried to help one fish, and now the hole tank is
>> depressed and gasping. I didn't think Barbs nor Gouramis were
>> intolerant to salt, especially at such a small dose, nor did I think
>> the sprinking of live bacteria would cause any problems?
>>
>> Any ideas???
>> Thanks!
>>
>>
>> --
>> Sean-in-Georgia
>
>

[Justin Boucher]

Sounds good to me. Makes sense too.

"Scott" <smaxell1{at}hotmail.com> wrote in message
...
> Labyrinth fish...
>
> "Justin Boucher" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On a side note:
> > If memory serves me right, Gouramis are a type of fish that have very
> > primitive lungs in addition to gills. There's a special name for it,
but
> > it
> > escapes me. Someone with more knowledge on this type of fish can
> > hopefully
> > weight in on this.
> > It may be normal for Gouramis to breathe at the surface. But then comes
> > the
> > difference between excessive surface breathing and normal.
> >
> > Justin
> >
> > "Sean-in-Georgia" >
> > wrote
> > in message ...
> >>
> >> Hello,
> >> First time poster here. I have a 5 week new 55 gallon. I cycled for a
> >> couple weeks with Zymes, added 3 barbs, then a week ago added the other
> >> 6 fish and also added some Turbo Start 700 with them (per shop's
> >> advice).
> >>
> >> Today, I noticed one of the Plat Gouramis was breathing rapidly ~
> >> little mouth and gills working overtime ~ so I tested the water. Temp
> >> is slightly higher than norm at 81 degrees... ammonia was nil, nitrate
> >> also nil, pH at it's constant ave of 7.2-7.4..... However, the nitrite
> >> was somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 ppm.
> >>
> >> I found it odd that the nitrite was spiking and yet there was no
> >> noticible amount of ammonia or nitrate. In any case, to alleviate the
> >> nitrite burden, I did a 25% water change and added some Stress Coat as
> >> well.
> >>
> >> Tonight, the Gourami was still gasping (although he's swimming fine).
> >> So, thinking that he might have nitrite poisoning, I added 1.5
> >> teaspoons of salt (which is much less than recommened for that much
> >> water). I also added a small amount of Turbo Start 700 to add some
> >> bacteria to counter the nitrite.
> >>
> >> Immediately after adding these two things, all three Gouramis started
> >> really breathing fast and gasping and are continuing to do so. Also, my
> >> normally hyperactive Barbs are swimming around as slow as snails! I
have
> >> no idea why? I tried to help one fish, and now the hole tank is
> >> depressed and gasping. I didn't think Barbs nor Gouramis were
> >> intolerant to salt, especially at such a small dose, nor did I think
> >> the sprinking of live bacteria would cause any problems?
> >>
> >> Any ideas???
> >> Thanks!
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Sean-in-Georgia
> >
> >
>
>