Muffymouse

Sir Gawain is breathing really heavily. What might be causing it? What can I do for him?
Tank Stats: 10g, 0.0 ammonia, 0.0 nitrites, 10.0 nitrates (all liquid tests by API) Temp: about 85.0 (heater unplugged, as it is getting quite hot around here and no need to pay for extra electricity )

In the tank are 3 guppies, 3 corys, and Sir Gawain (all are quite happy)

Any thoughts??

atmmachine816

Heavy Breathing? What do you mean by this? You might want to look into getting a fan to blow across the top of your tank to try and chill your tank down, that's right around the level it starts getting too hot for the fish, sorry if you already know that.

susitna-flower

COBettaCouple

are his gills a different color than usual.. the earlier replies cover what i'd say and you could also try putting some ice cubes in a sealed bag and letting it float in the tank.. bring the temp down about a degree or so each hour.

Muffymouse

His gills seems to be normal in color. I have added a a baggie of ice cubes to the tank. The apt is now on the cool down for the night, I hope this will also help. Description of heavy breathing: More gill movement than normal and his mouth is also more open than normal. He also seems cranky, but I get cranky too when I get hot so I won't grudge him the right to be hot and cranky too. Thanks all.

COBettaCouple

if nothing else seems wrong, it is likely the temp and sometimes they just breathe like that for some reason.. please let us know how he's doing tommorrow and if you have a pic of him to post, that'd be great.

Muffymouse

after the ice cubes, he seems to have settled down and is doing much better Perhaps he was just being that way, in any case he seems happier and the temp has dropped a whole degree. Unfortunately no pics as my camera and my computer can't talk nicely to each other.

atmmachine816

Isn't he a betta, so he wouldn't be getting air from the water though but rather from the air itself

Muffymouse

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they get air both from the water just like regular fish and from the air similar to how non-fish do.
He seems to be doing fine today (it is supposed to remain much cooler today than it did yesterday) Don't know yet what i'm going to do about next week when it jumps up to the upper 90's and low 100's) (Yikes, I'm going to be as uncomfortable as he is!!)

nmwierman1977

What do you have your AC set at? 90-100 is nothing compared to what we have been having here in phoenix. Try dealing with 117, which it was on the July 4th. The temp in your home has a lot to do the temp in the tank too. We had ours set at 78 until it got drastically hot and pebbles 3 gallon was getting at 84 with the heater off when it was set at 78. Since it started getting hotter we set the AC at 74 and her tank water is at a steady 82 where it should be. Natalie

atmmachine816

Yes I believe that is correct. I think it's also they can have a problem breathing if it's too humid or not humid enough though I think that range would have to be pretty high. Either way like Natalie said I would look into trying to solve your heat problem. Easiest thing to do is move it into the coolest part of the house, I moved my small tank from my room upstairs to our family room and it's a lot cooler, don't know if that's an option for you but it helped solve my problem easily.

Muffymouse

I would love to be able to better regulate our home's temperature better but I can't. We live in an upstairs apt with No AC. The tank is in the only part of the apt that we can put it in. (please read here, space to put tanks and proximity to outlets) Even if we could afford to put in AC, the best places to put it our Apt managers and owners say we can't put it there. (grr, they can be very frustrating at times, but we cant' afford to move right so... ) So at this point in time, my poor fish are at the mercy of the weather and the best that I can do to keep the place cool. (I also realize that I don't function well in the heat and by heat I mean anything over 87, so Lord willing, I will not have to move to a place where it gets that hot typically. Anyone who can and does live in much higher temperatures has my awe at their ability to function, give me cold temps any day of the year.)

atmmachine816

Ok I understand, I was thinking that was the problem. Have you tried buying a small clip on fan and having it blow across the top of the tank?

susitna-flower

COBettaCouple

yea.. chillers cost a TON, while heaters are a lot less.

we have to work on keeping our tanks cool too.. the ice cubes in a bag helps at times, as do those high powered desktop fans that you can point at a spot. (around $12 at wallyworld).. you can also do small water changes daily with cold treated water too maybe.

atmmachine816

that's what I always say, easier to stay warm than cold

COBettaCouple

very true.. VERY true!