Morph

Hello all i was wondering if anyone could help me out with my problem.

I've got a 50 gallon tank with 4 cory's 4 tiger barbs and 2 pleco's and a red eyed danio(got him from someone, he's survived and adapted even though he has no fins)

My problem is my cory's and gibbeceps seem to have red gills. My water is at .1 nitrite 0 ammonia and 7.5 pH (i know it's high but the water here is hard suggestions??)

It seems to me like they shouldn't have red gills the way they do, they seem to breathe pretty heavy every once and awhile. The tanks pretty established at 5 months and i got the eheim 2213 from a guy that was running it quite awhile.

anyways shoot me some questions if i'm not specific enough. Basically i'm asking is it normal for my fishs gill area to be so red and if not what do i gotta do to fix it.

Also on an unrelated note my pleco seems to have almost white like bones protruding out of him, they aren't all over the place, just near his head couple down his back. they look like the bones that normally poke out of him but out of unison and they are white.


thanks

jsalemi

How are you measuring the chemistry -- strips or liquid tests? Red gills and heavy breathing are usually a sign of ammonia poisoning, but neither of your results sound high. The pH is fine.

Morph

liquid tests

Morph

almost 2 weeks ago i had some high nitrite problems, almost .8 but 0 ammonia i did some water changes and got it down to .1 I'm guessing this happened because i changed the carbon.

susitna-flower

What is the brand of test kit? I don't recognize a reading of .8 as one that the API Master kit would produce.

You aren't saying what the reading for nitrate is.

Are you doing water changes?

I agree with jsalemi it sounds like ammonia poisening. It is NOT normal for gills to be red, and the gasping is an indication that they are stressed from the problem. Nitrite is also toxic to fish.

Until you can get really clear readings on your water, I would suggest you do at least 25-50% water changes every day.
Any showing of nitrite over 0 is an indication that your tank isn't fully cycled, so the water changes are the answer to releaving stress on your fish. Good Luck

COBettaCouple

The pH isn't a problem, as long as it's stable. Fish that you buy locally should be adapted to local water pH. We have 7.6 pH here.

The red gills are a sign of ammonia/nitrite poisoning. If you're not using the API liquid tests, I'd recommend their master FW kit for accurate results. Usually nitrite means more purplish gills but the nitrates could be an issue too if they are over 10-20.

You should start using Prime for the water conditioner - it will help with locking those toxins. If you don't have aeration in the tank, I'd recommend that, especially for the corys. Also I'd do about 25% water changes every other day, testing the water before each water change, until the ammonia & nitrites are 0 and the nitrates at most 20, but preferrably 10 or less.

Do you have a pic of the pleco? The plecos that you have - are they common plecos? If so, you'll want to find them homes when you can. A 75g would be small for 2 common plecos and if they're older, they may already be experiencing growth stunting. Does he act normally or show any other signs of something wrong?

Morph

The plecos are 1 common and 1 gibbeceps. The gibbeceps is about 7 inchs and the common is like 3 tops. They act totally normal, they eat do thier normal daily routines. They both seem to like to hang out in the same cave, even though there are others set-up...If i was to say anything might be wrong with them their fins seem to be quite seethrough at the moment. not much colour you can almost see through his fins

I'm using the hagen mini test kit, tests for nitrites ammonia ph.
I'm using aqua plus water conditioner.
I've got a large airstone in the center of the tank and i've got a power head on the other side of the filter so i don't think it's water movement.

oddly enough the redness today seems to have subsided ? not completely gone but alot less visible

I've been doing daily and twice daily water changes since my nitrite spiked a few weeks ago. about 25% and was doing 50 when i noticed the nitrite was high

jsalemi

That's good. Keep checking the chemistry and keep changing the water until the nitrites are gone. And when you finish the Aqua Plus, switch to Prime.