55 Gallon Tank Goldfish gasping ?

[kaitlynsc]

Hi! Meet my four wonderful goldfish. The wakin you see in the (which is the dark reddish orange color) has been gasping at the surface. like just coming up for air ? He doesn’t stay at the surface. I would say around every 20 min he goes up and gasps for about 10 sec and then swims along with his buddies. I have a 55 gal tank with a 75 gal hang on the back marineland filter, a power head and a air stone in the tank. Plenty of places to hide and plenty of room to swim. i inserted a photo of their water test strip. I heard gasping is bad but all of his behavior has been normal and i’ve had him for about three or so months and he has been doing this. i just thought it was because i didn’t have enough water irritation so i got a power head. yet he still continues to do it. i’m not sure what the problem is anymore so i’m looking for some help. They have wonderful diets. I feed frozen shrimps and bloodworms once or twice a week. Peas without the skin once a week. And Omega one goldfish pellets. there is two live plants in their tank and one fake. i’m trying to include as much as i can about them. I hope any of the info i provided will help. thank you in advanced

 

[Asomeone]

First, welcome to the community. Second, id suggest you buy some better test kits at very least from api if not better from salifert or the like...gives a much more accurate picture of the aquarium.
It's very hard to tell from the photo if you have any appreciable nitrates or nitrites. This would be indicative of your cycle status. Again, where a more accurate test would come into play. How long has this tank been setup ? How long did you wait before adding fish? What was ur cycling process? If fish are gasping at the surface you have an o2 issue. These problems lead to the solution of immediate water changes in large quantities as well as determining why you have an o2 imbalance. Furthermore, if it's a common behavior of the fish their may be no issue but again, there's no way to really tell without more accurate water parameters

 

[kaitlynsc]

First, welcome to the community. Second, if suggest you buy some better test kits at very least from api if not better from salifert or the like...gives a much more accurate picture of the aquarium.
It's very hard to tell from the photo if you have any appreciable nitrates or nitrites. This would be indicative of your cycle status. Again, where a more accurate test would come into play. How long has this tank been setup ? How long did you wait before adding fish? What was ur cycling process? If fish are gasping at the surface you have an o2 issue. These problems lead to the solution of immediate water changes in large quantities as well as determining why you have an o2 imbalance.

This tank has been set up for about 6 months now. when i cycled it i did not cycle it with fish. i pulled the filter from my 20 gal and let it run in that tank for about three days and added starter bacteria just to be sure. i also added plants from the 20 gal tank in there as well and tested the water before adding the fish. but like i said that was quite a bit ago and i don’t think it would them affect now. Im completely broke right now and I don’t want to have to rehome them i put so much money into my tanks and there always seems to be a problem. i feel like i’m the problem at this point :/ i’m only 17 working a minimum wage job so it’s hard lol but these fish bring me so much joy. also ok the test strips i have 0 nitrates and nitrites. ph normal.

 

[Asomeone]

I am not at all saying you have to rehome fish. I'm only suggesting the possibility of needing to do more water changes to support these fish. I'm positive others will chime in but if I was you and had fish gasping what i would do is perform a regular 20% water change every day until stabilized or proper testing can be administered.
edit: if only one fish is doing the action it really may be just the fishes behavior and not something to worry about. Its simply something to monitor versus taking immediate action. If all the fish perform the action...worry...if not...you're probably alright

 

[fish 321]

Whats the ammonia level?

 

[kaitlynsc]

I am not at all saying you have to rehome fish. I'm only suggesting the possibility of needing to do more water changes to support these fish. I'm positive others will chime in but if I was you and had fish gasping what i would do is perform a regular 20% water change every day until stabilized or proper testing can be administered.

Okay they had a water change today and gravel cleaning so i will continue tomorrow. But now i’m wondering what will the water changes do to help the o2, not saying u are wrong just curious and wanting to learn more.

I am not at all saying you have to rehome fish. I'm only suggesting the possibility of needing to do more water changes to support these fish. I'm positive others will chime in but if I was you and had fish gasping what i would do is perform a regular 20% water change every day until stabilized or proper testing can be administered.
edit: if only one fish is doing the action it really may be just the fishes behavior and not something to worry about. Its simply something to monitor versus taking immediate action. If all the fish perform the action...worry...if not...you're probably alright

Oh okay thank you very much for the closure and the new knowledge, very much appreciated.

 

[Asomeone]

well new water has an abundance of o2 in it.
here is a basic article on the subject

 

[NevermindIgnoreMe]

I agree with the others, and I'll add that a sponge filter and/or a bubble wand will help. More live plants would as well. Otherwise, this is something some goldfish do every now and then, and is a lot less serious in slim body goldfish, so don't be TOO worried. It's probably not a big deal, unless it's happening consistently.

Anyways best of luck!