Discus Respiration

[Fishquake]

Hi all,
I have a beautiful pair of adult Fire Reds. They have laid eggs, but no wigglers. Unsure if they are even a male or female. They have no obvious health issues and and appear very healthy. They are newly acquired, so they're not particularly interested in any of the food I have offered so far, except for a nibble here or there.

However, I have noticed that one of them appears to have an elevated respiration in comparison to its tank mate. I'm curious if this portends some sort of health concern, or some other issue entirely, or perhaps nothing at all. I get a little obsessed about these things...
Short video of it, link indicated below.

https://youtu.be/T6UaJ0bLU_s

[jmf3460]

good lord those fish look beautiful! do you think he could be breathing heavy bc you are stressing him with the camera/being near the tank and they are breeding so he is in defense mode.

[Fishquake]

No Jacklyn, they had no eggs at the time
of the recording. They had already fungused over days before.
The respiration issue exists all the time.

[jmf3460]

hmm, they look healthy, I wonder if its just what he does when someone enters the room. maybe a camera to see if he breaths like that when no one is around?? it looks totally fine to me/

[Fishquake]

Yeah, his respiration is always the same. They really don't seem to care too much about whether I'm there or not.

[jmf3460]

he honestly looks fine to me, I am no expert but I do know that mine do not breath all the same. I have 6 and they all breath differently. maybe he is a tad bit less athletic/in shape :)

[DISCUS STU]

I saw the video and the second one with the striped anal fins is only slightly breathing more heavily, but probably not much to worry about. It looks pretty healthy.

Not to alarm you but dramatically heavy breathing can be bacterial though many people immediately assume gill flukes with fish that are breathing heavily. But it can often be bacterial. If flukes, then one gill is usually closed while the other is open.

[Fishquake]

Thankfully both gills are open Discus Stu.

[Fishquake]

You're right Discus Stu, bacterial. Treating them now.