Discus breathing

[ezeke1]

Hey All! I'm just wondering what the normal "breathing" rate of discus or how often they flap their gills.

I have a 65g that runs a xena x3 filter - is well stocked with juvies(13 pcs) and I notice they are constantly open and closing their mouths in conjunction with expanding their gills.

Water parms are normal and I do 20% daily wc.

Is the constant breathing normal or is my tank oxygen deprived? They all seem healthy and are eating well. None swim at the top of the water column, no rubbing of gills against objects, etc so I don't think there is an issue with gill flukes.

[Graham]

Sounds normal...A fish with gill problems will have very rapid breathing...panting. Low O2 will have them at the surface piping


A fish's mouth is tied into their gills, using a couple of different valves they keep a constant flow of water over the gills, not a pulsing one....the mouth opens drawing in water, a valve in the mouth closes and the water is passed back through the gill filaments, there's a valve within the gill area that prevents water from flooding back in.

You and I only take something like 20% of the O2 out of the air, a fish in normal low O2 water takes something like 80% on average. If we drag them backwards through the water that drops by something like half

G

[ezeke1]

Thanks Graham. I wasn't sure if my fish were panting or just breathing normally. Alot of tanks that I've seen have airstones in them for aeration so I wonder if that was something I needed as well.

[CliffsDiscus]

Check for ammonia or nitrate spiking, larger waterchange would help.

Cliff

[Polar_Bear]

I agree with both Cliff and Graham. Young fish do breathe faster than adults but if they are breathing very rapidly the first thing I would check is water quality.

[Troy Williams]

My fish were breathing fast & as it happened i was talking to Darren From A1 Aquarium World (who i got the fish from) He ran through all the water perameters with me, but that was all good. Then he asked me what temp i was running my tanks at & i told him 30deg c. Darren told me my temp was too high & i needed to drop it to 28deg. Now they don't look like they have run a marathon. This worked for me.
What temp is your tank?

[ezeke1]

My fish were breathing fast & as it happened i was talking to Darren From A1 Aquarium World (who i got the fish from) He ran through all the water perameters with me, but that was all good. Then he asked me what temp i was running my tanks at & i told him 30deg c. Darren told me my temp was too high & i needed to drop it to 28deg. Now they don't look like they have run a marathon. This worked for me.
What temp is your tank?

interesting. i have my heater set to 84deg F, but the thermometer reads 86 deg on average. I think my Xena X3 cannister filter runs hot. Let me try knocking the temp down to 82deg F, but isn't that low?

[hboute]

I noticed some fast breathing in two of my four discus the other day and checked the filter (Cascade 700), replaced the floss, and noticed that they went back to normal breathing after that.

[Troy Williams]

David, The temp i have works in my situation, not saying it would be the same for you. I noticed a total difference in my fish. I am a firm believer in if it is not broken - don't fix it. But i had an apparent problem & Darren's advice was right on the money IMO.
Because the temp change is slight it may be worth a try.

Cheers Mate let us know if it works for you.
Troy.

[YSS]

I have my temp set at 86. I may lower it a bit as my juvies grow a bit bigger. But my understanding is for juvies, the temp should be at least 86. Anyhow, I did notice all my fish breathing pretty rapidly. They seemed healthy, but breathing pretty fast. So after watching my fish breathe fast for three months, I ended up getting an airstone, and after that, the breathing has slowed down. Also, the fish appear to be a lot more active and happier in general. I thought my fish were fine before the airstone, but after the airstone, things got a lot better. I think for higher temp tanks like discus tank would benefit significantly from adding an airstone.

[AADiscus]

You also might think of getting another tank to split them up when they get bigger. Since they are juvies you might up your wc's also and feed them lots of good healthy food and they will grow out great for you.

[Apistomaster]

I have my temp set at 86. I may lower it a bit as my juvies grow a bit bigger. But my understanding is for juvies, the temp should be at least 86. Anyhow, I did notice all my fish breathing pretty rapidly. They seemed healthy, but breathing pretty fast. So after watching my fish breathe fast for three months, I ended up getting an airstone, and after that, the breathing has slowed down. Also, the fish appear to be a lot more active and happier in general. I thought my fish were fine before the airstone, but after the airstone, things got a lot better. I think for higher temp tanks like discus tank would benefit significantly from adding an airstone.

I tend to agree with you that an air stone or what I like to do, pump air into the venturi of the powerhead attached to a sponge filter seems to make for happier discus. This is especially true for overcrowded discus tanks which describes most of mine. With aeration you are going to get closer to the maximum potential dissolved O2 levels. There is not enough difference between that level at 82F or 86F unless one is really into splitting hairs.
Most Discus are kept in show style tanks that are not the best when it comes to balancing out the maximum surface area per gallons. The common 55 show is a particularly poor design for discus when it comes to the importance of surface area.