bristlenose coming to surface

[firedragon92]

hey guys im sure im just over reacting but i just wanted to check

today i got two bristlenose from the LFS and have noticed them quikly swim to the surface and take a gulp of air. Is this normal?

cheers

[Mick John]

G'day Firedragon. Obviously fish with the Labyrinth Organ such as Betta's and Gouramis tend to use this method to breath especially when there isn't enough dissolved oxygen in the aquarium water. But as far as I am aware Bristlenose don't have this organ along with most other fish. Hence the need to take measures to oxygenate the water. If there isn't enough oxygen for the fishes requirements then a symptom can be that the fish come to the surface in search of the much needed air. Esp. if your using too much CO2 and not enough O2 is being produced. ( From my experience anyways.) The warmer the water is the more air will be needed to be mixed in with your water also. Another reason that fish gulp air is associated with their air bladders and the fishes buoyancy. Unsure if this applies to Bristlenoses though. I'm assuming it does. http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forums/images/icons/icon7.gif

[wombat1100]

Well i have heard of Cory's doing that and also my clown Loach , but i don't think i have ever seen my bristles doing it, have a read of this http://www.thefishtank.com.au/forums/showthread.php?t=135&highlight=cory
but other than that , I would think bristles would hang on the glass at the surface rather than darting up to it if there was a problem with oxygen, if you are injecting Co2 i would be checking the amount of time you inject for maybe, do you inject through the night? if you do the plants wont absorb it at night time and you will get a build up.

[firedragon92]

hey guys

i dont inject CO2 my aqurium is not planted enough yet it could have been because of lack of oxygen as it was a fairly new tank i will keep an eye on them through the day and if they continue to do it then i will have to increase the oxygen.

thanks for your help guys and ill let you know how it goes.

[firedragon92]

hey guys

i havn't seen my bristle nose darting to the surface at all today so i think it was just cause it was a new tank and there was not much oxygen in the water or cause they had been in the bag for quite some time.

so i guess i over reacted, but its good to be sure and ill know next time

cheers

[wombat1100]

never hurts to ask mate!

[Mick John]

Hi there. Just thought I'd add something else on this topic. Fish such as Coridoras like to use this process of breathing also. Apparently they swallow the air and can absorb the O2 through their stomachs etc.. Interesting.

[cichlidboy]

mm...pretty cool.

[morgasms]

i think this is relevant..not sure though.

I after reading and surfing the net, ohh and embarressingly not that long ago:o, decided after finding no GOOD reason not too lmfao,

...used common drinking tea to attempt to make black water really fast lol

in moments all the fish (BRISTLENOSE BREEDS) starting "diving" for the surface..continually ..all them and there was like maybe a 100 easy, every few moments. Well needless to say I quickly ran a siphon at one end and replaced water from the other with straight tap water with just de-chloro chems. And all came good. :D

But what happened :confused: ....logically at least one thing happened, I added a tannin filled very acidic but an extreme ANTI OXIDANT LMFAO to the water.

LIVE AND LEARN HEY ..Im no expert but this is what i reckon happened to me and looks like it could be relevant.... it was at the time so amazing and scary..albeit way too late to help here maybe...but for reference :cool:.

AN after thought.

As a kid in the Queensland bush, my friends and/or family.."black fellas" taught me to throw rocks into or walk around violently in creeks and waterholes or billabongs haha if you will, to stir up the sediment/mud to dirty the water easily acieved in smaller water holes...anything that lives in the water just about will come to the surface for air...fish,lobbies,insects. ... this info is also in some book they used in QLD education, a true story of 2 kids found after a plane crash on CAPE YORK by a young black fella..he only knew of ADELAIDE where white fellas lived from talk, so he took them there lol he could have walked to many queensland towns at the time but didnt know of them or any other white fellas anyways along the way he taught the kids this as well as maggots eat out infection yada yada I remember this because I grew up knowing it so it was good to see something I thought relevant to my real life being told in school, as a kid anyways lol.