Black Moor Problems

[shalafi04]

my black moor. whom I have had for about 2 weeks now. She has been doing great.
But recently she has been very near the top of the water and gasping at the surface.... Im not sure what her problem is... so I thought I would ask ya'all what this could mean.
I do small 15% water changes once or twice a week (they are goldfish) and they are in a temporary 5gal. Moving into a 30gal once its cycled. The other goldfish in there... a Red Ryukin is doing fabulous and is having no troubles.

The Moor has no visible injuries, mold, ick, or other ailments. thanks for any help.

[cocoa_pleco]

if hes in the 5g it could be too little aeration or ammonia issues

[Tooch]

if hes in the 5g it could be too little aeration or ammonia issues


These would be 2 good places to start checking, IMO. Add a small air pump and stone, and that would do a good job getting more O2 in the water, making it easier for him to breath. Test the water as well. With a small tank like that, it's easy for ammonia to build up quickly.

[shalafi04]

thanks. I'll head down to the LFS as soon as my husband gets home

[Tooch]

Air pumps are pretty cheap, depending on what you want to do with it. I bought a small air disk for a couple bucks, and the smallest air pump Pet Supplies Plus had. It was like $7. It works great.

[shalafi04]

great! I'll get to the store asap!
poor "turtle" the fish is not happy.

[kitten3326]

good luck, I think once you add the air stone, they will be fine, however ammonia does build up very quickly in a 5 gallon. How big is your black moor, I had a beautiful 7 inch red veiltail and I had to move her to a 5 gallon sick tank, as she contracted pop eye, and the ammonia level would build very quickly, I had to do water changes every day, up to 50% just to keep her happy.

[shalafi04]

well my black moor has been moved to my 40gal. Shes still tiny... maybe 2-3inches. But she's much more comfortable and happy. I did get the air stone and pump for her 5gal. and the ammonia was through the roof! 8.0 in the 5gal!!! omg!
I'm surprised she wasn't dead!
Now they are all doing much much better

[nikkijo]

i would say to feed her a pea or two if she does not act normal after the move. i have a black moor and for the longest time he just floated and was "lazy" but it was swim bladder and i fed him a few peas and he was better in hours. i was amazed! good luck!