Don't know what to make of this behavior

[holbritter]

As some of you know, I went through an emergency with ammonia in my tap water. Although I changed the water quickly, I lost 2 baby angels and my baby honey gourami, a week after it happened.
The 2 baby angels left seem to be ok, but they are not as active as they were before. Especially the black marble one(the other is a white marble) he/she is always at the top with his/her mouth pointing upwards as if it needs air. The other one does this also, but will come near when it's feeding time. The only other fish left are the 3 albino corys. They didn't seem effected at all.

I've read angels do better with 3 or more, so I don't know if that's the problem, or they were damaged also. I just don't want the little guys suffering.

So I'm wondering if this is normal for little guys (dime size) who have the tank basically all to themselves.

[minabird]

it still sounds like you have something going on with your fish, either ammonia or nitrite poisoning by the way they are gasping for air at the surface. check your water parameters again. If the ammonia and nitrite readings are not 0, then do another water change; you need to get them both down to as near 0 as possible to avoid any longterm damage to their gills. Babies are more sensitive to ammonia and nitrite.

If these readings are 0, then there is something else that is stressing your fish and we would need to know a little more about your tank setup, ie how long has it been set up, was it previously cycled and you added more fish recently (causing a minicycle), etc.

[holbritter]

Well, I lost the black one. I think they were definately damaged by the ammonia previously.
I've tested the water again, and all is back to normal. Am-0, Nitrite-0, PH-7.9, Nitrate-10

Thanks anyway. I think it's just a matter of a day or two before I lose the last one. :(

[minabird]

Sorry hear about your black angel. Since you were having problems with your well water, what are you using for your tanks, or has your well been repaired?

It just occurred to me that you should also check the hardness, both GH and kH, to see if those parameters have changed since you first introduced your new fish. That could also be a contributor to your fish deaths, along with the ammonia problem. If you're using a different source of water for your tanks, like spring water, the change in pH and hardness may have stressed them out also.

Since your ammonia and nitrites are 0, the only other thing I can think of why they may still be gasping at the surface is due to a lack of oxygen in the water. Try increasing the aeration at the water's surface to promote more oxygen exchange with the air using either an airstone/bubblewand or increasing the water flow from your filter and directing it along the surface of the water.