Heavy Breathing?

[sman]

Last week everyone in the tank was breathing heavily just randomly started one day. I figured I needed more flow at the surface, so I pointed my koriala 1 and canister at the surface, it created alot of disturbance and the next day all was again well in the tank. Tonight I went to turn the lights out and there all breathing quite heavily. My ph and canister are still creating lots of surface agitation. I did a water change today, more than usual, but levels are good at
amm 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
ph 8.2
79*
any Ideas?

 

[sepulatian]

The agitation should not all be at the surface. There should be some agitation at the surface if you don't have a skimmer, but the majority of the flow should be lower in the water where oxygen is needed. What is your SG and what are you using to measure it?

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by sman
http:///forum/post/2459248
Last week everyone in the tank was breathing heavily just randomly started one day. I figured I needed more flow at the surface, so I pointed my koriala 1 and canister at the surface, it created alot of disturbance and the next day all was again well in the tank. Tonight I went to turn the lights out and there all breathing quite heavily. My ph and canister are still creating lots of surface agitation. I did a water change today, more than usual, but levels are good at
amm 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0
ph 8.2
79*
any Ideas?
Hows your salinity?

 

[lion_crazz]

As Sepulation asked, the question is not really what your salinity is, but how you are going about it to make sure that salinity is accurate.
Have you dosed anything in the tank recently?
What kind of water do you use in the tank?
Do you run activated carbon?
What type of protein skimmer are you running?

 

[sman]

Ok well just like last time, I turned the lights on this morning and everything is fine, and still is. Salinity is between 1.023 and 1.024. Using a swing arm hydrometer that I rinse under tap water before and after every use.
I added a maxi jet 600 mid day yesterday its half way down the tank.
Not dosed anything for a quite a few days, I was dosing melafix to see if I could get a spot on my tang to clear up, but no avail so I quit dosing that.
I use declorinated tap water until I can make up my mind on which RO unit to buy.
No carbon right now normally I do but I removed it to run the melafix.
No skimmer as the tank is only a few months old and I really cant make up my mind on which one to get.
Should I invest in a surrface skimming intake for my canister?

 

[lion_crazz]

Okay, well here is where your problems do lie.
I would suggest not to dose medications in your display anymore. Even "safe" ones can have a very bad effect on the inhabitants. There was one person on here who dosed Mela/Pima fix and it completely killed all of his fish in under 10 minutes. They were all breathing rapidly.
I would get some carbon in there and get out all the unwanted chemicals.
Have you ever had your swing arm checked against refractometer for accuracy purposes?
The tap water may or may not be a source of your problems. The best way to find out is to get a TDS meter or borrow someone's locally and see what the TDS on your tap is. TDS stands for totally dissolved solids.
I would also think about getting a skimmer on there soon, as well. Skimmers provide a ton of neccessary oxygen and remove many of the bad things in your water. What size tank do you have? Maybe I can help you make a suggestion on a skimmer.
I would not worry about investing in a skimmer intake on your cannister.

 

[sman]

Well Ill put the carbon back asap.
Never had my hydrometer checked before, how much do refractometers cost? Link to a good one?
Ill look into getting my tap water checked, but Ive used it for years in my FW setup. Could there be someting that the FW fish are ok with but really bother the SW guys? I have inverts in both tanks.
I have a 50B, also how long should skimmers be run? How often do the collection cups have to be emptyed.
Also I just moved my maxi jet so its pointing at the surface, and pointed my koriala 1 and canister down twards the sand/LR.