Subunkin gasping for air?

Question

I have a Subunkin it's healthy and all been living for 7 months and its about a inch now, but since i got it all it does is it stays on the top of the tank and gasps for air, while all the other fish swim happily, i have tryed adding air stones but it still does it, should i do anything it eats fine and stuff.

Answer 1

1 inch is pretty small for for a 7month old+ shubunkin.
Can you give us some more info? What size tank is he in? Goldfish produce a lot of ammonia and need 20 gallons per fish.

Is the water too warm? Goldfish thrive in water that is 68-72F - water that is too warm is not good for them.

Is he eating properly? Goldfish will eat anything, but they need a healthy balanced diet of varied quality foods.

Do you clean the tank frequently? And do you have adequate filtration? Fish tanks should be cleaned, about 30% of the water each week with gravel vacs. It needs to be done more often if your fishtank is a little crowded. Buy an ammonia and nitrite test kit (or a master test kit) - they aren't expensive and you will know if your goldfish is suffering as a result of poor water quality.

Answer 2

mine also had the same problem. i had 2 fantail goldfish at the time in a 15 ltr tank..and one them seemed to do that all the time. now i have got them in a 2foot tank with two other goldfish and stone suckers..and now he is fine. so maybe its the tank size?

Answer 3

I agree. that's small for 7 months.
First make sure your water isn't getting toxic
http://thegab.org/Articles/WaterQuality.html

make sure you have plenty of surface agitation going.

If there are no other symptoms, I'd treat the tank for flukes with praziquantel.

Answer 4

u might be roasting him with your heater. set your heater 2 low or dont use it at all. my shubunkin goldfish is 4 inches. i used 2 have 1 that looked just like him, just 7 inches.he might be sick. if he has white dots, its ick--its VERY contagious and it killed my old shubunkin. hope its all right!

Answer 5

Yeah...what Zoe said...