can a regular fish not salt water fish come up to surface to breathe air.?

Answer 1

Almost all fish have the ability to breath air to some degree. The average freshwater fish can use their swim bladder to "breath" air (Bichers, many Catfish, certain Barbs, and Goldfish) while others (Bettas, Gouramis, Ctenopomas) have a labyrinth organ (very similar to lungs). Yo-yo Loaches and some other Loaches have developed the ability to force air over their gills and extract oxygen from it. Email me if you have any questions.

Soop Nazi

EDIT: Bettas are Anabatids, not Cichlids.

EDIT 2: Cyprinids don't have labyrinth organs, they use thier swim bladders or force air over thier gills. Only Anabatids have labyrinth organs.

EDIT 3: If somebody would be so kind as to justify the 3 thumbs down?

Answer 2

They can, but in most cases they shouldn't. At least not on a regular basis. If you have a filter on your tank, that should oxygenate your water enough that they should be able to get enough dissolved oxygen out of the water. Even bettas and gouramis.

If you have fish that are doing this, check a few things. For one, is your heater working properly? If it's making the water too warm, warmer water can't hold as much dissolved oxygen as cooler water.

If your tank is fairly new (less than 2 months old), it may be a problem with the water quality. Your fish produce ammonia as part of their wastes, and this is toxic to them. Bacteria will eventually conver the ammonia to nitrite (also toxic), then to nitrate, which is safer for them. The way ammonia and nitrite are toxic is that they irritae the gills of the fish, and the nitrite binds to the receptors in the blood that SHOULD be carrying oxygen. So even if ther is oxygen in the tank, they are suffocating, so come to the surface and gasp for air. If you think this might be the problem, test your water for these. If you don't have a kit to test, it may be safest to do a partial water change of about 25-50%. Just make sure you add something to remove the chlorine/chloramine in the water and that it's about the same temperature as the water taken out. Also, add the new water slowly so you don't change your water conditions too quickly for the fish to handle.

See the links below for more on these:

Answer 3

Yes, some species do. Fish like gouramis and bettas are a labyrinth fish, meaning they must go up to the surface to get a gulp of air. If the surface of the water is covered (with no air whatsoever getting to it) then it will drown and die.

EDIT: Don't worry soop, I think some people don't believe your answer...or something. Thumbs-up for you!

ZTM

Answer 4

Bettas have an organ called the labyrinth that allows them to breath terrestrial air.

Answer 5

Anabantids can take air from the surface with their labyrinth organ.

To name a few:
-Climbing Perch
-Comb Tail
-Bettas
-Gouramis

Answer 6

Yes. If the water is very filthy then the fish will go up and swoop some oxygen.

Answer 7

if the fish has a labyrinth organ

like the family cypriniid

Answer 8

Sure why not. Bettas do it.