FISH DYING AND BREATHING HEAVY

[kien]

Originally Posted by reefcat

im just wondering why they all started breathing heavy when I introduced the powerheads, thats why i am hesitant to put them back in.

It could be an unfortunate coincidence. The fish death may have happened even if you had not added the powerheads. If death by powerheads was a common thing there would be a lot more threads and discussions about it. I've searched and can't find anything (other than the thread you linked) about death by powerhead. Well, aside from the usual fish swimming into powerheads and getting chopped up.

Film on the surface of the water is definitely not a good thing though.

[kien]

Actually, if we go with Nate's suggestion about poor oxygen exchange (which I would agree with btw) this could explain the heavy breathing and death. It could be that your fish were just barely getting by with the poor oxygen level in the tank. Then one day you add a powerhead which introduces more flow which forces the fish to swim more which causes them to breath heavier consuming more precious oxygen which is already lacking in the tank and releasing deadly CO2 and suddenly you have a series of unfortunate events

[reefcat]

I agree, I think I'll set up the skimmer and once the film isnt present ill start the powerheads up, thanks for all the advice, I'll update as the whole situation unfolds

[cwatkins]

You could try throwing an airstone in there on an air pump until the skimmer is all setup and running.

[daniella3d]

how old is the aquarium? if it is old, it could be the "old tank syndrom" as you added a power head and it might have steared underneat the sand and released some toxic gas?

Originally Posted by reefcat

I agree, I think I'll set up the skimmer and once the film isnt present ill start the powerheads up, thanks for all the advice, I'll update as the whole situation unfolds

[reefcat]

That is a very good assumption because it is almost two years old now, but how can I prevent that from happening again when I put them back in.

[cwatkins]

Slowly siphon the sand bed and ensure you are stirring up the deeper sand. In theory it should suck up and remove any gasses.

[daniella3d]

It is usually a problem with deeper sand bed and usually the sand on that spot become sort of black or dark. The way to prevent this is by having sand sifting snail, like a conch or something limilar. It will go inside the sand and aerate it.

How deep is your sand? It if is only an inch or 2, I doubt that's what hapened.

Originally Posted by reefcat

That is a very good assumption because it is almost two years old now, but how can I prevent that from happening again when I put them back in.