Coming up for air change in Panda behaviour

[silvercory]

Change in Panda behaviour.
I have five panda Corydoras in my main tank I have had them for about a year and have never had any health problems with them. They have a good body shape and eat well and are generally happy fish. But I am bit concerned about one of them as with in the last couple of weeks he seams to spend a lot of time going up to the surface for air. Not just a quick gulp but will take air in for about five seconds at a time then he will swim off to another area of the tank and take in more air in. He will do this for about 3 or 4 minutes or so. But then can spend hours before I see him do it again. He is the only fish in the tank that does it. When he does take in air it is almost like he is trying to get out of the water. He takes air in through his mouth and then it bubbles out of his gills. I have checked water parameters there does not seam to be anything a miss. I have not added any new fish, plants or tank décor for over two months. The only experience I have of this sort of thing is a couple of years back I purchased some very thin Prepared Corys not knowing better at the time, that they where not healthy. They would spend a long time taking in air as well but died within weeks of purchase. The difference is that the peppered corys where very thin and emaciated but my Panda now has a nice rounded body to him. I really don’t want to lose him any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[MatsP]

What temperature is your tank? High temperature can cause the fish to need more oxygen than the tank has.

--
Mats

[silvercory]

The tank is keep at about 21.5C.

[apistomaster]

If it is only one of your Corydoras panda that is making the frequent trips for air I would consider the possibility that it may have Gill Flukes or other health problem. Many things can cause this excessive air gulping.
If the water was too warm and/or low on dissolved O2, I would expect to see all the fish behaving in the same manner.

Whether or not it is worth the time and expense of trying to treat it is something only you can decide. Sometimes it is easier to euthanize a single fish and replace it with a couple new specimens. Use good quarantine practices with any new fish before adding them to a healthy group of fishes.

[silvercory]

I don’t think it is Gill Flukes but I have no experience of this problem. From what I have read if a fish has Gill Flukes the fishes gills would be red possibly some mucus discharge and the fish would be scratching and rubbing against things. My fish is not showing any of these symptoms apart from gulping for air at the surface. I agree that some thing is not right. I have treated the tank with esha 2000 which is a broad spectrum fish medication that also includes flukes.

[apistomaster]

Gill flukes do not always produce visible symptoms and I only mentioned them as one possible cause.

[Mod edit: Remove a number of empty lines and an "I" on the end... --Mats]

[Korsaaven]

I also do suspect gill flukes whenever I see a fish in my aquarium showing trouble breathing. i use praziquantel to treat them and usually it heals them unless it was too late to save the fish (too much gill damage). from what i've read, healthy fish can keep gill flukes at bay but once their resistance is lowered they show the symptoms.

[silvercory]

Apistomaster I just wanted to say that I am not saying you are wrong, as I said I have no experience of Flukes and I appreciate your input.

[apistomaster]

I am not saying I am correct, it's just the symptoms you described and the fact it is just one of the group makes many of us suspect it may have a gill fluke problem.
No one can be certain without verifying by microscopic examination of the gill tissue. The fish would probably not survive the procedure.
If more fish were acting suspiciously I would try to treat them but if only one is acting sick my way is to remove the fish and euthanize it. Price rarely matters to me; if based on my experience, I have decided that there is nothing I can do to salvage a specimen.
This can at least reduce the chances of whatever is wrong from spreading to otherwise healthy fish. My fish are not my pets nor do I have any emotional connection to them. I like to keep, breed and study fish behaviors but some fish will die no matter how much you know or care.