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This weird condition that my L190 has had for about a month now still has me puzzled. He isn't hiding as much (which makes me feel a little more comfortable), I haven't seen him eat in a month (he must be eating something to still be alive), nothing wrong with his body; i.e. fungus, sores or dicoloration, he continues to breathe rapidly and doesn't suck onto the wood as he used to. He sits on a piece of wood, near the middle-bottom of the tank in the current gasping. This is driving me nuts. The water is ok; ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrate-5-10, ph-7.4-7.6, temp-80-82. I need to test for gh and kh, but I don't think that is the problem because I have some crushed coral in the filter. Any ideas as to what it could be?

its probably ur PH, it should be around 6.5-7 so urs is a little bit high. that might explain the situation its in.

and maybe a stupid question, but do you have bogwood in your aquarium, because that is what they eat, and of course other foods as well.

There is plenty of bogwood/driftwood. I have had him since february this year. He also gets squash, zuchini, cucumber, sweet potato and apple. Thanks for the help.

Actually, the first thing I think of reading your post is oxygen. Are you sure that your water contains enough oxygen? I lost a L264 because the Lemna minor grew so fast, that the surface was completely covered with it. Because of that the water couldnt absorp any oxgen.

You can try to put the stream of your filter a little higher, so that te surface of the water moves quite a bit. The level of oxygen in your water should rise. If this helps, you have solved the problem. If it doesn't help it is possible that your L090 has another problem (maybe the pH, but that doesn't seem to be the problem to me)

Mars is on the right track. Breathing fast is a sign of not being able to absorb enough oxygen (just like us humans would breath faster if there's less oxygen in the air). But it could also be a sign of some sort of trouble with the gills - nor sure what or how you'd discover it, but again, just like humans with lung problems, gills can have various problems due to many different causes, for example:
- ammonia burns from being bagged during transport
- parasites living in/off the gills
- bacterial infection of the gills.

--
Mats

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

Water aeration is provided by an 802 powerhead at the surface with a an Optima pump feeding it. On the opposite side at the bottom of the tank there is another 802 powerhead and in the middle, lower portion of the tank there is a 501 powerhead. Surface agitation is with an Emperor 400 HOB and a Magnum 350 canister filter.

Could it be ick on his gills? He had ick and I moved him to the Quarantine tank and treated him for a week and put him back in the 135 gallon.

I very much doubt it's the pH, and it sounds like you have enough aeration.

I would agree that it could be damage caused by the ich to the gills. He may still be suffering from it.

He has ick again. I'm going to treat the 135 gallon and rid the tank of this parasite. Hopefully he returns to his normal behavior.

Was it getting better when you put him in the quaratine tank? And got it worse again when you put him back in the normal tank? Are there other fish in that tank that are breeding fast, or is it just him? You should find answers to these questions befor you can determin exactly what the fish is suffering from.