my fresh water bass isnt breathing right

Question
I have a fresh water bass that I was given from a friend .It came in the same foggy water it lived in so I put him in a tank with a pump for oxygen but he still looks like hes struggleing to breath.Im not sure if I should put him in regular sink water like my other fish. What did I do wrong?

Answer
Hi Destiny;

He's probably in shock and he needs a filter too. Hopefully he will get better on his own in the next day or so after you change 25% of that nasty old water, but you might want to consider releasing him back to the river he came from. Bass are cold water fish too so if there is a heater in the tank, turn it off. Don't change the temperature of the water if it got warm, just let it slowly drop on it's own to avoid shocking him further. Bass get very large and need a pretty big tank too.

If the tank wasn't already set up before you got him it will go through the break-in period. Here is a link to my page about that and how to get him through it;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

Good luck...

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins