Goldfish gasping for air

Question
QUESTION: Hi Christy,

I have been on to you a couple of times in the past.  I moved my two goldfish over a few weeks ago to a bigger aquarium.  I was asking your advice on using two filters in the aquarium and whether or not my new tank would go through a mini-cycle.  Just to let you know the fish are doing really well and my new aquarium didn't go through a mini-cycle at all which was fab news.  From day one when the fish were moved over, both Nitrites and Ammonia read at zero with the Nitrates reading at 10ppm.

A quick question for you - one of my goldfish is going up to the top of the aquarium alot to get oxygen.  He swims about quite happily but every 30 seconds or so he is going to the top of the aquarium for air.  It's quite bizarre as the other goldfish isn't at all!  I checked the water parameters and the ammonia/nitrites are reading at zero and the Nitrates are between 5ppm and 10ppm.  The PH is 7.6 - is this a little too high for them?  I have two filters in the aquarium and also a pump which keeps the water moving, however the water surface isn't broken if you know what I mean.  I have heard that there should be bubbles on the top of the water from the pump to add oxygen to the water but my pump is submerged so the surface of the water is constantly moving but is not broken.  

What should I do?  Apart from going to the surface of the tank to get air the goldfish is absolutely fine, he is going about his business as normal, feeding perfectly and swimming around very happily checking out what's going on.  BTW when he goes to the surface for air he tends to blow bubbbles - he is a comet.

ANSWER: Hi Katie
Well glad the move went good!  And that's great it didn't go through a mini cycle :)  Even if it had, it's usually fairly minor and goes quickly, but still better without it.

Ph is fine for them, nitrates look great as well.  I'm not real familiar with the internal filters that are common now, so not familiar with how they work.  All the filters on my tanks are mostly original ones I bought 7-8 years ago, so I've just stuck with them.  But you definitely need to have surface agitation.  That's what allows the carbon dioxide and oxygen to exchange in the water.  You could add an airstone to the tank, just make sure it's strong enough to agitate the water surface.  You would need an airstone, an air pump, and some tubing(sometimes that's included with one of those other two items, but may not be long enough).

Also, what's the temperature of the tank?  With goldies, you don't need a heater-if you have one.  Higher temps deplete oxygen in the water as well.  Room temperature, for the most part is fine for goldies.  

The check list for gasping at the surface would be first water quality-and yours is perfect, next the oxygen levels- which is what I think the problem is.  Gasping can also be a sign of gill flukes in the early stages.  Again, I think the problem is the oxygen levels, but just keep an eye on him for other signs.  Like sitting on the bottom-especially since comets are so active, rapid gill movement, if he continues to gasp at the surface, if he starts rubbing or scratching on objects in the tank-those would be signs of possibly an external parasite, like flukes.  But he sounds good otherwise.

Hope that helps and let me know if you have more questions!

Christy

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Christy,

Once again thanks SO much for your quick and extremely helpful answer.  Will do what you have suggested.

BTW the temp in my aquarium varies between 20 and 23 degrees and I don't use a heater.

Tks again!

Answer
Hi Katie
Your temp sounds fine, just keep an eye on it, if it drops below 18 at all, they need to go on a less protein diet.  Here's a link, it's about pond fish, but it explains what happens at the different temperatures:

http://dragonflylanding.ca/WinterFeeding.htm

You're welcome :)  And good luck!

Christy