Symptoms:

• Fish is near the surface
• Fish gasps for breath
• Gills are reddened

What is it?

The two biggest reasons for fish to have inflamed gills is due to ammonia poisoning or nitrite poisoning. With ammonia poisoning, fish's gills will have a reddened lavender color.

How did it get there?

All fish tanks need beneficial bacteria in order to process fish waste. There is a bacteria that takes ammonia (fish waste) and turns it to nitrite and a bacteria who takes the nitrite and turns it to nitrate. While all 3 of these are poisonous to fish in the right amounts, it is very common in a new tank or a tank smaller than 10 gallons to have poisonous levels of ammonia or nitrite.

Treatment

A large water change will help to dilute the levels of poisonous chemicals in the water. Do this every other day until ammonia and nitrite readings are normal. Ammonia, nitrate and nitrite test kits should be on hand to monitor these levels especially when breaking in a new tank. Water conditioners such as AmQuel + by Kordon should be used to neutralize the ammonia and nitrite in your tanks. This water conditioner is not a replacement for water changes, but an aid.

Prevention

• Be sure to monitor all new tanks for spikes in ammonia then nitrite and then make sure to keep the nitrate levels down. If you have a smaller tank, you should always be on the look out for spikes. There are small ammonia readers to attach to the inside of the tank. These are cheaper than the standard ammonia test kit and give an immediate reading.