I have videotaped what is going on in the tank. This is after being feed... morning time... it's a little longer than I normally do but at the end you'll see he pops around and starts swimming over to me. PLEASE accept my apologizes for the back ground noise - PlayStation 3 - KillZone 2 is being played!

I'm worried... but everything in the tank seems ok - levels temp etc. And he does eat very well.

I'm afraid something may be wrong, more than likely water quality issues, or maybe lack of oxygen. Your fish should not be hanging at the surface breathing the way they are. Please carry out extensive water tests and post the results

I only have the 4 standard tests:

PH: 7.4
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrites: 0.0
Nitrates: 80.... they were NOT that high on Thursday!!! :angry:

Temp: 82... yep that is high but they have been at that temp for months. In FL it is hard to keep it lower. I can never get it below 80

I have a bubbler that was set on low - just put it back on high.

I am doing a water change now.

It seems that your water checks out okay , although nitrate is a little high, well, very high. How long have your nitrates been so high? Temperature isn't too high so I wouldn't worry about that. If you look whether water comes back into your tank from the filtration, is it causing plenty of surface agitation? I would try and adjust things so that lots of bubbles are being created, if you've got an extra air pump, put it on the tank and see if this helps because like I said before, your oscar shouldn't be hanging out at the surface breathing heavily like it is.

My Nitrates were hanging in the 40's at my last test which was Thursday. I have done a 40% water change, turned up the bubbles and will be adding another bubble stone to the other side of the tank. I am using my previously posted cooling method to bring the temp down to 80. Everyone is currently actively swimming around the tank. I will recheck my levels tomorrow (I think I'm supposed to wait 24 hrs).

As for the mouth breathing... the new Tiger, Bubba, has always used his mouth a lot. Whereas Red normally does not. Even right now, Red is not breathing the way he was in the video.

80 is kind of on the high side?
if it reaches 80 after a week u probably over stocked or feeding to much i think... i could be wrong?!
u should do large enough water changes every week to bring nitrates down to 5ppm each week
wether that be 25% of the water or 75% of the water!
do what works for u!