First, welcome to Planet Catfish.
Breathing fast is not really normal to any fish.
They are normally quite active when first introduced to a tank (stress, I would think), and once settled in, they will hide until you feed them, where they do come out VERY hyper and eat lots.
Can you get your water quality measurements: pH, nitrate, nitrite and ammonia would be the basic ones. If you haven't got a test-kit, you probably should invest in one, but if you don't want to do that right now, most shops will test the water for you - some will do it free, others will charge a small fee. Make sure you get the actual numbers, not just a "OK" or "Bad", as the numbers will tell us what your tank's water is like...
How long has the tank been set up?
How often do you change water in the tank?
What size is the tank?
What else is in the tank?
Also, if you could add your location to your profile, it would help us help you, since if we know where you are, we can give advice that makes more sense to where you live [it's no good me advicing someone to go to Pets At Home if they live in the US, but in England it MAY be good advice - or not, depends on what the question is...
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