Dieing Bala

[izzie]

This happened so fast last night when i went to bed my bala shark was fine and normal and this morn i woke up and he was swimming around kinda wierd. His tail was floating to the top like he was going tail over head. I went to the fish store to get my filter materials to do a water change on my other tank and when i got back he was really strugling to swim. I put him in a quarintine tank and treated it with salt and pima fix and for awhile all he did was sit on the bottem upside down curled in a C shape. Then for a bit he was swimming around really slowly but upside down and now hes back to being on the bottem. Whats wrong with him all my water conditions are fine i just checked them thinking maybe he was stressed. Also on that about a week and a half ago my tank was leaking and i took all my fish out into a big tub and siliconed the leak. I used an aquarium silicone and let it cure for around 36 hours befor putting my fish back. I have florolite red in my tank and for anyone that has used that im sure u know how merky it makes the water for the first few days. I couldnt see 2 inches into the tank and when i would see my bala u could see he wasnt acting normal then but since then he was perfectly fine until now. Dont know if that maybe had something to do with it as well.

 

[Durbkat]

Does he look fat or bloated? If so his stomach is most likley pressing against his swim bladder. Or it could be a swim bladder problem.

 

[SkiFletch]

It may have had something to do with it, but maybe not. Sounds like a swimbladder or intestinal problem. Unfortunately I've got little experience but you might try a forum search for swimbladder diseases. They're usually fatal and what little I know is that people usually reccomend treating with broad spectrum antibiotics and giving the fish shelled peas to eat.

what do you feed him? have you noticed any clear or stringy poop, or does it still look normal when he does his business?

 

[WILDER]

Right is does sound like a swim bladder problem, how many gallons is the tank plus how many fish and which type, can you post water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, what do you feed your fish, by the sounds of it the swim bladder has now progressed and it dosn't sound like the fish is going to make it sorry.

 

[izzie]

i really havnt EVER seen him poop in the 2 or so months i have had him hes only about 2 inches long at most and my amonia is at 0 my ph is around 7.6 and my nitrate or whatever the one is thats bad i alwyas get these mixed up is 0 and the one that isnt to bad but still can be fatal if really bad is between 20-40 i cant tell the colour exactly and right now hes in a 30 gallon with tetras and mollies and comunity fish i was planning on moving him to my 100g as soon as he got bigger.

 

[jimbooo]

readings are fine

(nitrIte is 0, nitrAte is 20-40 for the record)

flourite will not have harmed the fish. yes the tank is too small but would not have caused him any problems yet if he's still 2 inches.

sounds like something more serious i'm afraid. if he has internal worms they will be trailing out of his vent (butt) all the time so thats not it.

must be swim bladder but hard to tell without seeing the fish. i'd prepare for the worst if i were you. a 20% water change wont do any harm if you want to make him more comfortable.

sorry i cant help more