Fish Swimming Upside Down

[koody]

Hi. Newbie.

In short we own many tropical fish, have done for over 30yrs. We had a ph problem this morning (5), all sorted now.

However, one of my nigers was worse affected. my fav at 20years old and 44in, he's got a problem holding himself upright. he pushes himself into a corner to help himself but and he's swimming but just keeps turning over and ending up upside down.


Do i help him and prop him up? or leave him be? Are they ok upside down til he sorts himself out.

emergency advice needed please.

 

[kribensis12]

Im confused. Do you ahve a pic of him? Also, he's 20 years old? WOW! If he is that old, maybe the was just to old to handle a ph swing?

 

[WILDER]

Once fish start to turn upside down they rarely make it.
How many gallons is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
What do you feed your fish.
Swim bladder can be caused by bad water quality, temp unstable, to poor diet.

 

[koody]

Once fish start to turn upside down they rarely make it.
How many gallons is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
What do you feed your fish.
Swim bladder can be caused by bad water quality, temp unstable, to poor diet.

Niger can live as long as humans so he's still got plenty of life left hopefully.

2000gal tank, its part of my dads fish shop, more of a hobby now though.

It was def the ph change. He's very precise about fishkeeping but had a busy weekend and didnt change the water. I can get stats later. I don't think its swim bladder as more than one is affected just not as severe as this one. He's very unhappy he let this happen, this niger is almost as old as me. Its his baby.

I'd have to check with him as to what he feeds them, i think pellets of some sort and there are red tail cat fish and some other nigers.

He's the same this morning. I don't have a pic, too humid in there to take the camera. He's got a few white patches from the acidity but other than that looks normal. upside down ofcourse. He swims around. then props himself up to stop himself turning over. he's quite clever.

 

[WILDER]

pH Shock

As its name suggests this condition occurs when a fish is introduced to quickly into a new environment which has a very different pH from the one it came from, when the pH is adjusted to quickly and the fish have little or no time to adjust themselves, or when the pH is to far outside the fishes normal range.

It is very important that any change in water chemistry is made slowly and fish should never be exposed to changes of pH greater than 0.5 of one unit on the pH scale in either direction.

Avoidance is by far the best solution because in most cases the symptoms don't appear until the second or third day by which time the damage has been done and the fish will probably die.

A fish suffering from this condition will show all the typical signs of shock -

Lying on the bottom and paying little or no attention to its surroundings and ignoring potential threats.
It may even lay on its side or go upside down completely.
There could be other signs to, related to Acidosis and Alkalosis
Excessive mucus production.
Rapid breathing.
Swollen abdomen. (Alkalosis only).
If the condition is allowed to go on for one or two days then the chances of a successful remedy are greatly reduced because a lot of damage will have taken place. If the symptoms are spotted early enough there are a couple of things that will help.

Begin to return the pH to the original pH in steps of 0.4 of one unit on the pH scale and allow 3 hrs in between the adjustments. Make these adjustments until the pH is returned to a safe and satisfactory level.
Treat the tank with a broad spectrum anti-Bacteria/Fungus compound to prevent secondary infections of the Skin and Gills.
Prevention is easy. A successful treatment isn't!

 

[koody]

pH Shock

As its name suggests this condition occurs when a fish is introduced to quickly into a new environment which has a very different pH from the one it came from, when the pH is adjusted to quickly and the fish have little or no time to adjust themselves, or when the pH is to far outside the fishes normal range.

It is very important that any change in water chemistry is made slowly and fish should never be exposed to changes of pH greater than 0.5 of one unit on the pH scale in either direction.

Avoidance is by far the best solution because in most cases the symptoms don't appear until the second or third day by which time the damage has been done and the fish will probably die.

A fish suffering from this condition will show all the typical signs of shock -

Lying on the bottom and paying little or no attention to its surroundings and ignoring potential threats.
It may even lay on its side or go upside down completely.
There could be other signs to, related to Acidosis and Alkalosis
Excessive mucus production.
Rapid breathing.
Swollen abdomen. (Alkalosis only).
If the condition is allowed to go on for one or two days then the chances of a successful remedy are greatly reduced because a lot of damage will have taken place. If the symptoms are spotted early enough there are a couple of things that will help.

Begin to return the pH to the original pH in steps of 0.4 of one unit on the pH scale and allow 3 hrs in between the adjustments. Make these adjustments until the pH is returned to a safe and satisfactory level.
Treat the tank with a broad spectrum anti-Bacteria/Fungus compound to prevent secondary infections of the Skin and Gills.
Prevention is easy. A successful treatment isn't!

Very comprehensive, thank you.

Can it do him any harm upside down? Should i prop him up? He's survived at lot of things (inc a German shepherd) so just need to wait it out i guess.

 

[WILDER]

Sad to say most fish end up dying when they start to go up side down.
Can you issolate him.

 

[koody]

Sad to say most fish end up dying when they start to go up side down.
Can you issolate him.

oh dear. Not really, we set up an isolation tank for the smaller niger affected (approx 16in) but this big guy is, well is one of the biggest we've got so he's in the biggest tropical pond, no where to go. He's looking slightly worse, not moving so much and breathing shallow. He's survived worse but i guess this time might have beaten him.

i guess its the waiting game. feel like i should prop him up but apart from a big sling, anything else would stress him out.

oh dear me. he's the biggest niger ive seen in a long time, i don't know how we'l ever replace him. ( i got my calculations of length wrong, not 44in: 4ft 4in bless him)


thanks wilder, I'l keep you inform if he makes it.