Is It Swim Bladder Or Not?

[Suzanne1992]

Hi everyone,

Well im very new to all this and have had a number of problems starting up. I added 2 cherry barbs and 3 zebra danios to complete my first nitrite cycle then added 1 rainbow shark, 2 algae eaters and 5 green tiger barbs to complete my tank. That was last Friday (18/3/11) and by Saturday I noticed that my tiger barbs swim funny. They were staying at the bottom of the tank and doing nose dives but staying their for up to 30 seconds at a time head down tail up doing what can only be described as clapping crazily. They all do it but no other fish in my tank does, infact they all seem quite happy. Anyway I was quite concerned so have googled as best as I can and most people say it is swim bladder but there seems to be a lot of people with green tiger barbs who have this problem and some say it is how they rest/sleep or do their mating dance. There is to much information and I am getting very confused!! I have asked at numerous pet shops some say its stress and others say swim bladder and was advised to feed them blood worms as this will cure it. I did my first water change yesterday (22/3/11) as I did not know how often it was supposed to be done but now I do, since I have done the water change they still do this vertical clapping thing but now they stay at the top. They do shoot up for air sometimes I don’t know if that has anything to do with it though as none of my other fish do. Everything was fine ph, and both nitrites but my ammonia was high but that water changed should have changed it and im getting it re-tested in a few days. The tank is 98 litres which is roughly 25 gallons. One other problem with one in particular tiger barb is it has white and red spots all over its fins and now getting white spots on its body. I have bought some medicine for this and I am trying to sort it but could that be a contributing factor?? I don’t think so because not all my tiger barbs have them. At the minute I have only been feeding them flakes just why I became accustom to them but now im beginning to vary their diet as I am understanding more, but they are only being fed every other day in the morning which I was told to do. The only additives in my water is tap safe which was added at the last water change. Anyway my question is….. is this swim bladder or can it be a trait of the (green) tiger barb?

I don’t know if they looked bloated as they have not changed from the day I bought them, and also is this something I would have caused or the pet shop I bought them from??

I have also been noticing that my tiger barbs float as if they are dead for about 20 30 seconds and they kind of roll in the water or float up or down on their sides!! I have no idea if they are supposed to do that or how i can make them better!!

I do not have a quarantine tank as at the minute I simply cannot afford it as I live of £40 a week.
.

Thanks for reading this and it will be very much appreciated if you could offer me some advice!

 

[karin]

Hard to tell from your post but it sounds like you set up the tank on the 18th and added fish right away. Is that right? If that is the case then you've got some big problems. Or maybe you added fish to rapidly. Either way you need to do the following.

Go here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/
and read all about cycling and particularly the "Fish-In cycle". You do not have a biological filter yet or one that is not able to handle the fish waste load and it is likely that your fish are dying from ammonia and nitrite poisoning.
1. You need to do a huge water change, say 80-90 percent and then water changes daily after.
2, You need to buy a good liquid based test kit to do your own water testing. You are now a fish keeper and a water manager and you need the tools yourself and fish stores often get it wrong or don't get it at all.
3, With the test kit your goal is to keep the ammonia and nitrite at 0 so you will water change until you have zeros. You need to test every 12 hours and do the water changes accordingly.
5. When you are getting 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites every 12 hours you can breathe easy and then add any remaining fish very slowly.

Now on top of that it sounds like you have ICH. You need to get the ammonia and nitrite under control but next you need to treat for ICH. Are the white spots, like grains of salt? If so see my signature for a good site that explains medicating for ICH.

Any pictures would really help.
Hope this helps.