My Catfish Is Swiming Bottom Up In The Tank!

[beniyo]

My catfish is laying on its back, bottom up on the gravel and cant turn around. It has been like that for almost 2 days now. It will try to swim but always rotate to the left side. Do you know what is the problem. It is also breathing heavily and will try to go to the surface to take a breath but in very undirected movements, looks like it has no control over its body and movement....

Is there anything I can do to help it, please!

 

[drango91]

sounds like severe swim bladder... is s/he eating?, how new is the tank...

 

[beniyo]

The tank is about 10-11 months now. I have had the fish for almost 10 months. I also have another catfish of different kind. It has not eaten today, he rotates in the watar all the time. Shall I try to give it some blood-warms - maybe it would be easier for it to eat them....

 

[drango91]

this could be bacterial too... my fish had a NASTY fall like that swam up and spun down into the gravel uncontrollably and died minutes later do you have maracyn two handy?

 

[beniyo]

No, but I can go and get some from the PetCo. I have only T.C. capsules...

 

[WILDER]

The fish sounds like its suffering and he's in a bad way he's not going to make it, they can labour breath with bacterial infections, but once the do they never make it, sorry.
I would end his misery, sorry.
My gpldfish did it and in the end i put her out of her misery, she was in a bad way.

 

[beniyo]

Are you suggesting I do not try to treat him at all?
If it is bacterial infection maybe antibiotic will help?...

 

[drango91]

no its going to die im sorry...

 

[Captain Retardo]

beniyo, the best thing to do is to euthanize him. Also, you might want to tell the story about your other fish and your tank to either this forum or the tropical fish chat (better if you put in the tropical fish chat)

 

[WILDER]

Once fish lay on there back not much to be done i'm afraid the bacteria infection has progressed to far, sorry.
http/www.fishtanksandponds.info/care-mai...swimbladder.htm

 

[beniyo]

it died ..................

Thanks for your support...............

 

[drango91]

take him out and lightly med the tank so that the infection wont spread...

 

[beniyo]

I did that. I have only one fish left there (the other catfish)... I had a small guppy that was born in the tank 3 months ago and it died this morning ....

Two weeks ago I got several new fishes from the store, which all died within two weeks. They must have brough the infection in....

 

[WILDER]

Whats your stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, how many gallons or litres is the tank.
What do you feed the fish.
Have the fish been looking bloated, and what colour was there poo when they went to the toilet.
Sorry for your loss. R.I.P.

This article is old abit, but it does help you on bacterial infections.
http/www.petsforum.com/cis-fishnet/afm/G29060.htm

 

[beniyo]

>>Whats your stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, how many gallons or litres is the tank.
I have Ammonia Alert sticker in the tank and it is in the safe area (yellow), Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20, Hardness 120 (the spring water from the store is very hard so I started mixing it with distilled water) pH 6.4

>> What do you feed the fish.
Flakes sometimes blood worms

>> Have the fish been looking bloated, and what colour was there poo when they went to the toilet.
I had two catfish (different types), and one small guppy that was born in the tank (his mother died I guess from exhaustion) for more than 10 months (the small fish was born 1-2 months ago). All fish looked well, until I decided to get two more guppies. I guess they instroduced some kind of infection in the tank, becasue they both died and then my fish started dying too. The color of the poo was pink.