Sick Fish

ejkes · Sep 17, 2005

I have a fish that is pretty sick. He keeps swimming in circles, like he cant use one side of his body. I bought some stuff to kill bacteria in his tank, it seemed to work a little but he's still swimming in cricles. He still eats but instead of getting it off the top of the water he waits for it to sink to him.

SPLiSH · Sep 18, 2005

to TFF.

Your fish might have swimbladder disorder... don't feed him for a day, his stomach might just be too full and squashing his swimbladder, giving him problems. If that doesn't help you could try medicated food.

What kind of fish is it, and what others are in the tank? Do you have a test kit and if so, what are your readings?

rdd1952 · Sep 18, 2005

Hi ejkes and welcome to the fourm. :hi:

Your fish coulod have swim bladder or possibly constipation (yes fish can get it too). Does he seem to have trouble either staying on the bottom (seems to float up when he stops swimming) or have trouple getting to the top (sinks when he gets still)? Both are signs of swimm bladder (usually no much that can be done to save him) or constipation (easily remedied). If you have a way you could isolate him from any other fish you have, that would be best. The, as SPLISH suggested, don't feed him for 2 days and then feed him a cooked, shelled green pea. It's best to use fresh ones but if you can't find them canned will do for a quick fix (canned not the best since they have sugar and/or salt added). Sounds strange but peas are like a laxative for fish. Anyway, after it is cooked (you can boil it in water till it's soft), peel the shell off (or squish the insides out since they can't digest the shell and that will cause other problems if they eat it), kind of mash the pea up and drop it in with him. Usually that will do the trick. Some people also use some strained baby food as those are usually pure peas with no additives.

Tolak · Sep 18, 2005

Epsom salt also helps for constipation. Start with 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons, increase by 1 teaspoon daily for 2 more days to 3 teaspoons per 10 gallons. If it's swim bladder, the epsom can be used with antibiotics, it helps remove fluid through osmosis.

Swim bladder is usually fatal unless caught early & treated immediatley with gram positive & negative antibiotics. That, with the epsom salt have given me around a 50% cure rate.

Tolak