Swimming Sideways & Upside Down

[Guest Jagged]

[*]Test Results for the Following:

[*]Ammonia Level? No kit

[*]Nitrite Level? No kit

[*]Nitrate level? 25 mg/litre

[*]Ph Level, Tank (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines)? 6-7 pH

[*]Ph Level, Tap (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines)? 6-7 pH

[*]Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops? Universal Litmus paper strips

[*]Water temperature? Not sure, but tropical climate

[*]Tank size (how many gals.) and how long has it been running? 67 litres, 4 months

[*]What is the name and size of the filter(s)? Not sure, but small one

[*]How often do you change the water and how much? Daily, 50% each time

[*]How many fish in the tank and their size? 10, about 1.5"-2" each

[*]What kind of water additives or conditioners? None

[*]What do you feed your fish and how often? Pellets, bloodworms or brine shrimp, once daily

[*]Any new fish added to the tank? Not recently

[*]Any medications added to the tank? Nope

[*]Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt," bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus? Bloody streaks along the tail, frayed fins

[*]Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.? Staying at the bottom, upside down or on its side

So I know my tank is very overcrowded. It used to just house 4 gold fish, but my old lady decided to come home one day with 6 more orandas without my knowledge. So we compensate by changing water daily to keep the nitrate levels down. The tank is aerated with a bubbler too. All the fish are getting along fine for few months now, except for my red-capped oranda last 2 days.

The red cap started to swim on its side and upside down. At times it'll just literally sit at the bottom of the tank on its side like it's dead, but every now and then it'll still swim about energetically too. It started to have bloody streaks along its tail, I can't seem to see any more problems with its body.

Could it be constipated? Or is it a sign of something else more serious? The rest of the fish are fine though.

[Cynders]

This is a sign of poor water quality most likely. I'm guessing ammonia With that many fish the wastes produced will be insane and will most liklely need 2 back to back 50% water changes a day. It sounds like he's getting poisoned from ammonia and or nitrate. I think the only way to fix this problem will be to rehome some of the fish since all of those fish will need a 378 litre tank.

Is there any way you'll be able to get a bigger tank? Are plastic tubs available for you to use?

[rai-nbow]

Hmmmm. It sounds like nitrate and ammonia poisoning to me. Hopefully not parasites, but, high nitrates is a factor with swim bladder problems and ammonia causes red lines in the fins. The water changing daily is great!! But, as you know, you're WAYYYYYYYYYY overstocked. Sooo, what's best would to be get your sick baby into some fresh water by herself/himself and upgrade your tank, or dis-home some of the fish in the long run.

But I could be crazy, so lets see what some smarty people say.

[rai-nbow]

Ahahaha. Posted at the exact same time and the same exact thing.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Rai

[Guest Jagged]

Wow it never occurred to me it might be ammonia poisoning. Guess I got a bit complacent there after 4 months of clear water I assumed my tank would be fully cycled by now. Come to think of it, the waste they produce daily! Perhaps that little filter can't really handle all that ammonia fast enough. I could return some of the gold fish, but I think my old lady would return with more fish behind my back again. She'd think the tank looks empty, the nitrogen cycle be damned!