Upside down fish help

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NinjaTetra

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Dec 22, 2012
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My fish is upside down and still breathing water, and wiggling its fins. I found it after a head count, not sure where he missing one was- it was stuck to the filter. Please, advice! Or will it be dead by the morning for sure? I have had it for eleven months now, with six other tetras.
 
What kind of fish is it? Can you post pictures? Do you have a hospital or separate tank you can move it to for the time being? It sounds like what happened to one of my Mollies a while back, which turned out to be Swim Bladder Disease. It is incredibly contagious to other fish, at least that's what the pet store lady told me.
 
Well it is a black neon tetra, I have it in a large cup, because my only available tank I a 3 gallon empty, and I don't want unsafe water in it, parameters are good. I will try a picture. The other fish are all fine, my hurt one is still breathing.
 
And unless swim bladder disease comes naturally, it's not that because I had these fish for a year now, no new tank mates, and healthy as ever seen a fish. Well, I was planning on getting more fish of a different kind soon, maybe this is good? I am sad though, this fish is a year and tyree months old, and survived Ich, twice, but that was a year ago.
 

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My guess is its dead by now really there's no point in wasting your time with it unless you're really attatched
 
Perhaps he's just run his course- I've never had a fish make it that long. If you really want a chance saving him I would suggest showing this to a LFS within the next hour, see what they think, and decide what you want to do. I would also suggest getting out of that cup and into the 3g- does it have a filter and heater? Only use the heater if so. It could still be SBD- my Mollies were healthy for months, then BAM! It hit them out of nowhere, no new tankmates added. I still don't know what happened...
 
Well, no heater, no filter, and the fish is pretty muc gone- gasping once every couple minutes- I just want it to either live or die, not suffer there. Well, I geuss I will just replace it, I have been meaning to get some African dwarf frogs or otos. Thanks for the help, I will keep you all informed.
 
Actually now he is doing better. He is on his side, breathing more frequently, and even ate some flakes I dropped in. He has a will to survive, I know that from a past Ich problem, he was covered in it, and here he is already sideways, but that might not be good. His name of course is Survivor.
 
Hmm now he is acting completely normal just sideways. What does this mean? His eyes are now moving again, he is swimming normal( upside down) and eating. I am stumped! Well, what should I do?
 
I am no Tetra expert (my Betta ate five Tetras this past summer, in fact) but I would most definitely NOT put him back with the others. Quarantine him for maybe a week in your 3g, maybe try placing it near a heater (not directly above or on top, just near one) so that the heat is good. But DO NOT put him with the others in case he's infected. And you mentioned above about getting some Otos- they are most definitely worth your while! I have three, supposedly two males and a female (one male purchased just yesterday) and they keep my tank SPOTLESS. They are no bother whatsoever to my Betta or snail and they are just the funniest guys to watch! I would advise two or more, three seems to work for my guys. But it all depends on what kind of room you have. If you do get them, make sure that they've been at the pet store for a week or more! Sorry about the Oto rant XD
 
Sorry to hear about your fish :( I breed guppies as feeders for my pet turtle, I sometimes have sickly fish that don't make it and I hate to see them suffer. If I have fish that are noticeably suffering I put them out of they're misery. It sucks but has to be done :( I use the freezer method to humanely euthanize them. I put them and some water in a Baggie and put them in the freezer. As the water temp drops they go to "sleep".

Hopefully your fish will pull through and you won't have to euthanize it, but if it declines you may want to end it's misery. Good luck!
 
Vatilla, What so you feed your otos? The fish is still sideways, and swimming. But it has slowed down.
 
I feed them:
Just the tank algae
Algae wafers
Cucumber
Zuchini
And I'm putting in some lettuce next week for the snail, so I can let you know if they like that
Peas (on occasion)
 
What s up here! Now it is swimming and eating again. Still sideways. Normal breathing, no cuts, still in cup, unable to get 3 gallon ready.
 
Try feeding it a bit of a pea over the next few days. If they get constipated it can cause swim bladder issues.
 
Peas help relieve constipation. If you blanch it and pop it out of its shell then cut it up small he should be able to eat it. Since he's showing improvement and no other outwardly signs other than the swim bladder problem it leads me to suspect he might be bound up inside.
 
:/ a pea... Well I can try. This is more than24 hours later and still alive, no wonder he is named Survivor. He is pretty much his normal self now, just upside down, to the side. Maybe another pic tomorrow, but not now. Well is there any other ideas about what may be causing this? This constipation idea is the most accurate sounding so far. What causes that?
 
Lol I'm sure it sounds ridiculous but he's right a pea should solve this problem. Constipation can be caused by over feeding. The pea will push everything right out of him and he'll hopefully be swimming normal again.
 
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