Neon having trouble sinking... Quick reply needed.

[sudz]

Hey! i bought 5 neon tetra's 3 days ago, they all appeard fine, now, one is still very active, however, has a swollen belly (silvery white) underneith the scales. It seems... very bouyant. It is almost constantly swimming down at a 45 degree angle. There is another fish that is sort of doing this as well, only not as bad.

I'm HOPING this is because i just fed them dry blood worms, and they gulped some air. My frog does this regularly. I just noticed it now however, and want to know if its common with any disease you know of...

Please respond!

Also, i've n oticed that one neon seems to have dominated. it chases after all the other neons. Is it possible that this is a male? he is most agressive when i first turn on the lights around 11 in the morning.

could this swollen floater be pregnant?

 

[Zagz]

It sounds like swim bladder disease, try feeding less for a day or two and try feeding some peas, Boil briefly and peel and mush up to bite size for tetras.

 

[sudz]

alright. So you don't think he'll die overnight?

Thank you for responding so quickly too!

 

[sudz]

I'm pretty sure i overfed today... actually, i'm positive. Its just they ate so quickly the first time, they looked like they were starved at the lfs.they were "jumbo neon tetra's", but they've grown since i've gotten them, in 3 days

 

[Fear134]

Sounds more like a swim bladder problem than overfeeding. I've had angelfish with large stomachs from overfeeding and they had no problem going up and down in the tank. More than likely (and I've seen a beta I once had as a kid) it is the swim bladder if it's having trouble swimming down. My beta had the opposite problem and ended up on the bottom not able to swim up. When that swim bladder goes out of whack, it's difficult for the fish to swim up and down. Kinda works like a scuba diver's BC vest controlling bouyancy.

But like Zagz says, I'd try the boiled peas, the fish love them anyways.

 

[sudz]

I read that i should raise the temp of my tank a few degrees its at 79 right now, i have had it at 82 before.
Good/bad idea?

Thanks for advice guys!!! it means alot!

 

[Fear134]

That might work, that's only if you think that the swim bladder has hardened. Of course, I know it's hard to tell what exactly the problem is to be able to treat it if you aren't able to actually touch the fish to see if the bloated area is hard. But best bet I'd say is to try to raise the temp, couldn't hurt.

 

[sudz]

I raised it 2 degrees last night, and when i wake up... All the fish are neutral bouyancy again!

He either had a hardened blatter, or just ate WAYYY to much of the dried bloodworm.
Its had that effect on my frogs before, making them float, but id never seen it in a fish. Guess he just got abit of gas from it, lol

Thanks again guys! You rock!

 

[Zagz]

Too much feeding can cause constipation which in turn can cause swim bladder problems. Good luck!

 

[sudz]

Just FYI, all my neons made a full recovery. Thanks for the info. I most definately over-fed. I recently got 5 more neons, so i'm still figuring out how much to feed them all over again.

 

[Zagz]

Good news! I'm happy they are better.