Sick white skirt tetra

[cghill]

I have a white skirt tetra in my tank that has suddenly become very ill. I've had the tank, along with the fish for a 1.5 years, and there have been no major problems (1 ich breakout about a year ago). Suddenly one of my white skirt tetras can't seem to "float" any more. He looks like his tail is weighing him down (as ridiculous as that sounds, thats how it looks). He is struggling to swim and can't get level, he just puts forth enough effort to stay off the bottom of the tank. I looked at him closely, and I don't see anything wrong with him, his fins looks just fine. I have a 40 gallon tank, and I haven't done any major changes recently. I did my water change about a week and a half ago. Please let me know if you have any idea what this could be. Thanks!

 

[Zagz]

Hard to say, I had a serpae tetra that did that but he was able to swim fine, he just looked really strange swiming with his tail down. You've tested your parameters and they are all good? Does he eat? I wish I had a reasonable answer for you, I'll do some research and see what I can find.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Definitley a swim bladder issue, it sounds like. Sometimes, it just decides not to work anymore, usually if the fish is old, under stress, or has contracted an internal infection.

I had a black skirt that did nothing but swim in circles for more than a year before it died. It was a really cool fish, but the reason for his problem was simply unexplained.

If the fish is still eating, my recomendation would be to try some anti-bacterial medicated food. This way, if it is something internal, the infection will be kicked, and the condition fixed. Otherwise....it may never go away.

Good luck.