Help - Fish swimming straight up and down.

[AKelly]

Hi,

My red sword tail is not swimming properly. He is swimming straight up and down and can't seem to get himself in the right position. I have notices that his top fin has deterioated a bit and he also has a black spot near his butt. Could he be backed up. Are there fish laxatives out there?

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[AKelly]

should i give him tetrocyln, would this help him? he also stays near the bottom of tank and hardly moves too. i did a water change yesterday to see if this would help, so far nothing. I also put one of those water conditioner tablets in water, it says it is supposed to help sick fish. all the other fish are fine.

i have

10 gal
1 red sword tail - poor sick guy!
1 blue gourami
1 wite mollie
1 rosy barb
1 little sucker fish

[Umberle]

what are the water parameters?

[AKelly]

just tested the water.

ph 7.4
amonia came back ideal.

anything else that i need to provide? thanks for your help.

[Umberle]

Nitrite and Nitrate if you can.

[AKelly]

How do i test this? I do not have kits for this? Also the temp is at 79 degrees.

[Umberle]

they have tests you can buy for both of those....similar to the ammonia test. Does the fish have any gray patches?

[AKelly]

thanks, i will pick these testers up tomorrow.

not that I can see. he is just vertically straight up and down and is moving up and down as well and keeps opening his mouth.

I am in the process of posting a pic i just took of him. I am posting it under freshwater livebearers section. i will try and see if i can link it to this msg directly.

[Umberle]

Honestly this is a little beyond me, the fin problem could be finrot but IMO more likely one of your other fishes nipped him a little and it'll fix itself.

The erratic swimming followed by lethargy worries me and the black spot is probably part of that. Fish can get backed up but fish like angel fish with relatively flat bodies are suppossed to be more prone to it. So right now I'm just asking you questions that I know you'll get asked. If you can Quarantine the fish, you should.

Is he eating?
Is he rubbing up against anything like the glass or decorations?
Do his gills look normal?

[AKelly]

thanks, i appreciate any adivise.

He hasn't really been eating like he used to for a while now, and i am a bad mom, as i have been neglecting him, i notice the lack of appetite a while ago, i figured he would snap out of it, but he is only slowly getting worse. he does rub up against alot of things in the tank and he was hiding inside one of the plastic plants yesterday.

I am going to check and see if the pic is ready.

[AKelly]

click here to see the sick little guy.....

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photop...php?photo=5971

[Umberle]

In that case my tenative guess would be something like flukes (which seems consistant with most of the symptoms although you should be able to see them on him with a magnifying glass) and there are fluke treatments.

In any case, with the rubbing up against things, that's a classic sign of infection (from parasite primarily I think) So some sort of external parasite.

[TankGirl]

The pic is ready - this is one sick fish. If you can get him out of the tank that would be ideal, but a broad-spectrum antibiotic is in order. I will be surprised if this fish makes it through, though - it is tough once they get to this point.

Any lack of appetite or other unusual signs (Umberle knows what I'm going to say ) and the fish should be removed from the rest and put in quarrantine. That way you can catch illness early and hopefully save the fish while preventing spread of the illness.

[AKelly]

I am going to the lfs today to get some antibiotics. There does seem to be something sticking out of him, it is yellowish in color. At first I thought it was poo, but now it must be a parrasite. I feel just awful.

Did the fish get this cause I havent' cleaned the plants and rocks lately?

Could the anitbiotics help him. can the other fish catch this parrasite??

Should I do a complete water change and scrub the tank??

I am also having a major problem with algae. I cant get it off the glass with the magnet or scrubber, and I have tried those algae destroyer drops to no avail. The tank is not in direct sun light and I keep the light off during the day. I also have an algae eater, but it is out of control.

What I really want to do is get a brand new tank cause the other one just won't come clean.

An recommendations on what I can do.

[AKelly]

Do i need to get a heater for the QT tank? How does qt tank need to be set up? does it need its own filter etc???

I have a 5 gal i can use for this, but i don't have filters, air bubbler etc?

Please let me know soon as I am going to lfs in about 1 hours.

thanks I appreciate it.

[Umberle]

On the off chance that no one else answers before you go.... here's what I think but this is what I remember from similar threads not from experience. So take it for what it's worth.

heater definitely because it's a swordtail and you don't want it to chill on top of other problems and a 25 Watt (5 watts per gallon) will be fine.

I'd hazard a yes on the filter but you probably don't want to put anything like gravel down that will trap meds. On a QT for new fish as opposed to sick fish you'll want a filter any way so it won't be a wasted purchase. Bubbler maybe unnessary since you'll probably be doing frequent water changes.

[AKelly]

Thanks,

I also read some of the articles this site has to offer, very informative. I am going out to splurge on all the necessities. I just hope it is not too late, but in any event this was a learning experience and I will equipped to handle it next time.

Thnaks again for all of your advice. I will keep ya posted on his progress..

[gozetec02]

Maybe its some kind of bacterial or microbial infestation. Adding some aquarium salt does wonders too. I am always cautious about adding chemicals to my aquarium. But the aquarium salt will kill harmful bacteria in your aquarium. The idea is that the bacteria can't handle the salt in the water and they will die. Does anyone agree that Aquarium Salt helps a lot?

[AKelly]

I will pick some of this up to and add it to my display tank for the other fish. I wonder if I should add salt to my qt tank as well along with the antibiotic.

[gozetec02]

Yes the salt is the kind that comes in a milk carton type box. Its granulated salt. You only need a table spoon per gallon. The salt will also help fight infection. Also remember to add it too your main tank as you do a water change.