Pictus Catfish swimming erratic, etc.

[charmedlife1986]

My son got a 5 gallon tank with accessories for xmas from his Grammy and ended up getting 2 Pictus Catfish for it along with swordtails, tiger barbs and molly fish. All was fine when one tiger and one molly, within a day of one another, had gotten sucked into the bottom of the submerged filter before slowly they starting to swim different, like swimming upside down, at an angle, fin facing the sky and unable to maintain their buoyancy it appeared. I had thought it was due to being sucked into the filter and getting injured but now the 2 Pictus Catfish who have not been sucked into the filter and also couldn't be anyways, due to them being larger in size (too large to even fit), have started swimming erratically. When they first arrived about a month ago, they stayed on the left wall going from the front to the back of the tank along the waters surface as they were not accustomed to their new home (or so I've read that that's why they start out swimming in that pattern) and just last week they FINALLY cane out into the middle of the tank, swimming on the bottom as a normal fish, but then early this morning we noticed them swimming erratically, as if they can't balance their buoyancy and are swimming upside down, on their sides, facing straight down and also at times doing barrel rolls. Somewhat similar to the other fish after those fish had their filter incidents. I have read about swimming bladder but can't get n exactly clear treatment method besides they all agree on the pea method. HELP ME?!

 

[nirbhao]

Peas are awesome! They are an outright panacea.

Here's what you don't want to hear: This tank is extremely over stocked. It's very unlikely that it was cycled, and so right now the water is probably heavily polluted with ammonia. Ammonia poisoning itself can kill your fish, but the stress of being in poor quality water can cause all kinds of other problems.

Do you have a test kit? The API master test kit is the most accurate and economical. The first step is to check your levels.

The second step is to decide whether you're getting a bigger tank or taking back most of these fish. If you keep this tank, it might be best to take them all back, cycle the tank without fish, and then pick out who should live there once the tank is ready.

The third step is to cycle the tank. There is an article around here about cycling your tank. Very good read. You can also check out injaf.org. lots of good resources.

Sorry. I know this isn't what you want to hear.

 

[charmedlife1986]

Oh no, we fully intend on upgrading to a bigger tank that's more then double the size! We do have a general idea of what is to b done as far as testing it regularly as well as stock up on the things we need to in order to maintain the tank and the fish. I probably have already read said article [emoji851] I have done quite a bit of research reading articles LoL even right down to the individualized needs and care required for each species of fish as they r similar in many ways but are equally as different as well [emoji851][emoji12] ty for ur input, we r going to do a process of elimination starting with feeding them the inside of a fresh or frozen pea, since we have tested the water and determined it's not the culprit and are now onto the "Pea treatment" in the hopes that it clears things up, keeping our fingers crossed ??

 

[beard1969]

Have you tried the addition of a little aquarium salt ! I had a few issues with fish swimming erratically and this sorted it out within hours