Swim Bladder?

[ohbabyme]

I have a twenty gallon tank with 3 Dalmatian Mollies, 3 Red Swordtails, 3 Gold Dust Mollies, and 4 crawdads. One of the Dalmatian Mollies is swimming in circles mostly, head down, tail up. I found him like this earlier today, and have him in a breeding net to prevent the crawdads from snacking on him. He seems perfectly healthy other than being incapable of keeping himself off the bottom of the tank. I think this is swim bladder, however, when I inquired about treatments at the local pet store, they told me to add extra aquarium salt to the tank. I disagree with them that this will cure the fish.
When I tested the water today, I discovered my ammonia levels were around 8ppm, Nitrate was 10ppm, and Nitrite was 0ppm. I have done a 50% water change and added AmmoBlock. Not sure how the ammonia levels got so high since I did a partial change Thursday last week, and I will be doing another one tomorrow now.
Any suggestions for swim bladder other than fasting the fish?

 

[absolutangel04]

What kind of test kit are you using? That much ammonia seems unlikely.
Swim bladder issues can be the result of several different things. I suggest getting the ammonia down asap and seeing if there is an improvement.

 

[ohbabyme]

I am using the API FW master test kit. I thought it was odd too, so I retested and it came back the same. With water changes I have it down to 1ppm now, and I am going to retest in the morning.
One thing I failed to mention is that one swordtail and two gold dusts are new to the tank today, but that shouldn't cause such a dramatic spike. I'm not really sure what happened, but I definitely have my eyes on it now. Thanks for the reply.

 

[absolutangel04]

OK, well, keep trying to get it down. I am not sure what would have caused the spike either, but that much ammo is certainly not good for the fish. The issue might start to clear up with lower ammo. Let us know if anything changes.

 

[ohbabyme]

Today the fish actually looks worse. Still head down, bloated belly and white to clear feces. I have another fish with the same kind of feces that isn't swimming hardly at all. When I tested the water today, the nitrite was over 5ppm, which is really weird. The ammonia level was 1-2ppm and I didn't test the nitrate, I immediately started a water change (which turned into a catastrophe). I replaced almost all the water in the tank and my nitrite level is down to .5ppm, the ammonia at .25ppm, and the nitrate at 15ppm. I'm at a total loss as to the sudden swing in parameters.
I have moved the sick fish to my 10 gallon tank with some juvenile guppies and mollies since they don't pose an immediate threat to the little fish and I don't think they will make the other fish sick.

 

[absolutangel04]

That is a fair amount of stock for a tank that size. I think that is some of your problem. It also sounds like for some reason, your tank might be cycling again. Have you changed the filter cartridge recently or anything like that?
Perhaps somebody else will have some better advice, all I can really say is that you will have to to keep doing pwc to try and get the ammonia/nitrite down. For doing water changes, I suggest you use (if you don't already) seachem prime. It will temporarily neutralize ammonia. I am not a fan of ammo lock because it causes ammonia swings. Also, prime deals with the ammonia in a way so it can still be used by the BB.

 

[ohbabyme]

Thanks for all the information you have given me. I am trying to deplete the crawdad population, but haven't been successful in giving any away. Would the addition of a second filter have any positive effect? Currently I have a HOB AquaClear 30 for the 20 gallon tank. Is this enough?

The one sick looking molly has perked up. The 10 gallon tank has optimal parameters of 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites, and 40ppm nitrate. I know the nitrate is high, but it's not as detrimental to the fish as the other two, so my biggest concern has been alleviated. Both tanks are going to fast for another day or two and we'll see how they are then.

Do most pet stores carry seachem prime? I haven't heard of it before, and I am out of the Ammo Lock. I am using a store brand water conditioner and I have been using aquarium salt and bioboost. I know the last two aren't exactly necessary, but at the moment I am trying to level out the water parameters as quickly as possible.

 

[absolutangel04]

I am not familiar with that particular filter, so I am not sure. Since you said your parameters are usually better, I don't know that a second filter is necessary.
Glad to hear the fish has perked up a bit. I suggest still trying to keep the nitrates in that tank down though.
Prime is available in a lot of stores, otherwise you can get it on Amazon. I don't suggest ammo lock since it tends cause ammonia spikes.