Upside down and funky fins

[Heath]

Yesterday everything ok...This morning my Moore was floating upside down and his dorsal fin is turining white. I removed the charcoal and Melafixed...If the upside down swimming is swimbladder problems, what causes it and how is it treated?
White on the fins...Fungus?
I've had him for nearly four years and he has never had any problems.
Checked Amonia etc..everything is ok.

 

[lyquidphyre]

Ive heard that peas help swim bladder (w/ no skins) and there are meds that supposedly help with swim bladder. Also, you can buy sinking food so your fish doesn't retain air when trying to eat the flakes at the top and some people even "burp" their fish to get rid of that extra air.

He might not have swimbladder, not sure tho. Im sure someone else will know more about it than I do.

Does he swim or just float upside down?

 

[Devilishturtles]

if it is swim bladder, he won't just float there, he'll swim in unusual patterns and never say still hardly. If your fish is floating, then it seems it probably has an infection of some type. Melafix will help if it has fungus, but not if it has a bacterial infection or anything like that. You haven't added anything recently? When did you last do a water change? What are the water parameters? (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature, etc.) Answering some of these questions may help to clear things up a little bit.

 

[jsoong]

Moors (& fancy goldfish) are prone to swim bladder probs. Had a bout in one of mine but not nearly as bad (only floating sideways).

Swimbladder prob can be caused by many things, some treatable, others not.

1. Constipation/gas - this can block the swimbladder, & the gas in gut can upset the balance - treatment - peas (blanched, without skin), epsom salt (feed a grain or 2 or put in a bath).

2. Infection - bacterial or viral - with the fin, this may be the case, in which case antibiotics is worth a try.

2. Heriditary - nothing much you can do for that one. Some suggest the "Chinese water method" - you put the fish in a tank with very shallow water (barely covering the fish to start) and increase the temp. The shallow water is supposed to decrease stress & the temp is to increase metabolism so the fish can fix itself. Then you gradually increase the water depth as the fish recovers. Never tried that myself - mine was fixed with peas.

 

[Heath]

Water (25% is changed weekly) and all levels are fine. The funky fin problem has cleared up since I've been using the Melafix. As far as the upside down problem...he only does it every now and then. He was swimming fine for the past couple of days and when I went to turn the light off this evening he was floating upside down again. He started swimming normally when I disturbed him...don't know what his problem is.

 

[William]

Fine is a relative term.

Its really more helpful to post the numbers.

 

[jsoong]

I think the moor is on the mend.... the antibiotics porb did the trick. The swimbladder is not 100% tho. Sounds like he is able to right himself with effort, but when he relaxes (like sleeping), he flips upside down again. This is better than being upside down all the time. He'll prob get better over time. Meanwhile, best to keep the water pristine - ie. zero NH3 & NO2, and low NO3 (<10). Higher temp (70's) may also help.