Poorly Fish :-(

[SBell2406]

Hullo � wondering if anyone can offer me advice on my poorly fish. He's a shubunkin, about 2 years old and up until the beginning of this week, has been perfectly well, active fish. About a month and a half ago, we put two small goldfish in with him (he has lived with other fish before) and they seem to have been getting on fine.

Over the past 3 or 4 days though, he's been pretty ill. He's taken to hiding behind a plant at the back of the tank (whereas he's usually very active) and is just generally unresponsive and looking v miserable. He also seems to be floating with his tail higher than his head. Also, when he swims his body is tipped slightly to one side.

I've done a couple of water tests, and all looks fine (and have also done a 1/3 water change) Haven't fed them for a couple of days and also got some aquarium salts as recommended by the pet shop, but with no improvement. I've tried looking on websites to see if I can diagnose him, but can't find anything quite describing his symptoms.

All help gladly received as I don't want to sign the poor little guy off as a goner!

[andyjevs]

Ok....it's always difficult to try diagnosing an illness without actually seeing the fish especially if there's no external damage or disease showing.

You need to tell us a bit more about the tank set up....what were the test results exactly ?, what filteration do you have and how often are water changes carried out ?

Chances are, your shub has picked up an internal bacterial infection which will need treating with a broad spectrum bacteriacide such as myxazin or octazin or you might have flukes (are the fish flicking on the rocks ?) which can be treated with sterazin.

have a look at this page http://www.waterlife.co.uk/waterlife/bulletin2.htm Hope this helps a bit and good luck

[SBell2406]

have a 25l tank and all 3 fish are small. it has a running filter with bioballs and a filter thing (sorry i can't really be more specific!)

Only had this tank up and running for 2 1/2 months and i do a 1/3 water change every month, as i was advised to do at the pet shop) Also tried to use a gravel cleaner suction device thing (i'm great with these technical terms aren't i!)

The water test results were:

NO3 - 25 mg/l

NO2 - 0mg/l

Water Hardness - 6d(not quite sure what that means?)

KH - 0d

pH - 6.4

Any ideas on why he's floating with his tail above his head?

[SBell2406]

and no, he's not rubbing or flicking on the rocks in the tank - no signs of physical damage/trauma

[andyjevs]

Righty o. pH seems a bit low, you want to be aiming for around 7.5 with shubs. Is your tap water naturally soft ? maybe you can try adding a pH buffer but if you do, do it slowly.

I would be looking to change around a gallon (4 L) per week rather than one big water change every month.

Can't tell you why he's floating like that. Swimbladder trouble is often the cause.

I really don't know. I can only think that he's either suffering because the pH is too low (it is pretty low !!!) or that he is suffering from "new tank syndrome" where the tank is fairly new and the filter isn't quite mature....although this would also give a high nitrite (NO2) reading.

I'm a bit stumped....is he still feeding ?

[CT]

Think Andy is close. It does sound like a swimbladder problem. I think you can get stuff from the shop that should help.

[shaun_04]

definately swim bladder, there isn't a specific cure for it, just a general tonic.