I think my fish is dying please help!!!

[Dub-Dub]

So my common has been somewhat listless for the past week or so... sitting on the bottom more than usual... but the past two days he's been really bad. Today I hasn't moved from the bottom at all, and when he does swim it is as if he can't control his body... he just sorta contorts his body to the side, and is taken wherever the current takes him. I just moved him to a bucket and he didn't even react to being in a net... or me touching him in the process.

I don't know what I expect you to say... parameters look fine. Other fish is fine. Nothing out of the ordinary; nothing that would give pause. I have had a little alge lately, but only the tiniest amount.

I don't think he'll make the night, but if anyone has any ideas of what to do to help... I'm listening.

[IceH2O]

A few guidlines will help us help you.

Tank size
Filtration
temp
pH
Ammonia
Nitrite
Nitrate
other fish in tank
planted or not
have you added any fish lately

[Dub-Dub]

Okay, it's a 29g with two 3" commons.
Fluval 204
Temp is ~75-6, which is what I thought it might relate to, whereas it has been warm here lately, but I don't know if that is so drastic that it is problematic
Ammonia, I don't know
ph 7.6
Nitrite under 0.5
Nitrate ~20ppm
Alkalinity 120ppm
One other fish, who seems to be fine - active as normal
non-planted
No new changes
Really stirred up the gravel the other day while cleaning, but nothing that abnormal.
No recent changes of any kind

He is breathing very slowly... fins limp... body constantly arced, about as far as I bet he can bend.

No fin damage... no scale damage... gills look fine... no bleading...

Never had any problem with him before, including last summer when it was warm.

Thanks for reading... I'm just worried.

[Ms.Bubbles]

You have to find out the ammonia levels. It could be killing your fish. Your tank is not cycled, and the toxins are probably having lethal effects.

Do a 50% water change and get yourself an ammonia test kit (no dip strips, liquid chemicals) ASAP.

Hopefully it's not too late to save your fish.

[Dub-Dub]

Nah, the tank is over 2 years old... nothing new...no changes is cleaning procedures. LFS double checked the water, and all was fine.

Thanks for reading, but the LFS also thought he was beyond saving, so I put him down.

:(

[IceH2O]

When you stirred up the gravel you probably released anerobic gas pockets, it really depends on how often you gravel vac for this to be a problem.

Since nitrites were over 0 I'm betting ammonia was up. A prefectly cycled tank will have no ammonia or nitrite. The stirring of the gravel could have caused a minicycle, without having the ammonia test you'll never know how high it got. Sounds like ammonia poisoning to me.

[Dub-Dub]

Yea the LFS seemed to think the same thing... I don't necessarily agree, I mean I don't know that it wasn't it, but I didn't do much out of the norm that I don't regularly do. I didn't touch the filter either, which I would think would be the largest source of biomatter.

Their guess was that it may have spiked, then leveled off before I thought there even was a problem... and it was too late.

DOn't know if that was it or not, but that was their guess. I've been doing the same routine for the past two years, I do find it odd this turned out to be terminal.

Sad, regardless... so is my lone holdover.