Funny Fantail

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moirai21

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Jun 29, 2003
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My fantail has started acting dumber that before. Now he just pretty much drift where ever the current takes him. He'll turn upside down and swim, then right himself and sink to the bottom and sit for a while. He's just acting odd. My other fantail is not acting weird, and neither are any of the other fish. All of my water tests are normal. I added some aquarium salt, just in case it's stress induced. Any help? or did he just become a lot dumber? :confused: :)
 

OrionGirl

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Aug 14, 2001
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Those are symptoms of a air bladder problem. What are your parameters--numbers, not 'fine', please. It sounds like a bacterial infection, and can be fatal if not treated.

If a fish is not behaving normally, it is not a sign of being 'dumber'--it means something is wrong.

I'm moving this to the Coldwater forums.
 

avoxo

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Jan 25, 2003
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I agree with OG, there is something wrong with your fish. Those are all signs of a disease or some sort of disorder in your tank. You said that all water parameters are fine and your started to salt the tank. That’s a good beginning. I would check the food that your are feeding your fish to see if it has spoiled. Increasing the oxygen level in the tank is a good idea. Give a few days after doing these simple things might help your fish.

If your fish were starting to have swim bladder problems then I would first check to see if the nitrates are high, then soak the food and feed the fish a light amount of it. You could also feed some hulled and halved frozen peas that have been microwaved for a few seconds. If that does not help then try some medicated food and get a broad range medication to help. Last is if all fails and your fish is still doing the same thing then you have 2 choices euthanize your fish or just enjoy the fish that is not perfect.
 

thom336

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Dec 17, 2002
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The fact that only one of the fish in the tank is experiancing the problem suggests it is not something wrong with the whole tank, so I would preliminarily rule out water problems, plus you say water is normal - but what do you consider normal? But the fact that this sounds to be a quite sudden change in behaviour suggests it is something wrong with the tank. But if it is to do with the tank you can fix it, start by doign afew things avoxo said: and an air line, increase the temperature, make sure the food starts sinking before it is eaten so no air is taken in then, and you could try medication. Also carry out a series of 50% water changes over period of days, and this should start straighening out any water quality problems. However, if it is a natural (if you can call it that) deformity - which can be common in fancy goldfish as other organs press against the swimbladder, meaning it cant fill out properley causing the fish to have trouble with its balance. If this is the case, there is little chance of any 'cure'. But many fancy goldfish live perfectly happy lives like this.

Another method that can help with swimbladder problems is to keep the fish in shallow water, acouple of inches deep or so, and this can sometimes help fix the problem.

Hope it all helps,
Thom.
 

moirai21

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ok, here's the specs of the tank. it is 55gal. i have 2 airlines. The water temp. has shot up and constantly sits at about 76/77. The ph is between 7.5 and 7.8 (7.5 and 7.8 because the reference card goes from those 2 numbers and the color is between those 2 shades) i have lowered the water level so the filter creates more surface disturbance, and i increased each air hose. none of the other fish seem to be affected ( i have been keeping a close eye on all of them) my other fantail is also behaving normally. i went to the lfs and asked them about it. they said that it could be the food has too much protein cause digestion problems (somewhat like constipation) we use hikari gold and the main ingredient is fish. we bought another live plant (the name escapes me) which was recommended if they ate it. we also bought hikari wheat-germ.
thank you for all the help!
 
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