Hi you guys!
I have a baby black moor, almost 1 1/2", I got him about two months ago...he is in a 5gal (this is just temporary until I can get the 20L I have had my eyes on!) The tank is cycled and I do water changes every week (maybe more as needed b/c he is a dirty little guy!). I have bamboo, little bananna looking plants that have leaves sprouting out of the bananna part, and a floating moss ball in there with him...along with a gold inca snail. oh, and I feed him Tetra goldfish flakes. I tried peas a while ago, trying to get some deversity in his diet and he picked at them but didnt seem to care for them. He usually stays toward the bottom of the tank and picks at all the crap (his crap lol)....about a week ago I noticed he was starting to have problems! He was staying towards the surface of the water. I have been keeping an eye on him and these past few days I have noticed that it seems he is having troubles swimming...like he has to put all his muscle into swimming to the bottom and when he gets there if he doesnt continue working his little fins very hard...he floats right back up to the top!! He doesnt seemed to be disformed but I am worried now! This morning after I did a partial water change I noticed that he seemed to be floundering up at the top...kind of turning on his side, then righting himself, then trying to swim to the bottom, then floating back up again (tail first usually).
So anywhoo, I have done mucho research on swim bladder issues and I have seen a few tings on here, but Im not sure which direction I should go in. I saw what Lupin had written in one of the stickys about having to destroy the fish =( I hope I can avoid that I would hate to lose my little partner! Does the pea thing work? The wheat germ? is it possible he needs more room ( I mean I would love to give him a bigger home, its just not in the money right now...I know he would benefit but is the tank size a contributing factor? If yall think it is I will def try to get the bigger tank asap!)
Im not sure if pics will help but I will post some in a min. when i get to the other computer....
any help would be awesome! thanks guys!
I have a baby black moor, almost 1 1/2", I got him about two months ago...he is in a 5gal (this is just temporary until I can get the 20L I have had my eyes on!) The tank is cycled and I do water changes every week (maybe more as needed b/c he is a dirty little guy!). I have bamboo, little bananna looking plants that have leaves sprouting out of the bananna part, and a floating moss ball in there with him...along with a gold inca snail. oh, and I feed him Tetra goldfish flakes. I tried peas a while ago, trying to get some deversity in his diet and he picked at them but didnt seem to care for them. He usually stays toward the bottom of the tank and picks at all the crap (his crap lol)....about a week ago I noticed he was starting to have problems! He was staying towards the surface of the water. I have been keeping an eye on him and these past few days I have noticed that it seems he is having troubles swimming...like he has to put all his muscle into swimming to the bottom and when he gets there if he doesnt continue working his little fins very hard...he floats right back up to the top!! He doesnt seemed to be disformed but I am worried now! This morning after I did a partial water change I noticed that he seemed to be floundering up at the top...kind of turning on his side, then righting himself, then trying to swim to the bottom, then floating back up again (tail first usually).
So anywhoo, I have done mucho research on swim bladder issues and I have seen a few tings on here, but Im not sure which direction I should go in. I saw what Lupin had written in one of the stickys about having to destroy the fish =( I hope I can avoid that I would hate to lose my little partner! Does the pea thing work? The wheat germ? is it possible he needs more room ( I mean I would love to give him a bigger home, its just not in the money right now...I know he would benefit but is the tank size a contributing factor? If yall think it is I will def try to get the bigger tank asap!)
Im not sure if pics will help but I will post some in a min. when i get to the other computer....
any help would be awesome! thanks guys!