Fish gasping at the top.

[ViNcEnXo]

Hi, I have five neon tetras in my tank. Four of them are schooling but one is always swimming on his own and has recently started moving to the top and gasping...

What could be causing this? What can I do?

Cheers
Paul

 

[ViNcEnXo]

They are also the only fish in the tank.

 

[Bantam]

Sounds like a water quality problem to me. do you have a test kit? do a water change and see if that helps

 

[Twilight]

How long have you had your tank?

 

[run4cuvr]

I agree with the previous posts. Sounds like a water quality problem and the gasping a reaction to undo stress. If all else fals, try this medication called Gloat. It really works wonders. You can purchase it online or maybe at your LFS. HTH.

 

[Rocketman]

Hey. Do you know what the size of your tank is? Judging by your salutation, I would gather that you are from England, so will that be in Imperial or US Gallons? Sorry.

Depending on the size of your tank, an air pump may be in order. It's possible the aeration in your tank is insufficient, espicially if you are not running a power filter. Have you done regular water changes? I don't know what kind of experience you have, so I have to ask.

 

[fishfood]

Testing your water and posting the results here would be a big help. If you don't have a test kit, they're not too expensive and are (in my opinion) a must have. It sounds like this could be ammonia or nitrite poisoning but this could also be that your water is not oxygenated enough. Could very well be something else though.

I would suggest a large water change immediately if you find that you have measurable ammounts of ammonia or nitrites.

Keep us posted....

 

[Faramir]

Possibly. But only one fish is affected.

Seperation from the shoal is also a symptom of Neon Tetra Disease. Is there any loss of colour from the red flash, and does the fish swim around at night when the other neons are asleep?

 

[JasDownUnder]

Hrm, Paul doesn't seem to be answering any of your questions, so i'll answer for him

* He's had his tank since Sunday

* Tank size is around 40 - 50L if i remember correctly

* He's got an in-tank filter with an aerator on it, and it puts plenty of air into the water

* I believe he's been doing daily water changes of about 15L

* I tested his tank with my test kit, and he didn't have EXCESSIVE amounts of either ammonia or nitrite, there was a tiny bit there, but not much (i can't remember the exact readings off-hand though... however, i made him write them down, so if he ever reads this, maybe he can post them up)

* The fish in question died, and when i was there, another fish was displaying similar symptoms

* Tank is not cycled yet

* Faramir, yes, there is loss of colour from the red flash, and yes, the fish does swim around at night

* He bought these from the LFS for 50 cents each, so maybe there was something wrong with the whole lot of fish, which is why they were getting rid of them so cheaply?

 

[Faramir]

Faramir, yes, there is loss of colour from the red flash, and yes, the fish does swim around at night

There is a very real chance that the problem is NTD. You have three classic symptoms:

* seperation from the shoal.
* loss of colour from red flash.
* restless swimming at night.

I would isolate this fish immediately whilst others better than me confirm the diagnosis. If it is NTD, you will have no option but to destroy the fish. If you don't stop the epidemic, you will probably lose most or all the neons.

Is there any chance of a digital piccy of the newly sick fish?