Fish swimming... verically?!

magickmidget

um... yay?
Oct 10, 2006
10
0
0
Australia
I wasn't really sure where to post this so here goes.

Yesterday my family and I bought a heap of tropical fish. I don't really remember what type of anything, but one of them (coincidently mine and I have really bad luck with pets) swims oddly vertically. He sometimes even goes sideways to turn himself around!

I have no idea why and I couldn't really find anything on it. Help please! I don't think I can deal with another bad pet.
 
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It looks like he's eating off the bottom off the floor but he swims like that the entire time.
 
Well, it's called a tiger barb, and that is not normal swimming for them when healthy. They are a schooling fish, and usually a group of 6 or more is recommended for their well-being.

Can you post a bit more about your tank? How long has it been set-up? How large is it? What is the temperature? What other fish (pictures if you don't know what they are)? Do you have a test kit for ammonia, nitrite and pH? If so, what are those numbers? Are any of the other fish behaving oddly?
 
The tank is about 24' x 12'. He's the only one of his kind in there but there is also a angel fish, silver shark, a yellow one with feelers (not sure), and four of those little insane things. Sorry can't be more helpful with types.

The tank was set up not even 24 hours ago. Temperature is 78 degrees F. Don't have any test kits. The other fish are all acting normally.
 
If the tank was set up less than 24 hours ago, then I would say the problem you are seeing has something to do with the ammonia levels in that tank.

A new tank has to be cycled - that means a bacteria base must be 'grown' in the filter that will convert toxic ammonia (from fish waste, food decay, etc) into Nitrite, also toxic, and further into Nitrate.

The dimensions you gave suggest a 10 gallon tank. But I'm guessing since there are only two measurements given...

You will have your hands full trying to get that (overstocked) tank cycled with 8 fish in it - and not lose all the fish.

Depending on what the actual size of the tank ends up being, it's probably too small for the Angelfish,

Definitely too small for the Bala/Silver Shark. Those get up to 13 inches (33 cm) long.

If the yellow fish with feelers refers to a Gold Gourami, a very common fish in stores over here, he'll get up to 6 inches and be highly aggressive.

I have no idea what the little insane things are.

Many people lose a lot of fish when they first start out, because they are given horrible information from the store employees. This is good for the store, because you buy more fish... bad for you and worse for the fish.

The best thing you can do is get those fish out of there and return them. Put a couple of Danios or the like in, and let the tank cycle properly. Otherwise, your fish are living in a toxic cesspool - they won't live long.

The main thing you need get right now is a way to test the water. You need to be able to test Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH.

The thing you need to do right now is start changing water. Do a 50-75% water change. By the way, if you have chlorinated water, you need to get rid of the chlorine before you can use it in your tank.
 
We've had fish before in the tank, we've just haven't used it since the last fish died. We aren't just starting out, it's just been a little while since the tank has been used.

Yes it's a Gold Gourami. It hasn't been attacking other fish but flies at people when they're near the tank.

As for the size of the fish - we'll just upgrade the tank when they get that big.

Thanks. :)
 
Just spoke to Mum about it - she's managed a lot of fish before. Since before I was even thought of.

The fish have been and still are fine. Fish won't grow bigger than the tank they're in and we're willing to get a bigger tank if need be anyway.

Also, the one with this vertical swimming deal, he was doing it while he was still in the bag. Therefore this cannot possibly tank related! We might not have noticed it while at the store. I did some googling, is it possible it's something to do with his swim bladder?
 
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