red-tail is levitating

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A

Amopower

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 16, 2011
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Virginia beach
I just got a red-tailed about two weeks ago. He's about 5" long. Today I noticed that his head rises to an almost vertical position when he is laying down. Almost like he has a bubble of air in his head that is keeping his head buoyant. I also noticed his barbs are a little ragged looking, so I immediately thought "water quality". (I have owned a red-tail in the past so i am experienced with them). Turns out the qater quality was right, nitrates were well into the high range. I got some Prime and added it at the 5x maximum dose rate, hoping to get the level down immediately.
So the question is - why is he levitating, how can bad water quality make him do that? Or is it a separate issue?
He also seems a bit lethargic, so is there a chance the water quality improvement will help, or is it possibly too late? The other fish are fine, but they are larger and have been acclimated to this tank for years.
 
Nitrates? Since you added a large excess of Prime, I think you meant nitrites because that is what the 5x Prime dose is used for, according to the label. For nitrates, the tank needs a huge water change.

If it was high nitrites, I'm much surprised that other tank occupants have been behaving fine. High nitrites lead to a quick loss of appetite and kill fast. If it was long-term elevated nitrites, the immune system gets compromised and then there is no telling what can happen - the fish will succumb to some bacterial and/or parasitic ailment.
 
Yes just the nitrates were high. (at the highest range, dark red on an API test). I mistakenly added the Prime thinking it would help, but now I know better. They are still high after about a 20% water change, so I'l be doing another one. Seems like I got the bad toxins under control (and probably did have them under control all along), but now just need to take care of the nitrate.
The new red -tail did unfortunately die though, his whiskers were ragged looking, his sail fin had a red line in it like from blood, so I don't know if the nitrates were to blame, or my Jaguar cichlid was having some run when i was not looking.
 
Glad to see you found the reason. 20%? All my fish enjoy 75%-90% WCs regularly (but I match my incoming water well). I' do at least a 50% WC every day for a week. Nitrates should not exceed 20 ppm, better yet 10 ppm.

Such high nitrates lead to all sorts of problems, especially digestive - lazy, slow digestion, clogging, bloating, fermenting/rotting food inside the intestines (if it was in the stomach they could regurgitate)... death.

I am aware of one study where high NO3 was causing these things in goldfish, including a floating syndrome because it messed up the swimming bladder gas passages among other things.
 
MattyA said:
What fish are you keeping and what size tank to keep nitrate under 20ppm? Can you back up what you're saying with some facts?
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Nitrates should be close to 0ppm ideally, if you start getting into the 20ppm range your into poor water quality and this will effect fish. If you can't keep the levels down below that then you need a bigger tank ! Google search and a bit of reading should give you all the backup you need to see on a point like that...


Amopower -

Yes poor water quality can lead to MANY health issues, it lowers the immune system, & weakens the fish. The the will often suffer from various bacterial infections, however in my experience issues cause by dirty water can more often then not be uickly cured by correcting the issue with clean water so keep on top of it and hopefully he'll come around.

with that said, If the fish is only been in your care for 2 weeks it should have been in T for this varry reason, all sorts of parasites or disease can lay dormant or show no smptoimes for several weeks. IT's best to QT new fish for 4-6 weeks before putting them into the tank to rule out health issues. so watch the other fish in case you've introduced something nasty that simply takes a couple weeks to show symptoms...

Also if your testing high nitrates it could mean you missed an ammonia spike as well which also leads to tatted apearence and red lines in the fins and/or gills or eyes depending on how sever the spike is... What sized tanks is this ? how often do you do water changes and whats the stock like ?
 
-DC- said:
Nitrates should be close to 0ppm ideally, if you start getting into the 20ppm range your into poor water quality and this will effect fish. If you can't keep the levels down below that then you need a bigger tank ! Google search and a bit of reading should give you all the backup you need to see on a point like that...
Click to expand...
Close to 0ppm ideally but fish will tolerate massive nitrate levels. My nitrate levels rarely dip below 30ppm yet my fish are as healthy as ever (yes, thriving not surviving). I have 6 fish ranging from 7" to 18" in an 1000l system and you're saying I need a larger tank? My tank rises around 60ppm a week so based on that I would need a tank 2x larger to keep it under your 20ppm line... that's right, a 3000l tank for four 7" fish and two 18" fish..
 
MattyA said:
Close to 0ppm ideally but fish will tolerate massive nitrate levels. My nitrate levels rarely dip below 30ppm yet my fish are as healthy as ever (yes, thriving not surviving). I have 6 fish ranging from 7" to 18" in an 1000l system and you're saying I need a larger tank? My tank rises around 60ppm a week so based on that I would need a tank 2x larger to keep it under your 20ppm line... that's right, a 3000l tank for four 7" fish and two 18" fish..
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High nitrate levels are more detrimental than most people think. Just because the effects aren't immediately observable, does not mean that harm isn't being done internally.
Read the first 2 posts, along with the links heatherbeast put in post #1 of this thread:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...s-for-What-Levels-are-Best&highlight=nitrates
 
MattyA said:
Close to 0ppm ideally but fish will tolerate massive nitrate levels. My nitrate levels rarely dip below 30ppm yet my fish are as healthy as ever (yes, thriving not surviving). I have 6 fish ranging from 7" to 18" in an 1000l system and you're saying I need a larger tank? My tank rises around 60ppm a week so based on that I would need a tank 2x larger to keep it under your 20ppm line... that's right, a 3000l tank for four 7" fish and two 18" fish..
Click to expand...

Based on the nitrate levels you seem to be suffering from yes it sounds like you need a bigger tank or more frequent water change schedule or both... You might also want to check your tap water because it's possible it's high in nitrates to begin with that could adding to the problem but those are not healthy conditions for fish to live in.

Yes fish can tolerate unhealthy levels on nitrates, depending on the species and levels involved it could go on for a very long time with fish that see to be in relatively healthy looking condition but that doesn't mean it's not doing any harm and shortening the fish's life span significantly it just mean's you dont realize it is.Over time all sorts of health issues will develop but bacterial infections are the most likly problem to crop up and if the situation isnt corrected then it'll spread and wipe out a tank.

Since your keeping fish I highly recommend you read up on subject there is tons of information available ...
 
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