Swim Bladder Issue

[aluzya]

Two of the fish in my tank, Fire and Pristella Tetra, are having issues with staying afloat. They are both constantly moving to stay up. If they stop, then they start to sink and their heads are very high in the water almost to the point that they will flip over and go belly up sometimes.
The Fire Tetra was the first one that I saw having the issue and then after a while the Pristella is now doing the same thing. I have a 40g breeder tank. The nitrates, nitrites, etc are all fine. I do about a 10g water change every week. I feed them every other day. I'm not sure what to do. They look so uncomfortable. Some days seem to be worse than others.

 

[brich999]

add aquarium salt and maybe some meds. not sure what messes with swim bladder other than bad water, just do a few extra water changes and be sure the tap water you're using is ok

 

[GolemGolem]

How long have you had them? I hate to be a downer, but swim bladder issues, tend to end in death. I wouldn't bother with meds unless there is a infection or parasite. I might feed them some frozen daphnia for awhile, as it is more or less a fish laxitive and might clean them out a bit.
I would as a general practice, and esp with sick fish, up the water changes. 20 gallons once a week with a good vaccuming, or 10 gallons twice a week, or more. Try to keep nitrates under 20ppm, it will do a lot for the general health of the tank.
Good luck.

 

[aluzya]

I have had the fish for almost a year. They didn't start showing any swim bladder issues until the past couple of months. I was doing a 10 gallon change and a 5 gallon change every week until I put an additional filter one the back of the tank recently. All of these issues were present before I did that and before I moved them to our new home. They don't actually flip upside down though. They manage to to stay relatively right side up. I've been doing water tests since shortly after the tank was set up and it hasn't ever been high. I clean the rocks a little bit once a week. The remaining fish in the tank seem completely fine. The two affected ones see happy and fine other than this.

 

[GolemGolem]

hmmm, dunno then.

 

[aluzya]

Thanks for you help. If fish like this usually die, then how long does it take for that to happen? I was thinking that it wouldn't take very long but they are still going now.

 

[Ash]

Do you see any swelling or buldges on the fish anywhere? It is possible they have a swim bladder infection, if that is the case tetracycline is your best bet medicine wise, saved one of 4 fish from it, but thats only if they are not to far gone and assuming its an infection. Although many things I am sure can affect the swim bladder. Just throwing it out there.

 

[aluzya]

No, there aren't any bulges or anything on them. They look normal. I think I've decided to take them out of the tank for a bit. I have read about feeding them peas which can help. I think that I might try that for a bit. Thanks for you thoughts.