Swim bladder or something else?

[Toe]

I have a freshwater tank with four Australian Rainbowfish. Recently,
one of them has had trouble swimming. He can swim with the group, but
normally ends up retreating to a place where a plant is near a wall,
so he can sort of balance himself between them.

In all cases, his head points upward somewhat. When he's in that
resting place, he is more than 45 degrees from horizontal. His
pectoral fins and tail are constantly moving to help him remain
afloat. When he rests those, he begins to sink.

I don't see anything physically wrong, and the other rainbows seem OK.
I did notice the temp was a little high (83), so I turned down the
heater. FWIW, that resting spot he hangs out in is very near the
heater (but also near the flow from the filter, so I don't know what
the local temp is right there).

Any ideas what this might be and what I can do?

Thanks.

[Andy Pastuszak]

Toe wrote:
> I have a freshwater tank with four Australian Rainbowfish. Recently,
> one of them has had trouble swimming. He can swim with the group, but
> normally ends up retreating to a place where a plant is near a wall,
> so he can sort of balance himself between them.
>
> In all cases, his head points upward somewhat. When he's in that
> resting place, he is more than 45 degrees from horizontal. His
> pectoral fins and tail are constantly moving to help him remain
> afloat. When he rests those, he begins to sink.
>
> I don't see anything physically wrong, and the other rainbows seem OK.
> I did notice the temp was a little high (83), so I turned down the
> heater. FWIW, that resting spot he hangs out in is very near the
> heater (but also near the flow from the filter, so I don't know what
> the local temp is right there).
>
> Any ideas what this might be and what I can do?
>
> Thanks.

Hate to say it, but it sounds like swim bladder to me. I honestly don't
remember what you can do for swim bladder problems.

Andy

[expat[_2_]]

On Aug 14, 6:27*am, Andy Pastuszak > wrote:
> Toe wrote:
> > I have a freshwater tank with four Australian Rainbowfish. Recently,
> > one of them has had trouble swimming. He can swim with the group, but
> > normally ends up retreating to a place where a plant is near a wall,
> > so he can sort of balance himself between them.
>
> > In all cases, his head points upward somewhat. When he's in that
> > resting place, he is more than 45 degrees from horizontal. His
> > pectoral fins and tail are constantly moving to help him remain
> > afloat. When he rests those, he begins to sink.
>
> > I don't see anything physically wrong, and the other rainbows seem OK.
> > I did notice the temp was a little high (83), so I turned down the
> > heater. FWIW, that resting spot he hangs out in is very near the
> > heater (but also near the flow from the filter, so I don't know what
> > the local temp is right there).
>
> > Any ideas what this might be and what I can do?
>
> > Thanks.
>
> Hate to say it, but it sounds like swim bladder to me. *I honestly don't
> * remember what you can do for swim bladder problems.
>
> Andy- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

You can pretty well count on a fish that has equilibrium problems as
having swim bladder problems. Usually what happens is there is
another underlying cause that causes the problem with the swim blader
problem and its not an actual problem that is caused solely by the
sawim bladder alone.. These problems can be caused by parasitic
infestation, bacterial infection, constipation, poor nutrition. These
all affect the fishes ability to swim or have proper equilibrium. So
feed foods that will provide lots of roughage, ensure water temps and
other parameters are correct, and perhaps remove fish to a QT tank and
treat with an antibiotic or anti parasitic and also to enable you to
feed it specificially and to ensure its geting its proper nutrition.
Sometimes a bit of salt helps.