Poor Thing..

[becca11Participant]

Alright, I noticed earlier that my Nematobrycon lacortei was swimming oddly. He has lost abit of color on his left side. He is swimming upside down, doing sprials in the tank, swimming on his right side(left side up).

Is he sick? Other then the loss of color I can’t see anything else wrong with him. I went ahead and moved him out of the tank just incase. Does anyone know what could be wrong with him, what I can do, etc?

All advice is welcome

#304672

[duncKeymaster]

I’d be surprised if he was alive in the morning, becca :/

If he’s not swimming correctly that is often indicative of something fairly serious.

Is his breathing abnormal?

Saying that, it could be a swim bladder problem, but in my experience it’s more likely that the fish is on its way to the massive river in the sky.

Reply tomorrow, if he’s still alive, I’ll give you some guidance with regards to treating swim bladder problems

#304673

[becca11Participant]

Mhm, and Im just as suprised as you are.
He is still alive!

#304674

[keith565Participant]

sorry to hear he is not well/ it does sound very serious to me, probably a stroke or heart attack i’m afraid.
all you can do is keep him comfortable and wait.

[becca11Participant]

Hi Keith, Thank you for you kind words.

That is what I was affraid off. He is still hanging on and it is 2:20pm here, 8 hours since I left for school, he doesnt seem any different, but he is swimming around much less(Might be because it droped afew degress while I was gone..), and sometimes floating to the bottom, then swimming upside down again or in circles on his side.

[SofiaMember]

Ohh /sad.gif” style=”vertical-align:middle” emoid=”:(” border=”0″ alt=”sad.gif” />

[becca11Participant]

Thanks Sofia. I hope so too.

He hasn’t really changed in the past 3 hours, no better nor worse..
I guess I’ll just have to wait.

[becca11Participant]

I tried to go to a local pet store this afternoon, but it seemed to be closed(As in out of business or something)?! I was mad, and that was a fairly good store too. So after I myself went to the doctors(as I am sick as well, haha), I went to a different pet store.

The manager there said that it is most likely a swim bladder problem and that it will go away in afew days.. Is this true?

And is there anything else I could do for the fish? Cause the guy there didn’t really say much.. He was kinda rude actully.

#304682

[keith565Participant]

tbh, i find a lot of pet stores know little about what they sell. I’m surprised he didn’t try and sell you some tonic or other.
tbh, most swim bladder problems i’ve seen usually reflect in buoyancy problems and not erratic swimming as your is. however, i may be wrong here.
is he swimming in one direction, say always to the left or right?

[duncKeymaster]

I’m afraid I would be inclined to agree with Keith. Swimming upside down and in circles, especially when coupled with other symptoms such as loss of colours, would certainly indicate to me that the poor sod has had some kind of stroke or heart attack

#304691

[becca11Participant]

QUOTE(keith565 @ Mar 26 2008, 06:07 AM) < {POST_SNAPBACK}>

tbh, i find a lot of pet stores know little about what they sell. I’m surprised he didn’t try and sell you some tonic or other.

I know exactly what your talking about, thats why I tried to got to the other pet store first because the owner of the store was pretty knowledgeable. The second store I went to was a Pets Unlimited.. I don’t like their stores to begin with. Well, I don’t really like pet stores at all, they don’t take proper care of the fish…and don’t even get me started about Walmart! Do you folk have Walmart where you live?

Anyways, The fish is still hanging on, but he dosen’t seem to be getting any better. Do you think I should just.. well, you know what Im talking about. Or should I just wait for abit and see how he is doing? I just don’t want him to suffer if he is slowly dying..

#304692

[MattKeymaster]

I agree with these two Becca. This doesn’t sound like a swim bladder issue at all. What temperature setting do you have your heater on? You really should try to avoid large swings in temperature like the one you mention above if possible.

edit – No, we don’t have Walmart but I’ve been in a few in the States….evil places. Believe me we have our own, equally terrible alternatives hehehe.

[becca11Participant]

QUOTE(Matt @ Mar 26 2008, 03:12 PM) < {POST_SNAPBACK}>

edit – No, we don’t have Walmart but I’ve been in a few in the States….evil places. Believe me we have our own, equally terrible alternatives hehehe.

Okay, they sell hermit crabs IN A CUP! How cruel is that?! They give them no water, hardly any food. Grrrr. They make me so mad. Most of the fish are sick, and you always see AT LEAST two dead ones per tank. Yet people still buy them… -shakes head-

[SofiaMember]

How is your fish doing Becca?

[becca11Participant]

Hi Sofia!

Um, not any better, not any worse. I’m starting to think that he had a stroke(is that possibly?) and he is paralyzed on his right side(is this possibly?). That is the side that has a loss in color and he doesn’t use that fin either, just his left fin, which it looks like is why he is swimming on his left side(right side up), because he can’t move his right fin to make him swim straight.

I don’t know, does that make sense?…

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