# Odd Tetra Behavior...



## JP3778 (Jan 7, 2010)

Hello,

I have a 25gal tank set up at work. It has 2 columbian, 2 bleeding heart, 2 serpae, 2 x-ray, and 2 head/tail light tetras. I've noticed recently, over the past two weeks, that one of the head/tail light tetras is displaying an odd behavior. All are healthy, cleaning once a week, fed flakes/bloodworms, etc...

It's behavior is quite noticeable compared to the others. Swims a distance, stops, then pivots upward. Or, when not swimming around, it will swim straight up then float down and swim up and so on.....

Looking at the tank again and i see that the fish is almost always at a 45 degree angle to the bottom. Tail down and mouth up. Swims like that too and sometimes levelling out....

I'll get some video of it soon...

Any ideas what it's doing?


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## Bawb2u (May 27, 2004)

JP3778 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have a 25gal tank set up at work. It has 2 columbian, 2 bleeding heart, 2 serpae, 2 x-ray, and 2 head/tail light tetras. I've noticed recently, over the past two weeks, that one of the head/tail light tetras is displaying an odd behavior. All are healthy, cleaning once a week, fed flakes/bloodworms, etc...
> 
> ...


Dying.


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

Bawb2u said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have a 25gal tank set up at work. It has 2 columbian, 2 bleeding heart, 2 serpae, 2 x-ray, and 2 head/tail light tetras. I've noticed recently, over the past two weeks, that one of the head/tail light tetras is displaying an odd behavior. All are healthy, cleaning once a week, fed flakes/bloodworms, etc...
> 
> ...


Dying.
[/quote]








That was funny.

Based on your description...I have no clue. My advice...it's a 99 cent fish. Take it out as a precautionary measure.


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## Guest (May 5, 2010)

It has a swim bladder problem I would guess - but these diseases have never been my strong suit.

Symptoms include:

Erratic Swimming Position
Loss of equilibrium
Fish will be unable to maintain buoyancy

Treatments:

This is a problem more common in fancy goldfish, and there is no cure for it. Feeding medicated food (see bottom of page), adding salt to the tank, feeding peas, and raising the temperature to 76 degrees may help but only for a short time. Eventually the fish may be unable to eat and will have to be euthanized.

Feed your fish a couple of peas. That's right, peas. Just get some frozen peas, thaw them, and feed them to your fish. A professor of fish medicine at N.C. State College of Veterinary Medicine has done this in several cases with very good results. He thinks that the peas somehow encourage destruction of the impaction. No hard scientific data yet, but it's worth a try.

Fast your fish for a couple of days. Withhold all food for three or four days, and sometimes this alone will break up the impaction and return things to normal. Most fish can go a week to ten days without food and be just fine.

Periodic aspiration of the swim bladder works very well. Basically, you stick a needle in the swim bladder and suck out some of the air. Not something to be entered into lightly, but does work well. This is not a cure, but a successful treatment. The head veterinarian at the Baltimore Aquarium prefers this method.

Source: http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/swim_bladder_disease/

Just a best guess. Good luck.


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