# Swimming Erratically



## karmatic1110 (Jun 25, 2006)

I've noticed recently that whenever I approach the tank, one of my red bellies starts darting around the tank while doing a corkscrew motion. I tested my levels and the only thing wrong with my water is a high (but constant) PH of 7.8 and I was wondering what it could be or if it might just be stress. He does seem to hide away from the others.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

karmatic1110 said:


> I've noticed recently that whenever I approach the tank, one of my red bellies starts darting around the tank while doing a corkscrew motion. I tested my levels and the only thing wrong with my water is a high (but constant) PH of 7.8 and I was wondering what it could be or if it might just be stress. He does seem to hide away from the others.


 cork screwing sounds like something to do with the swim bladder. I would do a couple searches for problems with swim bladders to find more.


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## RedneckR0nin (Nov 5, 2008)

Post a video if you can??


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

If he is swimming like that constantly death is inevitable. I've never seen a fish come out of these circumstances. As Sean said swim bladder but it can be an issue with other organs that may be pressing against the swim bladder. I know salt treatment at 0.33% salinity level administered over 3 days will relieve the fish of osmotic pressure therefore easing kidney function on the fish. It may be worth a try. Do as large as possible water change without changing the pH factor drastically and predissolve 1 teaspoon of salt for every gallon of tank water once a day for 3 days and leave tank alone for up to 10 days and monitor the fish for any progress of improvement. Unfortunately the only way to know for sure whats wrong with the fish is cutting it open.


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