One of my fish is swimming increasingly oddly, do you guys think he's sick (in which case what does he have and how worried for my other fish should I be) or is he just getting old?
I purchased some GloFish tetras 3 1/2 weeks ago (5 fish in a 10 gallon tank). One of the fish is clearly on the bottom of the pecking order. He (I'm fairly sure its a male) has always swam kind of oddly - occasionally swimming at an angle (somewhere between upright an a 45deg angle). If he were a submarine I would say he was having trouble keeping his ballasts equally filled. He looked healthy, and since this only happened occasionally, and always in the evenings, I assumed he was sleeping.
However I've just returned from a weekend away (used a weekend food pellet) and it looks like he's lost weight, and now its his front/back ballasts that are off, with his head way higher than his body. And he often drifts on the current rather than swimming like the other fish. I've taken a video of this that I will try to upload.
I've also noticed that he sometimes will lie down on the gravel - if I come over to investigate he will quickly join all the other fish in investigating the movement on the other side of the glass.
All the other fish look happy and healthy.
Any help/suggestions?
I'm working on prepping the bucket I use for cleaning the water into a makeshift tank - if he is sick then I doubt removing him will prevent the other fish from being exposed, but it might prevent any buildup of bacteria or ammonia in my tank if he does perish.
I purchased some GloFish tetras 3 1/2 weeks ago (5 fish in a 10 gallon tank). One of the fish is clearly on the bottom of the pecking order. He (I'm fairly sure its a male) has always swam kind of oddly - occasionally swimming at an angle (somewhere between upright an a 45deg angle). If he were a submarine I would say he was having trouble keeping his ballasts equally filled. He looked healthy, and since this only happened occasionally, and always in the evenings, I assumed he was sleeping.
However I've just returned from a weekend away (used a weekend food pellet) and it looks like he's lost weight, and now its his front/back ballasts that are off, with his head way higher than his body. And he often drifts on the current rather than swimming like the other fish. I've taken a video of this that I will try to upload.
I've also noticed that he sometimes will lie down on the gravel - if I come over to investigate he will quickly join all the other fish in investigating the movement on the other side of the glass.
All the other fish look happy and healthy.
Any help/suggestions?
I'm working on prepping the bucket I use for cleaning the water into a makeshift tank - if he is sick then I doubt removing him will prevent the other fish from being exposed, but it might prevent any buildup of bacteria or ammonia in my tank if he does perish.