URGENT: What's wrong with my fish?

[Tomato Sandwich]

Last night I noticed my redcap Oranda floating on the top of the water. I freaked out, thinking she was dead. She swam around a little later though, but in the middle of swimming she kept floating on her side or shaking. It's been almost 2 weeks since I did a water change, so I felt horrible, thinking that's what caused it. I did an ammonia, nitrate, nitrite test, and the ammonia was a bit of stress, so I did a 20% change and put some aquarium salt in. Don't know if I should have done that, but I thought the extra nutrients in it may help the fish. She perked up a lot, but was still swimming weakly and getting bashed around with the current of the filter and aerator, so I filled a fish bowl with water from the tank, put cycle in it and Grandma (the redcap Oranda). Much happier this morning, seems to be swimming around normal and happy and ate well.

I did a water change in my other tank though, and noticed my neon tetra is doing the same kinds of things. I think salt is bad for corydoras and there is one in that tank, so I didn't put salt in. What do I do? I can't just take the neon out as he needs heat and filtration unlike the goldfish. He's just floating around with the current mostly, but is still alive. Please help me quickly!

Edited to add that there's brown algae (or that's what I think it is) in the 26g (where grandma is) growing on the decorations and green algae on the back wall that sprung up in the last week. The 10g (where tetra is) doesn't seem to be affected.

 

[OrangeCones]

What are the actual readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

You can use PRIME as a dechloriniator and it can detoxify ammonia. Overdosing (read bottle carefully) can detoxify nitrite. Be sure to add extra aeration.

 

[Newman]

like Orange said, check the water first and post up exact readings. your problem sound like a swim bladder issue that can be cause by diet, stress, and stress from water conditions..

 

[Tomato Sandwich]

What are the actual readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

You can use PRIME as a dechloriniator and it can detoxify ammonia. Overdosing (read bottle carefully) can detoxify nitrite. Be sure to add extra aeration.

I just have the crappy dip tests, which I know aren't the best. the 26g was GH 180, KH 80, pH 7.0, Nitrite .5-1, Nitrate 20-30, Ammonia .5-1. The 10g had a bit higher Nitrates and a bit lower Ammonia. Of course it's hard to tell as they're just colour matching which isn't all that accurate.

I don't have immediate access to a pet store, just the basics in my town, all I have is aquarium salt, cycle and tap water conditioner....

What should I do?

 

[Newman]

30# water changes with treated water everyday until ammonia and nitrite are 0 and nitrates are below 20ppm. try to keep your parameters like that from now on... also make sure you never use pH changing chemicals to attain a pH of 7.

 

[lauraf]

Having gone through an accidental mini-cycle, where my nitrites and ammonia readings were a little higher than yours, I totally agree with Newman - moderate water changes daily.

 

[Newman]

I meant 30%, my bad.

 

[OrangeCones]

Two goldfish in a 26 gallon tank is overstocked a bit, so you will likely battle water quality issues unless you are very strict on regular large water changes.

Goldies can be poop machines!

 

[Tomato Sandwich]

Having gone through an accidental mini-cycle, where my nitrites and ammonia readings were a little higher than yours, I totally agree with Newman - moderate water changes daily.

Will this also help with the algae that's growing? And should I continue adding salt with each water change to keep it at the recommended concentration on the box?

 

[Newman]

yes, add the amount of salt proportional to the gallons you will be changing out with the WC.
Water changes can help with algae control sometimes.

 

[Doomhed]

Water changes can help with algae control sometimes.

sometimes too well. I want a tank wall devoted to algae to feed my otos and now I cant grow algae if I wanted to!

 

[Newman]

Doom, just don't clean that tank wall with anything (magfloats, etc) and wait till it becomes dirty from sediment. later maybe some algae will start growing...might take a few months.