Why Is My Fish Swimming Face Down?
by outdoor on Sunday, May 1st, 2011 | 9 Comments
I saw my fish this morning and I thought he was dead. When I got closer I could see that he was still breathing and moving, he’s swimming with his head down and his body is sort of bent in half. I think he may have swallowed a small rock and got it lodged or something. Anyway, hey can sort of swim but he struggles and kind of just lets his head float around ’til it finally sinks. What’s up? What should I do?
some fish do that
Eat him, fish are delicious.
It’s dead
This means he has a bacterial infection in his intestines and fungus has prob. set in.
There is not much you can do except
do not feed this fish at all for atleast a day.
Do not add alot of chemicals to the water.
You can do a partial water change and add a pinch of baking soda to the water.
let the fish rest do not feed send us update.
ps what type of fish are we talking ?
Wait and see. I’ev had lots of fish, and this has happened to me before. If it floats to the bottom or stops moving or gets all this white fuz on it ( I know, ew) it’s dead. But sometimes they shake it off and are fine. Don’t flush him just yet.
This is a problem with the swim bladder. It’s usually a result of a diet where they aren’t getting enough of the proper foods, especially fiber. If your fish will still eat, give it a cooked pea with the skin removed (you may need to pinch pieces off the pea if it can’t get an entire pea in its mouth).
If this doesn’t help within two days, this may have been caused or developed into an internal ifection. You can use a broad-spectrum antibiotic to treat this. See the link below under “swim bladder” http://www.fish-disease.net/diseases.htm
if your fish is a female it may be getting ready to have babies.
I can not tell you because you never said what kind of fish ,but it sounds like he`s had it.
If there are no other visible signs of disease, like white patches on his body/fins (fungus ), bloating & scales sticking out (dropsy), or red gills (infection) I would think it is a swimbladder issue. If he will eat try feeding his 1/2 of a frozen pea (thawed first) and cut into small pieces. Drop in one peice at a time close to his face as peas sink fast and you want to give him a chace to catch/eat what you are feeding him. If he is not eating at all give him some time, and when his appetite returns, try the frozen pea for a day or two. Good luck.