Help! Fish struggling to stay up, swim bladder problems?

[ratty16]

I have a cherry barb in a 20 gallon tank who is beating his front fins frantically and swimming upward in order to stay up, otherwise he sinks to the bottom. It seems like his swim bladder isn't working and he can't "float" in the water like before. I've had cherry barbs die of this in the past (2 years ago), and I never knew how to help them or even why they got it. Can anyone tell me what this is or how I can cure it??

The only difference in tank parameters is that the ph has risen from 6.0 (measured on 7/16/16) to 7.0 (measured today, on 10/5/16). This could be the cause, but in the past fish had this problem without major changes to the PH so it could be a coincidence?

I did a 50% water change and am going to feed him peas, but what else can I do

UPDATE (same day): Fish happily devoured peas, Looking at him up close it seems like his "chest" area is a little bloated looking, but otherwise looks normal despite the fact that he seems stressed and is struggling to stay "up"

UPDATE (10/6/16): He seems even more stressed, darting around when I get near, back arched. I didn't feed him today because I heard fasting can help, is that true?

 

[marnold00]

If hes overfed and bloated you need to fast him for three days and then on the 4th boil a pea, peel the outer layer of skin off and chop the inside and feed it once cooled works a treat on my cherry barbs!!!

It could also be dropsy. Does it look like its scales are pointing out?

If the pH rose gradually over that time then i wouldnt worry. If it happened in a week then i would. However its a bit odd for it to just rise. Did you start doing anything different? New water conditioner etc.

What do you fill your tank with? If your tap water has a water softener then that isnt too safe for the fish.

Cherry barbs do fine in pH7-8 and moderately hard water.

What are your other tank inhabitants? Whilst cherry barbs dont swim in a tight shoal they need to be in a group of 6 or more to reduce stress. They also like plenty of floating plants. My fish had stress issue until i added lots of floating plants (which are also beneficial to tanks. Theyre basically a nitrate sink and will also help with ammonia etc). A stressed fish is more likely to end up a sick fish.

What are your ammonia and nitrite levels? and is your tank cycled?

Keep up with the regular (daily) water changes.

 

[StevenF]

From my understanding is that for many aquarium tests, a PH of 6 is the minimum reading. If that is the case for your test kit, then it is possible your PH was A LOT LOWER. If that was the case the fish may have been shocked during the last water change and might be injured.

A common cause f low PH is high levels of CO2 dissolved in well water. Water saturated with CO2 can have a PH as low at 3. One simple way to test for this to fill a bottle with tap water and measure the PH. Record the reading. Let is sit in a dark place without a lid. And then every couple of days Recheck the PH. If the PH increases the water is outgassing. Commonly the gas is CO@ but it could also be chlorine or other gases. Most gases when dissolved in water will make it acidic. If your test shows outgassing you should let your water sit in an uncapped container before it is used. Do not use the water until until the PH has stabilized.

 

[ratty16]

I'll try this with my tap water, but what can I do to help my shocked fish?

 

[ratty16]

I tried the pea/fasting method, and my fish ate the pea, but he's still struggling and just seems to be getting worse. It's definitely not dropsy but I'm not sure what's wrong

 

[ratty16]

I tested the tap water and it's pH is 7.5. The pH in the tank is low because of the driftwood in it. The fish grew up with the driftwood in there so removing it would seriously stress the fish out and cause another drastic shift in the pH.

 

[ratty16]

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=YjZYRVo3N2pjSGw2NS16eExyb0JfSkFqUnlPYXN3

Link to a video of the fish. Maybe this will help identify what's wrong.

 

[ratty16]

UPADATE! My fish is now doing worse, swimming up, very stressed struggling to stay afloat doesn't seem interested in eating.
When I first saw something was wrong it was 10/5/16 and pH was 7.0 and KH was zero. I've been doing alot of water changes since then, and yesterday the filter broke and was off for a bit, but I got it working again and changed the cartridge. Today I tested the water and pH was at 6.5, KH at 40 mg/l, and a slight decrease in GH. The KH increase could be caused by the water changes, but then pH of the tap water is 7.5, so the pH drop makes no sense! Any advice?

I'm going to add baking soda to slightly raise the KH, but what should I do to help my fish?

 

[WILDER]

Bless Him. He sounds to far gone to save to me bless him.
He will be getting exhausted trying to stay up right. The kindest thing to do
really is end his suffering. So sorry.