Please help!!!

Puskilla · Apr 16, 2021

This just started this morning idk what’s happening.

April 16, 2021

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Note from moderator: this is a saltwater tank but thread has been moved to emergencies forum

Sgooosh · Apr 16, 2021

can you post the video on another platform
or take some photos
youtube isnt working for me today

can someone explain what's happening here?

Slaphppy7 · Apr 16, 2021

Color looks great, but that spiraling is bad...

@Colin_T , any idea what's going on here?...or anyone else with SW fish?

PheonixKingZ · Apr 16, 2021

@Chad @Krib32 @Donya

Sgooosh · Apr 16, 2021

maybe it is internal brain problems?

PheonixKingZ · Apr 16, 2021

If the fish is spinning, it’s most likely a swim bladder issue.

Donya · Apr 16, 2021

For those who can't see the video, the fish is doing circles - tilting head down then doing a full loop, basically a forward flip over and over again. I have never personally seen a fish do this but my immediate guess would be something neurological, particularly since there appears to be another fish in there that's just fine. If it was a swim bladder issue (another common culprit of having difficulty staying right-side-up) then I'd expect the fish to either sink or have issues flipping upside down and staying that way. I've never seen a fish with swim bladder disease that just circles like this. Perhaps it could still be a swim bladder issue and it's just caught in the flow from a powerhead?

I would first try turning the powerheads off briefly and seeing if this changes the pattern at all. If it continues to be forwards flips then I would think a neurological issue. If the fish is easy to catch you could try putting it in a bucket of tank water but if it can't control its swimming properly that could also cause more injuries if it slams into the rock.

In just a moment I'm also going to move this to FW emergencies even though this thread is saltwater. I really doubt this is a saltwater-specific fish illness so there may be better help to be had from the freshwater folks.

Colin_T · Apr 16, 2021

Diseases are the same in fresh and salt water fishes so it doesn't matter if it's fresh or salt, the symptoms and diseases and health issues are exactly the same.

The fish has either suffered a head injury or has an infection in the brain. There's not normally any cure. You can try putting it in a small tank without any ornaments so it doesn't injure itself further. Then monitor it over the next 24 hours. If there is no improvement, euthanise it.

Check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and salinity. It should be ok but make sure it is. Poor water quality can cause protozoan infections in the brain that can cause this. I doubt it's a water quality issue tho.

How long have you had the fish for?
Have you added anything in the last 2 weeks?
Did you do anything to the tank the day before this started?