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I have a 7" Gold Severum and has been in my care for almost two years now and he has been the top fish in my set-up til now. He seem to only swim sidewards but when resting he puts himself back to normal, there's no signs of breathing strugle but I have notice that he cant get to food fast enough to eat and sometimes not even interested. All water paramaters are as normal as they always been pH 7, Amonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5ppm. the only thing is the temp, were in summer so the house tends to heat up when no one is home the tank reaches 28 degrees Celcius I have seen it up to 30 but no more, I have it set at 26 normally.
All other tankmates are doing fine 1 7" green Severum, 1 4" gold Severum and 1 4" green severum. a 4" sailfin plec and two 4" pictus catfish. They all look happy and carry on normal in my 4'x 18" X 18" tank. can anyone tell me what could be wrong with my Sev?

Hi Necio...

Sorry to hear your fella isn't doing very well.

When you say he can't get to the food fast enough do you mean he isn't trying or he rushes to it?

How long has he been swimming abnormally? Do you feel that the fish is becoming overly exhausted trying to swim normally? If he is you should set up a hospital tank where the water level is low so that he can stay in one position comfortably and not have to battle to keep himself up right. This would also be ideal in case you need to treat him.

There is a multitude of reasons this could be happening but one of the more common is a condition called Swim Bladder Disease where the fish will lose its equilibrium causing him to swim erratically or float upside-down or sideways. It's caused when dry food is eaten quickly and swells up in the fish's intestine and keeps the fish from controlling its swim bladder properly.

Constipation can also cause what you are seeing. Have you noticed the fish passing waste at all lately?

Internal parasites can also have this effect. As can bacterial infections.

Your water quality sounds good.

Last edited by Tammy at 18-Feb-2005 07:36

Actually I have not seen him pass waste in the last two weeks that this has been happenning. He doesn't rush to the food and if the food passes by him he either shows no interest or he he shows a delayed reaction. Lately, he is now swimming much more and venturing out and swimming to the top in a normal fashion without much difficulty, he tends just to sit or glide in upright. He also started eating in small amounts. I Will setup a hospital tank if things keep getting worse but for now i think he is making progress