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Hello,

I have a sick Black Phantom tetra and I'm not sure how to help her.

She's having difficulty keeping herself upright when she swims. She tends to flop over on her side, or her head points towards the tank bottom and her tail points towards the tank top. Her respiration rate also seems quite rapid. She is still eating and I don't see other outward signs of disease (no raised scales or discolorations on her body; no signs of fungal infection or visible parasites...).

None of the other fish appear to be affected. I have a 55 gallon, planted tank (low light ~1.5 wpg; no CO2). Tank parameters have been stable for a long time:

pH 7.3
Nitrate 20
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Temp 80F

I do 10 to 15% water changes every 1 to 2 weeks. I add Seachem's Flourish once a week and Excel 2 or 3 times a week for the plants.

Tank inhbitants are:

4 Black Phantom tetras (2 male, 2 female)
6 Neon tetras
5 Pristella tetras
6 Panda corys
3 Otocinclus

The aquarium has been set up for about 1 year.

I moved the sick fish to a quarantine tank last night, but I'm not sure what to do for her. I'm hoping someone on this forum will offer some suggestions.

Thanks for reading! I really appreciate any help you can provide.

Camille

p.s. I live in Florida, USA if that helps for possible medication options...

Looks like no one has replied to you so I will atempt to assist you.

First is the fish still alive?
It sounds like a swim bladder problem. Here is a link that migh help you. [link=info here] http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm#Swim-bladder%20Disease[/link]

I certainly would alter your water changes to a weekly 30% What you are doing is not the best practice.
Filtrtaion what type do you have and how often and how do you clean it.
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm#Swim-bladder%20Disease

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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Hi Keithgh,

I have a Rena Filstar XP2 canister filter with foam pads in the bottom compartment (2 sizes for coarse and fine debris removal), ceramic noodles in the central compartment, and quilt batting material in the top compartment.

I change out the batting material every other week during water change, and rinse the foam pads occasionally in siphoned water from the aquarium.

The tetra is still alive. I didn't see her eat anything today, but she ate some frozen brine shrimp last night.

Thanks for the link to tropical fish diseases, I had not seen that one before. It's a bit hard to know if I should add anything to the tank for treatment because the fish really isn't displaying outward signs of any specific infection or parasitic infestation. She just is really struggling to stay upright in the water.

Any suggestions on what to try treatment-wise?

Thanks for trying to help!

Regards,
Camille

As far as saying what treatment to use I will leave it to the USA members who know what you can buy.

I would remove all the filter material weekly when you do the waterchange and wash it in the old tank water. This will help to keep every thing cleaner.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW