My poor little baby fantail might be sick. I do not know but he is floating at the surface whenever I am not around. But when I approach him he greets me and comes down but seems like he has to float back up again. He is not upside down so I do not think it is swim bladder. I've been feeding them peas for the past 2 days.

The ammonia level is 0.
I do not know about the nitrite or nitrates. (It might be high.. I am getting the tank established.)
PH level is 7.3 is 7.4.
The tank is 30 gallons and there are 3 goldfishes in it including the fantail. It has been running or maybe 3 weeks now. And thats when I got the fantail.
I do not know the name and the size of the filter.. but it is working fine.
I change the water every week or so. Olny 25%-50% change... depending on the water quality.
There are 3 fish in the tank all very small.. 1-1.5 inch.
I just have a little bit of salt because they have been treated with maracyn II a week or so ago and I wanted any bacterias out.
There are no new fish to the tank.
I feed my fish soaked flake food and peas and occasionally goldfish crisps. But I have then feeding them peas for the past 2 days.
No unusual marks on the fish.
He is eating properly.. just staying at the top occasionally but still greet me and moves out of the way if other fishes approach.

Is my fantail just exhausted from greeting people because I have my aunt and uncle over an we pass the tank often.. and they always greets us. Or is he maybe suffering from swim bladder?

Please help. Thankks.

Oh and I've noticed this behavior only a few hours ago.. I posted as quick as possible just in case.

Please someone answer me.. I'm very worried!!

Is there anyway that you can get your water tested? Usually fish stores will do it for free if you take in a sample of your water. Make sure to get the numbers written down not just "It's fine." It may not be fully cycled as sometimes that takes longer than 3 weeks. That would help us to tell you what may be wrong with your fish.

You could try not feeding the fish for a couple days then feeding him a pea. This helped with my ryukin.

Let us know on the water quality as soon as you can.

Hi Carmel - Erin's right, it's too soon for your tank to finish cycling plus meds were added without testing the water quality first. Unfortunately, adding meds to a tank that's cycling without the benefit of large daily waterchanges would mean that not only is there the stress of toxic water, but there's the added stress of meds on top of this. Medicines will only do good if a fish is ill and the water quality is excellent otherwise it can do a lot of damage.

My suggestion would be to do a 70% waterchange before you get the water tested and try to match both the ph and temperature... at the 3 week mark, nitrites will be on the climb and this will also cause stress.

A tank can take anywhere from 6-8 weeks to cycle and the first 3-4 weeks is when ammonia will climb, then once ammonia levels start to reduce, nitrites will climb to such a level as to be deadly to fish. Usually a good way to combat these high levels is by changing 50-70% of the water daily, or if you have test kits - change the amount of water dictated by the levels in your tank.

I hope all this makes sense?

So a nice big waterchange might help and also, do you have an airpump for the tank?

Please post back soon

I got the water tested and the nitrite level is 2 and nitrate level is 1.

the fantail looked fine this morning. but i dont know for sure that he is alright.

I would do a water change as aim is to keep nitrites at zero.As a high level can and will over time cause ill health and even death.I would buy yourself a test kit and keep an eye on your water parameters.
If symptoms still persist after obtaining correct water parameters it could be swim bladder in which case feeding peas twice a week in place of normal food and raising tank temp slightly will help.Heres a link on swim bladder which you may like to read.

http://us.geocities.com/swimbladderhelp/index.html

Blue's right as nitrites can do lasting damage if a fish survives high levels. 2 is an incredibly high level so big waterchanges daily should help (ie. 70%)...

Hopefully this will help your fish

Today he seemed to be fine and not floating.. but after I fed him some peas, which he seemed to like, but then he started to float again.

Are peas sometimes not good for some fish?

My orandas like the peas and seem to be fine.

By the way.. how can I lower the nitrite and nitrate levels? cuz doing a water change didnt really help as much.

Water changes are the best way to quickly reduce the nitrites and nitrates.

Have you tested the nitrite and nitrate levels of your tap water?

I agree, waterchanges are best and don't be afraid to change out 90% of the water to get your parameters in check. The beneficial bacteria will be colonising your filter not your water so if needs be, try to change out the water needed to get it healthier for your fish

The ph of my tap water is 7.0 and the ammonia is 0. Nitrite and nitrate are also 0.

I will set the water up today so it can stay overnight and do a water change tomorrow.

You should also use some kind of water conditioner, since water can also have chloramines in it, which doesn't evaporate overnight.

yeah. i have some left so i'll use that. thanks for the reminder.

i dont think he takes peas well because i fed him soaked flake food this morning and he seems to be fine.

Has he started floating at all after you fed him this morning?

Peas are definetely great food, for SBD or healthy fish. Of course, if a fish has never eaten them before, he needs some time to get used to it. Some fish do anyway - kind of like us when we get to try new food. Maybe if you chop the pea in several small pieces, he might have it easier to eat them.

Definetely keep an eye on the water readings, make water changes accordingly, and feed the peas as his only food for a day or two. It can't be said for sure if its SBD or high nitrite/nitrate sensitivity, so for now you have to cover both ends.

He seems to be floating again.. I feel really bad now. I am going to get a sample of the water once again to get it checked. The ammonia did suddenly go to zero about a week ago so it might just be the high level of nitrites. But the thing is my two orandas are fine.. I added some salt to the aquarium because it said it will help reduce stress and lower nitrites.

Tomorrow I will be doing a 70% water change. And hopefully everything will work out for my little fantail's desired water condition.

I feel bad because i know he doesnt want to float.. he keeps putting himself between plants so that he will not float. I checked to see if the other fish are picking on him, as fish do pick on others when they are sick. But they are not picking on him an are not bothering him.


I really do hope that I can lower the nitrite levels soon.

Thanks so much for helping and posting replies.

Hi carmel, just a little off topic but do you have your fish in a bowl? I just noticed your sig....

no that was in the old days when i didnt know much. they are in a tank now.

I thought that might be the case because I just re-read your first post and realised you put 30 gallons (doh!). I bet they're happier in the 30 no?

Yup! It seems so. But at first they didnt adjust very good and were stressed out. Now they are fine. Except carmel that is.. he is floating.. like i have mentioned.

But the bowl wasnt so small like others.. it was 8 gallons with a filter and an air pump.

I got the water checked today and they guy said. Ph. perfect at 7.4. Ammonia 0. Nitrite and Nitrate.. OFF THE CHARTS!!!


Yeah.. so I'm going to be doing a 70% water change today. And not feed the fish because the guy said to be careful of feeding them and suggested that they dont get fed today.

Yeah, well, there you got it! Water changes, water changes, and then some more water changes. You don't have actual numbers on the nitrite/nitrate test results, do you?
Either way, keep the salt in the tank as well. It doesn't really lower the nitrites, but it protects the fish's gill from nitrite poisoning - the gills are the ones effected the most when it comes to nitrites. There is also a pouch available called "Nitrazorb", that looks pretty much like a bag of carbon. I haven't used those for years now, and I can't remember if they were for nitrates or nitrites. I think more for nitrites...

No I don't have the numbers. I think the fantail is doing better now that I have put some salt in. It seems that whenever I feed him he floats.. so I'm not going to feed him today. Nitrazorb sounds great. I will go look for some. Thanks for the tip. =)

one of my fish was doing the same thing.. i changed the water and my goldie is perfectly fine now....:-)

I think without test kits, it may be essential to change masses of water daily. Nitrites will climb sky high about now so waterchanges will get them through this phase of the cycle

In about 7-8 days, you could take another sample of your water to your local and ask them to test the nitrites again and the results will tell you if your tank has finished cycling

Okay thanks! Carmel is doing fine now. I got him a little pot and he likes to sleep in it. I haven't seen him float all day yesterday and today so that makes me happy.

Would changing the water once a week be okay or do I have to change it more than that?

You can go to once a week after your tank has finished cycling (0 ammonia and 0 nitrites)... Once your nitrites are at 0 for a couple of days, then all will be well.

Until then, I'd continue with daily waterchanges and then in a couple of days, see if your lfs will test your levels and see how they sit...

How are things going?