nicole

Any idea's on what is wrong with this fish?
Its been standing on or should I say floating on it's head for about 2 weeks now,stays in the one spot on the bottom of the tank.It still eats but apart from that nothing else.Have done much research and all I can think of is swim bladder disease,my LFS said it could be hole in the head but I don,t think it's that.It's not my fish but I feel responsible for it as I gave it to a friend of mine about 4weeks ago as I had no room for it,I would hate to see anything bad happen to it makes me feel like I shouldn't have given it away.Anyway after having a look at the fish on the weekend have advised freind not to feed fish for a couple of days and just feed a peeled,thawed pea.Spoke to freind this afternoon aqnd she tells me fish is still this same.Any suggestions would be grateful.

COBettaCouple

what kind of fish is it? does he ever move at all, even to get away if it feels threatened? are there any other symptoms? would it be possible to get a pic? it does sound like a swim bladder or air bladder disorder.

nicole

I am going to check on fish this afternoon,so it will be possible to post a pic later.The only other thing is it's lips have swelled up in the last couple of days.It's a discus I put hand in tank to see if it would move and it did move briefly but went straight back to the same position, any I will get a pic and post it later. Thanks for your help

COBettaCouple

What's in or around the spot that discus goes to? Where is that spot in relation to the filter and air stone? Is this the only discus in the tank and what other fish are in there? Also if you have a current ammonia, nitrite, nitrate reading that might help figure this out.

I'll also move this over to the diseases forum to get more feedback from other members, especially from Discus owners i hope.

nicole

Havn't been able to get pic yet (need to recharge camera batteries).Went around and checked up on fish and tested water,nitrate was 10, the ph was way of at 8.0 which is way to high for what this fish is used to,all other readings were fine.I ended doing a water change and a general clean up of the tank and have asked friend to do 25-30% water changes everyday.There were no other symptoms other then what i've mentioned.The fish is on its own in tank and is positioned in front corner of tank away from airstone,filter..................any ideas!!!

COBettaCouple

sounds like he's trying to be in the calmest spot he can find.. which would make sense if his swim bladder has trouble and he can't control his swimming. i wish i knew more about discus or had another idea what's wrong, but it just sounds like a swim bladder disorder.. a general purpose med may help, but i couldn't recommend a strong med at this point because it would have more chance of doing him harm than good. i can only say to keep feeding peas and keep the water clean, maybe add liquid vitamins.. unfortunately, some swim bladder disorders have no cures, you just have to wait on it to heal on it's own.

nicole

Thanks heaps you guys,I think the same as you. Do you have any idea what can cause sb disease? Have also advised friend not to feed fish for a couple of days again as she tells me yesterday she fed him bloodworms because she thought he would starve.....I have reassured her this isn't the case....Anyway I'm just lettin of steam.....should never have given him away....My first BIG lesson and my number 1 rule from now on Do not give fish away unless you are 100% sure they are going to be cared for the way they deserve.

COBettaCouple

there's a lot of causes for swim bladder disorder.. anything from "just one of those things" to excessive or real bad constipation. If it is the result of constipation, then hopefully the pea diet will help. At least once a week he should probably be fasted as well.