Tetra is swimming funny

My fiancee has a tetra that is swimming funny. It seems to be swimming on a funny angle, fin down head up. When it stops trying it sinks to the bottom and tries to go back up. Its been like this for a few months. Any idea what is going on?

 

I have had the same problem with my flame tetras. I recently lost one who was swimming oddly but he lived like that for a few months. Currently I have two tetras that are exhibiting this behavior. They eat normally and even swim normally when food is present but otherwise they sit near the bottom of the tank and swim jerkily at an angle. I can't figure out what is wrong with them either.

 

My cardinals did that... hope someone knows what this is

 

Could be swim bladder disease

 

Yeah I thought it could be bladder disease but they seem to swim either way. Doesn't bladder disease just makes them sink and stay there?

Also the fins are a little nipped, you think that plays a roll?

 

Not necessarily. The main thing it seems to do is upset their sense of balance, at least until it gets really bad. Kind of like an inner ear infection in humans making them unsure of which way is up. It easily could be swim bladder disease.

Fins may be nipped by fish wondering what this strange behavior is all about, or get ripped on decorations from the 'reckless' swimming patterns.

 

There are several forms of SBD, and I have experience with two personally. One makes it difficult to get off the bottom of the tank, the other the fish swells up and has difficulty staying upright.

This sounds like it is constantly bullied to me. What are the tankmates?

 

Or it could be getting bullied because it has an issue already, but I wouldn't discount Tigress' thought.

 

Or it could be getting bullied because it has an issue already, but I wouldn't discount Tigress' thought.

it sounds to me like an External Parasite from being bullied. happens more than we think. Quick Cure is a great product and would probably fix it.
it is very cheap in price but is effective.

 

Well, some how she made it work, but it's goldfish and a community of tetras. They all seem to get a long, the gold fish when I see them don't really bother the tetras at all. They seem to be schooling just fine.

If it was bullied, than it seems that was the only one bullied.

 

Your fiance needs to fix her incompatiblilites in this tank. Goldfish are coldwater, neons are tropical.

How big is this tank, and what kind of goldfish is it? It will most likely outgrow the tank before you know it!

 

This thing is at least 75 gallons. I belive it's a 85 gallon tank. The gold fish there are at least 4 inches and the tetras that she has in there are about 2.5 inches, at least.

Many of them have been with each other for at least 1.5 years so while it looks imcompatible they've seem to go find and adjusted. The temp in the tank is about 75-80 degrees.

Maybe I should recommend placing it in a QT tank.

 

This thing is at least 75 gallons. I belive it's a 85 gallon tank. Maybe I should recommend placing it in a QT tank.

easily figured out Fashooga, there is a calculator at the bottom of the thread, measure the Length, width and height of the tank, insert the numbers correctly into the calculator and press the equal sign. should help you out a good bit.