Swimbladder issue or something else?
#1
Hi, I have a problem with one...possibly two, of my 7 week old goldfish fry. They are in a 30L tank with a heater set at 24°C. I have been feeding them baby brine shrimp, but a couple of weeks ago also started feeding them crushed dried daphnia and Liquifry No3. They have their tank vacuumed each day, when I change 60-70% of the water. A couple of weeks ago I was having issues with pH, and this led to an ammonia spike...this was rectified by adding crushed coral.
They had been doing fine, although some were growing much faster than the others, and two of the bigger ones have now gone to live in the big boys tank. Sadly, the smallest one died...one minute he was swimming around just fine, and then a few minutes later his little body was stuck to the filter :( But I'm thinking maybe the ammonia spike was too much for him as he was very small compared to the others.
Sadly one of them, Button (I have four remaining in the fry tank) has spent the last week lying on the bottom. He does try to swim about and manages to swim with a very zigzaggy motion, he'll swim up to the top and do a few loops of the tank, then sinks to the bottom, where he can't maintain a stable position. He usually ends up on his side, or on his head...poor little thing. I did take him out and put him in a separate box, but the water was getting so cold (my house is like a freezer!) and I don't have a spare heater or filter...or a spare socket, so I ended up putting him back in the fry tank.
Now his little brother Seven has started to show the same signs...lying on his side on the bottom...although, he is still very active.
I have continued to check the water daily...ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrates 5-10, pH 6.8 (still low, but much better than it was, and a stable 6.8 now).
I've tried feeding him mashed peas (which my adult fish have every week and love them), but he didn't seem to know what to do with it. I've lowered the level of water in the tank, so he doesn't have to swim so high to reach the surface, and I've cut down on the food...but he's not getting any better after a full week now.
Am I being cruel to him by leaving him like this, I keep looking at the clove oil, but he looks so determined when he's swimming I don't want to put him to sleep if he still has a chance of a happy life.
Any other suggestions of what to do, or if it could be something other than a swimbladder disorder.
Many thanks in advance.