tetra swimming in strange way

[valleyaggie]

Help!!

One of my black skirt tetras is swimming around the top of the tank in a very strange way. It's been doing this for several days now - but doesn't look ill in any way. He just swims in circles just under the surface of the water with his nose pointed toward the surface. One of his gills looks a little red, but his overall color is good. Any ideas? None of the other fish seem to be affected in any way...

[Lucy]

what you said about the gill IS a sign of illness, so is any strange behaviour. I don't know enough to tell you which ones, but if you do searches you can usually find sites that will list symptoms, diseases and treatments. Once you find a disease name you can do web searches to get more info to be sure that it is the disease you think, and that the treatment method is agreed upon. I look at www.fishyfarmacy.com first because it has a very easy diagnostic tool.

Also, as stated in the message to new members, it really is hard to make guesses if we don't know what your tank set-up is like.

Do you test your water for quality? Both the gill issue and the staying at the top would suggest to me to look at the water first. Again, info anyone would need before they could definitely diagnose the condition and the cause.

[CrazieEddie]

Sounds like a swim bladder problem.

I've seen something like this on a male molly of mine. Luckily it wasn't a disease, just him trying to impress the ladies and tell the other males (althought guppies) to back off. :D