Can someone help me please....

[Krazy Kal]

I am very worried abut my RTC. He is staying at the bottom of the tank but will flip himself over onto his back. He seems to be swimming sideways and has problems leveling himself. He also does not seem to want to eat. My ph level is 6.0ish and my ammonia and nitrite (nitrate) levels are fine. The tank is a 220 gallon and I have 2 other RTC and a pleco. I did a 30% water change and also cleaned the filters. There is no outward signs of illness. My buddy is about 2' long and I don't want to lose him. Does anyone have any ideas as what could be the problem?

 

[tarheel96]

Once a fish has trouble swimming the situation rarely improves I'm sorry to say.

 

[Boomer1224]

could it be a swim bladder problem?

 

[Krazy Kal]

That's what I'm thinking it could be. But how could something like that be fixed?

 

[Just Toby]

People always say nitrate is fine, what is it? I would do big water changes and consider low level salt but as previously stated, fish rarely come back from here. Sorry.

 

[#.$]

+1 on the swim bladder. You can try lowering the water lvl to relive pressure. Is the fish abdomen swollen?

 

[moe214]

2' long rtc in a standard 220? Hope not.. but could feed peas and add epsom salt to help bladder

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

The fish is probably stunted and is now being done in by living in too small of a tank with too high of a bio load. I doubt the fish will be able to recover.

 

[Drstrangelove]

My ph level is 6.0ish and my ammonia and nitrite (nitrate) levels are fine. The tank is a 220 gallon and I have 2 other RTC and a pleco. Does anyone have any ideas as what could be the problem?

-Test your water and post it. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, temperature.

-Post a history of the tank and the fish. How long have you had each of them? How long has the tank been running? How long has the RTC been sick? Was the RTC or any other fish sick recently?

-Post a picture of your tank with closeups of the fish.

 

[Just Toby]

I would have thought the nitrate levels would be off the chart daily with 3 RTC in. 220 especially one at 2 foot...I would have thought you would get big ammonia spikes too even with daily water changes.