my fish is sinking to the bottom

Question
QUESTION: Hello, my fish is sinking to the bottom of the tank and im scared he is dying. Is their anyway i could help him out? he swims around when i feed him and if you tap the glass he will start to swim but eventually drift to the bottom. Please help

ANSWER: Cali,

  I would love to help you, but I need to know what kind of fish it is. Is he a cold water fish or tropical? How big is your tank? Are there other fish in the tank with him? What are you feeding him? It is never a good idea to tap the glass. Think of it as having someone scream in your ear. When you tap the glass the fish hear it very loud. What are you water perimeters? I need as much information as you can give me so that I can help you better. The reason I need the information is because some fish will just go to the top and then sink back to the bottom. As soon as you can get back to me with the info the sooner I can help you out.

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my fish at the bottom   QUESTION: I have a round tank and it bubbles up the center. My one fish died of sinking to the bottom. Today my friend was over and put lots of food in the tank. i cleaned most of it out but im still afraid he over ate. He just went to the bathroom a lot but he sinks to the bottom. i have a orange/white tetra. Right now theres no fish with him because the one died of the same symptoms. Please tell me what i can do.
thanks cali

ANSWER: Cali,

My first question is are you sure you have a Tetra? I am looking at the picture and it looks more like a goldfish. If it is a Tetra, do you have a heater in the tank with him? I think he might be suffering from swim bladder disease. Fast him for 2 days. On the third day take a frozen pea and drop it in hot water. This will thaw it out and blanch it a little. When it has cooled down, take the outer shell off and throw it away. DO NOT feed your fish that outer shell because he will not be able to digest it. Cut it up in bite size pieces and feed it to the fish. You will then fast him again for 2 days. Swim bladder is an organ that allows the fish to stay upright in the water and used for buoyancy. The number one cause is over feeding with bad water quality coming in second. Make sure you feed him only what he can eat in 2 mins, removing the uneaten food. It is good to feed your fish a pea once a week or once every 2 weeks. Don't forget to do 25% water changes every week. Let me know how he is doing next Friday or sooner if he gets worse.

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My fish is swimming a   QUESTION: Thanks sooo much. If he gets worse should I feed him the pea sooner? and im not sure if its a tetra or not now that i think about it i sent another pic if could see if you know? and is it ok if i change his tank when he has this disease? thanksss alot
cali

Answer
Cali,

It looks to me that your fish is what is called a feeder fish. It is usually a small goldfish. I cannot be too sure because the picture is too far away. You can check on the internet. In the search bar type in Tetra, and look at all the pics. You can do the same for goldfish. You don't need to look in the fancy goldfish section because he is definitely not a fancy goldfish. Any time you see your fish acting this way feed him a pea. Try to do that weekly to help his swim bladder. Yes you can do a water change when he is like this. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.