The goldfish grabs air on the surface of the aquarium. Why does a fish swim vertically

It is very important to know what behavior is typical for a given species. For example, nocturnal fish may appear lethargic during the day and vice versa. Fish of some species are rarely active at all! Newly introduced fish are usually inactive for some time as a result of shock and stress. If such a fish is left alone, it quickly begins to recover. Fish may become less active as they age.

However, if any fish become less active than their normal behavior, this is most likely an early, but non-specific, sign of illness. Certain fish behaviors are usually signs of disease. It should not be worn like crazy or stand in one place, should not hide, hang in a corner or lie on the bottom. It is abnormal when the fish makes movements, as when coughing, choking or yawning; itches; vibrates; loses control of coordination of movements, somersaults, swims from the bottom up or drowns. If several fish behave abnormally, this is a clear alarm signal. The fish can swim upside down or upside down, stand in the corner of the aquarium or hide in an attempt to avoid aggression from other fish. Lethargy usually increases as the disease progresses and decreases as the fish gets better.

The circumstances under which the fish lie at the bottom play a decisive role in establishing the cause of this problem. In fish recently introduced into an aquarium, the most likely cause of this behavior is shock or stress. If all or many fish are affected, then the problem is most likely environmental. If only one fish is affected, and a fish that has been living in the tank for a long time, has recently been attacked by another fish, has been in a fight, has been groomed, or has been handled, then the problem is likely due to swim bladder injury, exhaustion, or stress.

The fish are always hiding. For some species of fish, this is completely normal behavior. Therefore, hiding for them is an instinctive way of self-preservation. If the fish are provided with suitable hiding places, they will become bolder, feel safe and be able to leave their shelter more often than is the case in nature. If we are talking about nocturnal fish, then we should expect that during the day they will hide or at least remain inactive in some quiet place. Newly introduced fish hide for a while until they recover from the stress of transport and become familiar with their new surroundings.

The fish stays close to the surface of the water while exposing the dorsal fin out of the water, whitening of the skin around the dorsal fin and in the caudal region - pseudomonosis appears.

The fish hangs upside down at the surface of the water, she has rapid breathing, this is a sign of hypoxia. Similar behavior can sometimes be observed in bottom fish - usually in cichlids, which try to hide from the aggressor by going into the upper layers of the water. The victim of aggression is most often directed to a corner or to the end of the aquarium, where he feels relatively safer. At the same time, fish experiencing hypoxia slowly move along the surface of the water. Accelerated movement of the gills may indicate damage to the gills.

The fish is inactive- acidosis, branchiomycosis, inflammation gastrointestinal tract, obesity, colds, tuberculosis.

The fish is getting weak and it is easy to catch it with your hands - diplostomosis, branchiomycosis.

The fish is hiding. If this is not normal behavior for a given species, then such atypical behavior indicates that the fish is under stress, even if in fact it is not sick at all. If the situation is not corrected, stress can cause serious health problems in the fish. Fish may hide if they are not feeling well. Perhaps this is an instinctive reaction - the fish tends to avoid predators and other troubles, because in this state it is not able to take normal actions to evade them. Fish may hide because they are the victim of aggression. A similar situation can arise if fish are kept in the same aquarium that have disparate swimming habits.

The fish that are running fast throughout the aquarium, can be extremely restless neighbors. This fast movement can be perceived by other fish as a threat of aggression or attack, and simply fear of a collision with rushing fish can cause stress. Fish may hide when the lighting is too bright. Schooling fish can be nervous and hide if kept alone or in too small groups - plestophorosis, false neon disease, oodiniumosis, hexamitosis, chilodonellosis, caryophyllus.

The fish swims at an unusual angle: loss of buoyancy or buoyancy control. This is usually the result of swim bladder dysfunction. The coordination of movements is disturbed, the fish swims sluggishly, convulsively, jumps. The fish can swim head or tail down, partially or completely on its side, or even belly up. plestophorosis, ichthyosporidiosis, pseudomonosis, phylometrosis, false neon disease. This indicates the presence of injury or a bacterial infection of the swim bladder. In addition, dysfunction of the swim bladder occurs in the later stages - dropsy, obesity, Malawi bloating.

Takes a vertical position, head up, greedily swallowing air - ichthyophthyriasis, false neon disease, sanguinecolosis, bacterial disease of the gills, dactylogyrosis. Fish often swim or hang upside down near the surface of the water, where the oxygen content of the water is higher.

The fish swims upside down- gyrodactylosis, plestophorosis, pseudomonosis, tuberculosis, can mean stress that occurs for various reasons.

Floats on its side- acidosis, tuberculosis, glugeosis, gyrodactylosis, ligulosis.

Floats belly up- is a secondary symptom for a number of diseases. You should carefully observe the fish and determine the cause of the disease by other symptoms.

Outwardly healthy fish are at the surface of the water in upside down or sideways, the abdomen is swollen - often found in goldfish as a result of improper feeding - lack of required amount vegetable food, ballast substances. A varied and balanced diet should be provided.

The fish lies at the bottom. For some fish - such as catfish and loaches - resting on the bottom or even lying on its side is completely normal. Some daytime fish (such as cichlids) usually rest on the bottom after dark. In cases where lying on the bottom is an abnormal behavior for fish, it is often accompanied by respiratory distress. If many fish are affected, then the problem is in the environment. It can be - temperature, osmotic or nitrate shock, pH shock, acidosis or alkalosis, hypothermia, aeromonosis, chilodonellosis, ichthyosporidiosis, swim bladder dysfunction, dropsy, Malawian bloating, tuberculosis, saprolegniosis.

The fish swims in leaps and bounds, jerks - ichthyospordiasis, tuberculosis, oodiniumosis, hexamitosis, plestophorosis.

If fish have seizures. Movements in which the fish bends its body from side to side, while remaining motionless, shakes its head and yawns. Such movements can be almost continuous or alternate with normal behavior. This is a sign of irritation associated with the environment, a change in the chemical composition, poor water quality, high levels of nitrites and other toxic substances, alkalosis, trichodinosis, hypothermia. Usually the problem can be solved with a partial water change.

It happens that the fish is pushed to the surface of the water, where it lies on its side or swims belly up. Most of the changelings are among goldfish, and their reasons for turning over are special, so it is dedicated to the changeling goldfish. Cases of turning over and pushing other fish to the surface will also be considered here. This sometimes happens with American cichlids, armored and loricariid catfish, labyrinth fish and very rarely with other fish.
In fact, fish do not instantly swell and float to the surface. This is preceded by bloating in still normally swimming fish. It is at this stage of the disease that the fish can be helped, but it is already very difficult to cure the changeling. Here .
Why can fish swim at the surface of the water on their side or belly up?

2. Poisoning with poor quality food. Dry food that has been stored open for a long time or bought by weight may contain a fungus from the genus Candida. Regular feeding of such food leads to the accumulation of gases in the intestines, excessive bloating and the ascent of the fish to the surface on the abdomen. up (The disease is called candidiasis).
What to do: increase aeration, add metronidazole - 250 mg per 15 liters and nystatin 2,000,000 units per 100 liters or fluconazole - 800 mg per 100 liters into the water. Reduce the water temperature in the aquarium to 23°C. Repeat the introduction of drugs a day after the change of 35% of the volume of water. If the fish have not recovered, but there is a positive trend, then treatment should be continued.

3. Helminthiasis. The accumulation of worms, most often round (nematodosis), in the intestines can lead to a strong swelling of the abdomen of the fish and its ascent to the surface with a loss of balance after heavy feeding. This case is typical for scalars, patients capillariasis, but many other fish species, such as zebrafish, can also suffer. At the same time, they may experience symptoms such as: outward protrusion of the rectum, redness in the anus. .
What to do: increase aeration,add metronidazole to the water - 250 mg per 15 liters and an anthelmintic: or decaris 150 mg per 35 liters. In a day, change 35% of the volume of water and add metronidazole again. Further treatment can be found in the above article.

5. Inflammation of the swim bladder and / or intestines due to the development of bacterial septicemia. This is a hard case. If the fish has already swelled up and turned upside down, then there is little chance of curing it. Link to real story the struggle for the life of the red parrot is given at the beginning of this article. There you can get acquainted with possible treatment regimens.

6. Launched. Surfacing to the surface in a lateral position with severe mycobacteriosis is observed mainly in labyrinth fish, in particular, in cockerels. Saving such a fish is very difficult. Here .

I have a big aquarium. But the fish, instead of swimming back and forth, as they should, endlessly stick up at the top and smack ... - Fish behave this way because they lack the oxygen contained in the water, and they are forced to swallow atmospheric air with their mouths. This disease is called oxygen starvation, or anoxia.
When fish live for a long time in oxygen-poor water, they eat poorly, grow slowly, their reproductive organs change greatly, and they are no longer able to prolong their kind.
If the fish can still lay their eggs, this egg dies or larvae hatch from it, fry grow up, which also die. And if the fry remain alive, they grow slowly, despite the fact that they are very well fed.
When fish are constantly deprived of oxygen, they can eventually die from suffocation - from asphyxia.
If the fish begin to choke, you need to replace part of the water in the aquarium and install an aerator - a device with which the water is blown with a finely sprayed stream of air, and thus saturate it with oxygen. In addition, with a sharp oxygen deficiency, the addition of a 15% hydrogen peroxide solution (1 drop of concentrated hydrogen peroxide per 2 liters of water) gives a quick effect.
In order for the fish to stop experiencing a lack of oxygen, there must be plants in the aquarium: after all, they produce oxygen. And since oxygen is formed in the leaves of algae only in the light, it is necessary to place electric lamps above the surface of the water, and in winter the daylight hours should last 10-12 hours, in summer - 15 hours.
If there are plants in the aquarium, but they have grown a lot, this is also bad. Some of them should be removed, as at night they consume a lot of oxygen.
In addition, you can not give the fish a lot of food. All uneaten by them and dead parts of plants must be removed from the aquarium every day: the decomposition of organic residues is accompanied by oxygen consumption.
The more inhabitants and the aquarium, the more they need oxygen. Therefore, excess fish and other inhabitants, especially mollusks, must be transplanted into another aquarium.
But how many extra fish? It is difficult to give an exact answer, since much depends on the volume and shape of the aquarium, on whether it has an aerator, on the type of fish, their size and biological characteristics. And yet, it is possible to determine how many fish approximately should live in an aquarium. If the capacity of the aquarium is from 40 to 50 liters and the water in it is not aerated, then for each fish up to 5 centimeters long, 2 liters of water are needed, for fish whose length is from 8 to 10 centimeters - 3-4 liters, and for fish that are more than 12 centimeters , - 8-10 liters of water.

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If in the aquarium you see a fish swimming in an unusual position, upside down or upside down, then this should alert. There can be various reasons for this behavior:

• As a result of oxygen starvation (hypoxia), the fish float to the surface of the water and are almost in an upright position, greedily swallowing air. Some individuals generally protrude part of their head above the surface of the water. Solving this problem is quite simple - you need to supply the aquarium with an air compressor or increase the aeration of the water if the aquarium already has an aerator. As soon as such actions are performed, the problem will be resolved immediately.
• The consequence of the unusual behavior of the fish may be injury or degeneration of the swim bladder. Usually, various diseases lead to various complications in the functioning of the swim bladder, for example, dropsy, brain tumor, obesity and bloating in case of constant overfeeding or feeding poor quality feed. In this case, the fish can assume various positions in the water, including swimming belly up or on its side. In this case, the fish should immediately be transferred to another aquarium and continue to be monitored. In many cases, it is not possible to save the fish, and it dies.
• Sometimes the consequence of the fish taking up a vertical position is that something is stuck in its throat or it is injured. In this case, you need to remove the fish from the water and carefully examine the inner surface of the pharynx. If a foreign body is found in the pharynx, it must be carefully removed.
• Often the fish takes up a vertical position as a result of aggression from other fish. The fish is constantly under stress, as a result of which it takes this position. The current situation requires immediate resolution, it is necessary to calculate the aggressive fish and transplant it into another aquarium.
• Sometimes the upright posture of a fish is not related to the disease, it's just a way of showing its respect for a fish that has a higher status in the group.
• Some species of fish initially swim in an inclined position with their heads up. This usually refers to various selective forms of fish with veiled tails, in which the tail plumage, due to its large size, has big weight which leads to their imbalance.

According to some aquarists, sometimes there are fish that can be upright for a long time for no apparent reason and this is not a consequence of any disease. In any case, before drawing any conclusions, it is enough just to carefully observe everything that happens in the aquarium, in many cases it is possible to correctly determine the cause of this behavior of the fish in order to decide on further steps to correct this situation.

Sometimes guppy lovers notice that their fish have changed their behavior, and they are constantly swimming on the surface. What to do in this case, and what could be the reason?

Before taking any action, you need to know that guppies are fish that live in the upper layers of the water, so if they sometimes hover near the surface, then there is nothing wrong with such actions. But you should pay attention if the guppies are constantly near the surface. There can be several reasons: lack of oxygen, poor water quality and various diseases of fish.

lack of oxygen

This is the most common reason why guppies tend to the surface of the water. If there is not enough oxygen, then not only fish, but also plants will feel discomfort - they begin to wither and die. Why do guppies float on the surface even when aeration is on? Perhaps its level is insufficient to provide oxygen to all fish.

In addition, it must be remembered that the higher the temperature, the stronger the aeration should be.

Poor water quality

Sometimes guppies behave this way if the water in the aquarium is of poor quality or has become swampy. If there is no filter and aerator, then they must be installed immediately and in the future it is important to constantly monitor their work.

As a preventive measure, you can add tsifran or antipar to the water (how to add them and in what quantity, you must read the instructions for the drug).

Guppy diseases

If the oxygen level is normal, the water is of high quality and not stagnant, filters and aerators are installed, and aquarium fish guppies still swim on the surface, then the reason for this behavior is a disease that is not so easy to determine. According to experts, the "symptom of suffocation" characterizes many protozoal, bacterial and helminthic diseases.

If only a part of the fish has surfaced, then they must be urgently removed from the rest, and then treated.

If all guppies behave this way, then it is necessary to treat all with antibiotics and aprotozoal drugs. Cifran is added to the aquarium at the rate of ½ tablet per 100 liters, and Antipar - 1 ml per 40 liters. These procedures are carried out for about 2 weeks, then they change ½ of the volume of the aquarium and take the dosage of preparations 2 times less. If the treatment was successful, then gradually the drug must be removed from the water, periodically changing it.

Thus, if you notice that guppy fish began to constantly stay on the surface, then first check the oxygen level and the state of the water, and only then proceed to the treatment of individuals.

What to do if the fish die in the aquarium

Aquarium fish can die for various reasons. The most common are sudden changes in water parameters, illness, wear and tear of the body. Decreased levels of oxygen in the water are detrimental to the health of the fish. In this case, the fish are at the surface of the water, and capture the air. If the problem is not solved in a timely manner, the pets will die. Unfortunately, there are a number of reasons why domestic fish can die.

The level of oxygen in the aquatic environment depends on the temperature of the water (warm water has a reduced concentration of dissolved oxygen), chemical parameters, bacterial film on the surface of the water, outbreaks of ciliates and algae. Water updates, intensive aeration will help to fix the problem. Fluctuations in the surface layer of water play a leading role in the gas exchange of an enclosed space.

Common causes of aquarium fish death

What to do if you find dead fish in the walls of the aquarium?

If you notice that your fish is lying at the bottom of the aquarium, do not despair - this does not mean that she is sick or about to die. Take a closer look at her, maybe she doesn’t lie at all, but swims and studies the bottom, or digs up the soil. Why the fish often sinks to the bottom of the tank, what could be the reasons for this - should be considered in detail.

natural behavior

For some species of fish, "lying" on the bottom is a natural behavior. If your aquarium has a speckled catfish, or another type of corridor, then you will notice how it swims in the bottom layer of the reservoir. It's not scary, just all corridors, and catfish too, live only in the lower layers of reservoirs. As natural cleaners, they take uneaten food from the ground, scrape algae from the bottom that have accumulated on its surface.

Other types of fish also swim in the lower layers of the water - these are neon. As representatives of the Kharacin family, they are distinguished by their small size and sensitive body, which will irrevocably suffer in case of any damage. The safest place for them is at the bottom of the tank, where they will be comfortable and safe.

Look at the unusual behavior of the surgeon's fish.

You can see how the fish of the Loach and Cichlid families often spend time at the bottom of the reservoir. As you know, they love to dig in the ground and dig up aquatic plants. There are other types of “entertainment” for them, but they are used to this way of life. There are no signs of illness here, they are just looking for something, perhaps food, or clearing the body of accumulated mucus. For loaches, it is important to free the scales from mucus, floundering in stones or gravel - otherwise inflammation of the skin cannot be avoided.

Many fish swim at the bottom of the aquarium at night. Why is this happening? It's simple - it's normal. Like many living things, fish prefer to sleep at night, although there are exceptions. They slowly drift in the bottom layers of water, often with their eyes open. And if they swim to the surface, then some pets can even be stroked.

The natural behavior is to be in the bottom layers of water when the fish has recently settled in a community aquarium. For her, this is a new, unexplored world that hides potential danger. The adaptation process takes place in a secluded place where it is likely not to be noticed. This behavior is typical if you have settled goldfish, cichlids, carps or labyrinths.

Now you should understand the reasons when a fish that does not live in the bottom layers of water swims in the "bottom". Pay attention to how much food you give the fish - if your pets overeat, their stomach does not have time to digest all the food, and heaviness in the stomach occurs. It is easier to transfer your stuffed belly to the bottom without rising higher. Overeating will be followed by obesity, which is deadly for pets. Reduce the feed supply to a minimum and put the fish on a fasting diet.

Another reason for this strange behavior is a disease of the gallbladder and digestive organs. They are usually accompanied by other symptoms. For example, during infectious diseases, changes in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract begin to occur in fish. The fish weakens and begins to sink to the bottom. With hexamitosis, single-celled bacteria settle in the gallbladder of the fish, which make it harder to work. As a result, inflammation of the gallbladder, blockage of blood vessels and death will occur. Diagnose diseases in time and start treating pets.

See how a fish with a swim bladder problem behaves.

If the fish after a fight, or after active underwater games was at the bottom - examine her body. She may have been injured and unable to move. Unfortunately, such cases are almost incurable, but you can contact a specialist who can help. big fish tolerate wounds better than small ones.

Pay attention to the condition of the water - perhaps you forgot to clean the aquarium? Remember when was the last time measurements were taken? aquatic environment: temperature, acidity, hardness, the presence of nitrites and nitrates, ammonia and chlorine. If you find a violation, correct it immediately. Under the wrong conditions, the fish will sometimes swim on the bottom, and will wait for the moment when the water becomes better.

Loss of strength is another reason for such uncharacteristic behavior. If the water is excessively warm (above 25°C), some species of fish (eg goldfish) may end up in the bottom layers, which is unusual for them. They will look for cooler water, which is definitely in the lower compartment of the tank. However, prolonged exposure to cool water can cause hypothermia, loss of strength with associated health consequences. Gradually heat the temperature of the reservoir to normal, then the pets will begin to swim higher.

And the last reason why the fish is at the bottom and cannot rise - it is preparing for death. Before death, she can hide, behave apathetically and indifferent to what is happening around. For an old fish, this is a habitual behavior. In this case, try not to panic, and remove the dead fish from the aquarium in time, before it decomposes.

Fish swim near the surface of the water and swallow air (details inside)

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fish under the surface - 2 reasons. This is either a lack of oxygen, or poisoning. in most cases the first reason. Or together.
What to do.
1 - put the purge once. No purge, put the filter like this. so that the water sways from above
2 - change the water to a colder one (Unless, of course, something got wrong with the water)
3 - no feeding
4 - clean the filter
5 - no drugs and conditioners
If they are poisoned, then you need to look for the cause. from what. If it's from water, then it's complete rubbish. Can from a forage still, or an overabundance. Maybe from detergents that were used to clean the decoration. But you need to look for the reason.