my male peacock gudgeon has looked after eggs regulary for about 12 months - a very good dad. recently i moved them to another tank and removed his pvc tube and replaced with larger ones (so corys wouldnt get stuck). he chose a very awkward looking spot in driftwood and now cannot swim properly when he comes out. he struggles for a few seconds and then justs sits. still seems to want to eat. i was wondering whether he could be malnourished and this may have caused spine damage. (he guards eggs for 7-8 days at a time) or if it is a swim bladder problem. how can i identify prob and help?

if it was a swim bladder problem then he would have big problems swimming, as most fish inflicted with this problem appears to be ok it will have problems holding its position in the water and it may swim on its side or float on its side or even its back, as this disease is not understood properly there is no reliable treatment for it but you could try, placing the infected fish in to a hospital tank, with shallow water which wants to be about 9f / 5c warmer than the tank it has come from, has been known to bring about an improvement you might also want to also try using a proprietary antibacterial treatment may help as using salt (about 1gm per litre)could also help. if the fish is noticably in distress and suffering the the best thing is to euthanise the fish
jewels does the above help or do you think it might be something else ?

thanks, im not sure. he does seem to be able to maintain an upright position although sometimes rests on his side. he moves short distances also in an upright position. the female is hovering a lot now, ready to lay more eggs which im sure hes not up to, hes not really responding anyway. he didnt eat bloodworms last night which usually tempts him. thing is he was fine up until i moved him from another tank and removed his pvc tube. the other fish i moved seem ok apart from the pacific blue eye with the swollen belly(see previous post). im not very keen on euthanasia. apart from the fact that i cant kill anything im not convinced about methods described

its allways a hard one to call, especially if your not sure which is one of the reasons we ask if you can supply pictures of the fish as that will help us to help you

Oh dear - you're having a bad run !

Just in regard to mentioning of Spinal Damage. As a general rule, spinal deformities through malnutrition is something you'll find in young developing fish. Not so much in mature adults. If so, I'd hazard a extreme case of malnutition (starvation?).

Try replacing his old pipe, and see how that goes. I've had fish adjust to new surrounds within minutes, if not immediately.

Others, I've had hide away for so long, I'd thought I'd lost them.

I assume your water parameters between the tanks are fairly similar ? He's not still adjusting ? This can take several days, it's not as instantanious as most think.

thanks for all that. he died a few days ago. as far as i can remember tank parameters were very similiar, pH may have been very slightly higher. i used to try and feed lots of bloodworm and brineshrimp plus flake when he was out but basically hes spent about 8 days out of every 12 or so starving in the tube with eggs for 12 months+ so maybe it was malnourishment. i was very reluctant to replace tube as afraid corys would get stuck but did 1/2 bury much bigger pieces hoping hed go for those.
now im wondering how quickly the female will require another mate? i only had one pair.
thanks for your help

Sorry to hear that Jewels.

I had wondered about my Bristlenose with his fry, late last year. I didn't remember it until now, but I used to place some tucker right up at the mouth of his tunnel.

I really don't know if he actually went for it, but given at the time, I only had the one pair that had an interest in fresh veges, I suspect he thought it worth stretching his fins for.

Sorry to hear that jewels To be honest if i was you i would try and get another male as quick as i could, if you intend to breed them