# Fish bent-like and swimming in circles



## doobzgirl

Hello,
I rarely get on this board because generally my fish are happy and healthy...however....
My daughter has a little 2 gallon tank in her room with 4 small fish (don't know the exact names but one is a neon and they are all that size). She's had the tank set up since February and these same fish since then. Tonight when I got home I thought one was dead...when I tried to scoop it out of the tank, it started freaking out and swimming in little circles. It's totally bent so he cant even straighten out. I know in my big cichlid tank, I had a fish do this one time and died a few days later. Obviously its a common thing so I'm just wondering what its called if anyone knows.

Thanks.


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## onefish2fish

more then likely called "stuck behind a filter"
to me it sounds like it got caught and is in bad shape, you may want to humanely euthenize (sp?) it by putting it in a cup of water and into your freezer.

on a second note, neon tetras are schooling fish and should be housed with a minimum of 6
this may be what caused this single neon to freak and hurt itself.


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## doobzgirl

It's not a neon. I was saying it's the same size as a neon. I do have one neon in there though but that one was not it.

The fish died over night actually. I would think freezing a fish is a much harder way to die than dieing on its own.

As I said, I'm thinking its some type of disease, not "stuck in the filter" as you called it. I was wondering what it was called since a cichlid from my big tank had it as well a year ago and he was huge, not possible to get 'stuck' in the type of filter I have.
But thanks.


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## iamntbatman

How do you mean "bent"? Was the fish's spine bent as you look at the fish from the side, or from the top? If it was bent as you look at it from the side and didn't look this way before, it could be fish tuberculosis, which unfortunately is a terrible disease that is untreatable and will likely infect your other fish. 

Other causes for bent spines are neon tetra disease (but, the fish wasn't a neon, so that can be ruled out) as well as growth problems or deformities.


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## Amphitrite

Are there any other physical signs of damage that you can see at all? A photograph would be helpful if you could take one.

Also, could you give a little more information about the tank please? What temperature do you keep the water at, what sort of filter are you using, how often and how much do you feed, and what is your water change routine? Are there any hiding places in the tank for the fish?


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## doobzgirl

It was bent from looking at it from the top. it was like the spine was bent/curved. as i said, he died over night...and i did get him out of the tank as soon as I noticed it. The day before he was fine. 
It's a small tank. I dont know the exact temp off the top of my head...Im at work right now. It's always the same though. The filter is a regular carbon one. It's the filter that came with the tank. It was a kit. It's one of those kits you buy at the pet store that comes with most of the stuff. I had to buy the aerator, tubing and heater separate. I feed them in the morning, only a bit since they are such small fish. It's regular flake food. There isnt any 'hiding' places, although there's 3 large plants in it. I had something in there but it was too big for the tank bc its so small. Hope this helps.


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## Little-Fizz

onefish2fish said:


> you may want to humanely euthanize (sp?) it by putting it in a cup of water and into your freezer.


That is not humane... Everyone just slowly freezes their fish :| Is there not a link somewhere that clearly states you have to have a glass of water thats almost frozen (with ice flakes in it) and add a few ice cubes, THEN drop the fish in. So its immediate, and he isn't swimming around in a glass in the freezer until it gets to cold...


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