A fish named Twirly

[dugrant153]

I have a Thailand Glass catfish that I have aptly named 'Twirly' because recently he's been unable to swim right side up. All he does is twirl in the water.

I'm not relaly sure what the problem is (thinking swim bladder problem), but he keeps twirling around. He can move forward pretty fine, but he just seems to keep rolling on an axis... and has no balance in the water as well.

The strange thing is that he'll come and grab food, so he's fine eating. But I'm a little concerned for him. I was thinking a problem like this would be fatal, but he has been living with it for about a week or two now.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

[Melody]

Whirling disease can take a long time to kill a fish. Its contagious so I'd isolate the fish immediately, just in case. Its actually a parasite, Myxobolus cerebralis (sp?) that attacks the spine & head. You can Google it to get a better feel for the symptoms to see if they fit what you're seeing.

Swim Bladder problems usually leave the fish struggling to stay upright or floating around the tank with no control, as opposed to whirling. An internal injury of that degree should kill the fish reasonably quickly.

There is no cure for Whirling disease that I'm aware of, but you might come across something. I'd isolate the fish and do a big water change asap, then see if you can ID the problem.

I hope I'm wrong & he recovers very soon. :smile:

[dugrant153]

wow... that sounds extremely serious...
How should I isolate the fish? I have a little breeder thank, but it's extremely small...
I could set up another fish tank, but I'm not sure I have all the necessary hardware for it.

So far no other fish have shown these attributes so hopefully it won't spread.

[Melody]

Yup, its a nasty one alright. I'd try to get the fish into another tank. He'd probably appreciate little or no current from a filter anyway, maybe some java moss to keep him stationary, frequent water changes. I euthanize when I see the symptom actually, but you shouldn't take such drastic measures based on something that some chick on the Internet said.;)

It can take quite awhile to manifest itself. I believe most fish pick it up when they eat dead fish with it, but that's definitly not the only way it spreads. Diseases like that make me very thankful for a UV sterilizer.

There are so many things that a fish can get that I very well could be wrong, its just the whirling symptom is classic. Seems to me that Mr. Mykiss has either studied it or experienced it at the University, so he might be someone who could give you more to go on for a diagnosis.