flowerhorn problems

[jman]

my flowerhorn cichlid is very very pretty and color is full
He is still about 4-5 in. but the problem is that he can't swim right
he swims with his head up and swims like an arowana but as soon as he stops he sinks to the buttom and only will do it when he thinks he's getting fed...
What should i do -i really like his color

[William]

Sounds likea swim bladder problem. When did he get this problem?

[jman]

about a month but was hiding so couldn't tell...
i was feeding and i guess he was hungry so he came out and i noticed this otherwise everything is fine all other fish are super fine besides a stressed green terror that will be removed.

[jman]

swim bladder problem?

[William]

Yes. If he for some reason, diseae or trauma, have injurde his swim bladder it would keep the fish from swimming as it should and make it sink as your does.

[Fishguy2727]

water quality can also cause swim bladder issues, especially considering this is a cichlid tank. what size tank is it? what filtration? what water change schedule? any tank should be getting at least 50% water changes weekly, sometimes even more for cichlids. remember to cut in half whatever a filter claims it can handle "up to", and thats about what it can actually handle.

[jman]

30 gallon and the 2filteration units is supposidly handle a single 125 gallon
do about 50% weekly change but i am starting to believe maybe he has injured hiself because like i said there was a point in time where i didn't know where he was and the only time i tair the tank is when i get new fish or doing gravel cleaning
what should i do differintly so that i can get an impact on the fish or uhuh...?

[Fishguy2727]

at 4-5" he is maxing out that tank and it is time to move him up to a 55 or larger.

[jman]

typo he's not 4 to5...sorry hes abou a 3 1/2 but i got plenty space aroung here so not a problem just want to make sure hes is a nice size before moving him around with big boyz my pike is big 9