# Tetras swimming vertically



## jamesmack

I've got a 10 gal planted tank with 5 neon tetras. For the past month or so they have been acting strange. Sometimes they will look fine but other times they swim almost completely vertical, with their heads down and tails up. I am running diy c02, gh 5dh, kh 6dh, ph 7. Does anyone know what might be causing this? Thanks.


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## the_noobinator

one of my tiger barbs does that. it scares me.


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## yoink

All of my tiger barbs used to do that once in a while, it is normal for them. Definitely not normal for a neon to do it though. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Good luck.


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## crshadow

This usually happens to my neons right after they have stuffed themselves full of flake food.

-Jeremiah


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## mecgeorgeneo

my neons do that. its kind of funny to watch them. i wouldnt be too worried about it. some fish just have weird mannerisms. i think mine are fat also. hee hee


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## the_noobinator

i think it's like when a kid eats a big meal and starts to fall asleep in his high chair. i'm not that worried about it anymore, but when i first noticed it, i used to run a complete water test every time i would see one point their faces down towards the substrate.


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## SammyP

yeah mine do that too when they eat too much. its kindof funny how they cant stay down after they eat too many flakes. i thought it might be bad for them so i started soaking the food in water before i fed it to them. it works, if the food is soggy they dont have problems swimming.


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## XenoMorph2049

Could this be the result of force (from the food) being applied to the swim bladder? I know that the reason gold fish die due to over feeding is in direct relation to pressure asserted to the airbladder after eating, causing abnormal swiming characteristics and interfering with breathing. Never seen it in person before, but I dont like gold fish (at ALL, too messy), and have never kept neons before either, so I could very well be wrong, as this is just a guess.


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## triple red

crshadow said:


> This usually happens to my neons right after they have stuffed themselves full of flake food.
> 
> -Jeremiah


mine do too


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## triple red

XenoMorph2049 said:


> Could this be the result of force (from the food) being applied to the swim bladder? I know that the reason gold fish die due to over feeding is in direct relation to pressure asserted to the airbladder after eating, causing abnormal swiming characteristics and interfering with breathing. Never seen it in person before, but I dont like gold fish (at ALL, too messy), and have never kept neons before either, so I could very well be wrong, as this is just a guess.


i think you are correct...the dry flakes absorb water in the fishes stomach and expand....ive read that you should soak the flakes proir to feeding to prevent this problem from happening....although who really does that? (except for sammy p  )


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## the_noobinator

i sure don't. i just make sure not to overfeed them and they'll be fine.


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## XenoMorph2049

Aye, noobinator, goes back to the whole "smaller feedings more often" thing as opposed to a single, large feeding. This also helps maintain better water quality due to the fact that there would be less excess food fouling the water.


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## the_noobinator

yep, i'd rather give them a bunch of feedings a day rather than a thanksgiving meal every day.


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## Ed&Warden

My tetras were on a weekend feeder, and when I came home I gave them some flakes. The glo-lites were fine but two of the neons started the nose-down swimming. One of them finally stopped after 8 hours, but the other is still going. Your comments helped me greatly!


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## Lupin

Ed&Warden said:


> My tetras were on a weekend feeder, and when I came home I gave them some flakes. The glo-lites were fine but two of the neons started the nose-down swimming. One of them finally stopped after 8 hours, but the other is still going. Your comments helped me greatly!


Can you please provide us more details? Water parameters, tank size, tankmates, etc.:smile:


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## H_Holden

*thanks!*

This old thread helped me a lot....I feed after fertilizing every other day so I was going to blame the dry ferts but this makes much more sense. Happened two nights ago and was better by the morning, today it came up again. Happens with my neons and white clouds too. Thanks for this thread!


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