Nimbochromis venustus (swim bladder?) problem

I have a N. venustus male, about 2yrs old, 5", goes by Changarawe, or
Chang for short. last night when I went to bed he seemed a little sluggish
at feeding time, but nothing particularly out of the norm. this morning he
was floating upside down at the top with very sluggish movement. He has
many small nips out of his fins. Smaller than I would guess his tankmates
(2 male Zebra mutts, and a male Melanochromis auratus, 6 jumbo danios and a
pleco) would produce.
I've isolated him in the same tank but all I had available was a small
floating breeding chamber. He seems more virile than the little quart-sized
box allows him to be. My 10gal hospital/quarantine tank has been
commandeered by a feeder goldfish that a child became attached to. Even if
I could come up with a temp. home for the McNugget. I have concerns about
getting the goldfish tank to parameters that would be helpful to the
venustus. My water quality in the venustus tank seems to be spot on where
it should be.
In the event that this is the result of a battle: About a month ago
the alpha zebra passed away. The eldest of his two sons that remain in the
tank, has taken up the throne and began pushing everyone else around. His
younger brother and the danios give him a wide berth, and they don't get
picked on much, or for long. He chases the M auratus relentlessly, as does
the other zebra. The auratus has been relegated to hanging out on the
surface in a corner or above a plant. Everyone pretty much leaves the
venustus alone. He has only one eye and circles the top half of the tank
with his good eye in. It's possible that the recent relocation of the
auratus to the top of the tank combined with the relenting aggression of the
zebra may have lit the powder keg. I know that my particular combination of
fish is inherently unstable. It is a balance that is tricky to maintain. I
went through 8 different types of dither fish before I found my jumbo
danios. Since then the balance has been much easier to maintain. This is
the fewest number of fish that I've had, and I think that they're able to
find a big enough territory to warrant defense.
Well, now I'm rambling, so I'm thinking swim bladder, but I don't know
how to tell if this is caused by disease, environment, or physical injury.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Ed VanDyke wrote in message ...
> I have a N. venustus male, about 2yrs old, 5", goes by Changarawe, or
>Chang for short. last night when I went to bed he seemed a little sluggish
>at feeding time, but nothing particularly out of the norm. this morning he
>was floating upside down at the top with very sluggish movement. He has
>many small nips out of his fins. Smaller than I would guess his tankmates
>(2 male Zebra mutts, and a male Melanochromis auratus, 6 jumbo danios and a
>pleco) would produce.
> I've isolated him in the same tank but all I had available was a small
>floating breeding chamber. He seems more virile than the little
quart-sized
>box allows him to be. My 10gal hospital/quarantine tank has been
>commandeered by a feeder goldfish that a child became attached to. Even if
>I could come up with a temp. home for the McNugget. I have concerns about
>getting the goldfish tank to parameters that would be helpful to the
>venustus. My water quality in the venustus tank seems to be spot on where
>it should be.
> In the event that this is the result of a battle: About a month ago
>the alpha zebra passed away. The eldest of his two sons that remain in the
>tank, has taken up the throne and began pushing everyone else around. His
>younger brother and the danios give him a wide berth, and they don't get
>picked on much, or for long. He chases the M auratus relentlessly, as does
>the other zebra. The auratus has been relegated to hanging out on the
>surface in a corner or above a plant. Everyone pretty much leaves the
>venustus alone. He has only one eye and circles the top half of the tank
>with his good eye in. It's possible that the recent relocation of the
>auratus to the top of the tank combined with the relenting aggression of
the
>zebra may have lit the powder keg. I know that my particular combination
of
>fish is inherently unstable. It is a balance that is tricky to maintain.
I
>went through 8 different types of dither fish before I found my jumbo
>danios. Since then the balance has been much easier to maintain. This is
>the fewest number of fish that I've had, and I think that they're able to
>find a big enough territory to warrant defense.
> Well, now I'm rambling, so I'm thinking swim bladder, but I don't know
>how to tell if this is caused by disease, environment, or physical injury.
>Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>
>

I don't know about your particular situation but if I had an upside down
fish I would immediately be thinking swim bladder. I have never seen a fish
recover when they are unable to right themselves and swim upside down. You
can try, but I wouldn't hold out much hope.

tiny little nips to the fins may indicate bullying but the impact of this
would only be stress, which can lead to bladder infections.