Guppy with swimming bladder disease

bimigli

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Hello,
We went 12 days out in vacation leaving a feeder to our fishes. When we came back all of the fishes looked healthy but one guppy, which looks fine when swimming at the surface, but has hard time keeping his balance swimming down, resulting in a fast spiral swimming without control. He is still eating when he manages to swim towards food. Is there something I can do to get him better? The water was fine (ph and nitrites/nitrates levels were fine). I also changed the water just in case (50%)
Thank you for your help!
 
Pictures and video of the fish trying to swim?

Does the fish float up to the surface when it stops swimming?
If yes, then it could have air in its intestine. Removing dry food from the diet for a week, and replacing it with frozen or live food should help. If it does then the problem is probably air in its intestine, which gets farted out after a day or two.

If the fish sinks when it stops swimming, then it has a swim bladder problem and there is no cure. The fish should be euthanise.

If the fish is spiraling through the water, that is normally caused by a problem in the brain (stroke, bacterial or protozoan infection). There is not normally any cure for this but salt and clean water can sometimes help, and will usually stop the problem spreading to other fish. A video of the fish will reveal more information.

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SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
 
Pictures and video of the fish trying to swim?

Does the fish float up to the surface when it stops swimming?
If yes, then it could have air in its intestine. Removing dry food from the diet for a week, and replacing it with frozen or live food should help. If it does then the problem is probably air in its intestine, which gets farted out after a day or two.

If the fish sinks when it stops swimming, then it has a swim bladder problem and there is no cure. The fish should be euthanise.

If the fish is spiraling through the water, that is normally caused by a problem in the brain (stroke, bacterial or protozoan infection). There is not normally any cure for this but salt and clean water can sometimes help, and will usually stop the problem spreading to other fish. A video of the fish will reveal more information.

-------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate (4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will affect some plants and some snails. The lower dose rate (1-2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres) will not affect fish, plants, shrimp or snails.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.

If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
Hi Colin, thank you for your help! Here are 2 clips of when he swims on the surface and when he loses control trying to sink down. What action do you think I should take?
 
Last edited:
no idea, could be air in the intestine or something else. drop dry food for a week and see if it helps.
 

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