hurgerburger
Fish Fanatic
So about a month and a half ago I started taking care of my friend's fish (ranchu goldfish, honey gourami, & 2 bristlenose plecos). A month ago we upgraded them from 10 to 20 gallons, which they've been loving. On Sunday I noticed that the ranchu was much more buoyant than usual; his rear end was much higher than his head and he had to work pretty hard to get to the bottom of the tank. I gave him some blanched spinach, and he was back to normal after about 3 hours (he had some massive poops in that time). It happened again yesterday night (Thursday), and so I gave him some blanched spinach and he was back to normal this morning.
When he was with my friend his diet was a bit more varied- she gave him a pinch of aqueon slow sinking goldfish granules every day, a cube of bloodworms twice a week, and a shelled and mashed pea once a week. He also had plants in the tank that he would devour every few weeks, and she would have to get new ones. I had been giving him blood worms 1-2 times a week, no peas, and the plants currently in the tank he doesn't like to eat (vallisneria, amazon sword, and something else). I'm assuming his backups/swim bladder issues are because of his diet/messed up ranchu body, so I'm gonna switch to feeding him maybe 1/6 of a leaf of spinach blanched every day in addition to what I do normally.
I just wanted to make sure his issues aren't due to anything else- my friend's worried about a possible bacterial infection, but I don't think that would be it because, although I don't have a test kit, I know the water parameters are ok because the fish act weird when the parameters aren't good, and I do 1x/week 50% water changes religiously. Also, he was just as spunky when his swim bladder was off those two times, he didn't look sick besides his buoyancy. And it went away both times shortly after giving him spinach. I have aquarium salt, but I don't want to salt unless I know it will help because I'm worried about the gourami's kidneys.
I am a bit confused as to why this didn't happen earlier, however—he's been on this new diet for a month and a half and only now he's getting issues. My best guess is that he's growing more now that the tank is bigger, so his anatomy is changing a bit? Or maybe he's become more muscular now that he can swim further, and that's pushing his intestines around? Or maybe it was just a delayed reaction to a new diet low in fiber, like diverticulosis in humans.
What do you all think?
When he was with my friend his diet was a bit more varied- she gave him a pinch of aqueon slow sinking goldfish granules every day, a cube of bloodworms twice a week, and a shelled and mashed pea once a week. He also had plants in the tank that he would devour every few weeks, and she would have to get new ones. I had been giving him blood worms 1-2 times a week, no peas, and the plants currently in the tank he doesn't like to eat (vallisneria, amazon sword, and something else). I'm assuming his backups/swim bladder issues are because of his diet/messed up ranchu body, so I'm gonna switch to feeding him maybe 1/6 of a leaf of spinach blanched every day in addition to what I do normally.
I just wanted to make sure his issues aren't due to anything else- my friend's worried about a possible bacterial infection, but I don't think that would be it because, although I don't have a test kit, I know the water parameters are ok because the fish act weird when the parameters aren't good, and I do 1x/week 50% water changes religiously. Also, he was just as spunky when his swim bladder was off those two times, he didn't look sick besides his buoyancy. And it went away both times shortly after giving him spinach. I have aquarium salt, but I don't want to salt unless I know it will help because I'm worried about the gourami's kidneys.
I am a bit confused as to why this didn't happen earlier, however—he's been on this new diet for a month and a half and only now he's getting issues. My best guess is that he's growing more now that the tank is bigger, so his anatomy is changing a bit? Or maybe he's become more muscular now that he can swim further, and that's pushing his intestines around? Or maybe it was just a delayed reaction to a new diet low in fiber, like diverticulosis in humans.
What do you all think?
