:-( My Black Moor is dead.

[mhoward1999]

Hi everyone. I am so sad. I got up this morning to find my black moor dead. Instead of being velvety black his coloring was more brassy looking and his belly was swolen. He seemed perfectly fine last night. I tested my water parameters, and everythng is fine. Ammonia: 0, Nitrites: 0, GH: 13, pH: 8.3. They are the same as always.

I have wondered about their bellies because they seem fatter than I would think normal, but I just thought it was because they are fancy goldfish. (Their body shape is weird to me.) They were all swimming fine and seemed happy. Now I am wondering if I was wrong. What do I need to do to ensure that my other fish are okay?

 

[bribones]

black moors im afraid are very subseptable to swim bladder problems this causes a lot of deaths in this breed it has to do with how there bred ie for looks and not much else ,bubble eyed and red caps also have this problem

 

[mhoward1999]

So I take it you think it was his swim bladder? I thought that would happen gradually if there was a problem with the swimbladder. You know, their swimming would seem unbalanced?

 

[ryan]

It is likely to swim bladder or if it was swimming fine maybe constipation which does and can cause death. Did the fish have a distended belly?

 

[bribones]

ive had black moors in the past and tend to avoid them now ,did you notice the fish staying near the surface a lot ,this is a common problem if its the swim bladder as the fish have trouble staying below the surface

 

[mhoward1999]

He swam all over the tank, but I did notice that when I fed them he always tried to eat the bubbles from the UGF rather than the food. He definitely spent more time at the top than the others, but he swam all over the tank with no apparent problems.

 

[bribones]

id say definitly swim bladder ,its an intermitent problem that doesnt show results all the time but the fact that the fish spent a lot of time near the surface points to that being the problem your other fish should be fine

 

[mhoward1999]

Okay, Thanks bribones. At least I don't have to worry about them.

 

[ryan]

Taken from a previous post of mine involving swim bladder and treatments:

1. Feed your fish a couple of peas. That's right, peas. Just get some frozen peas, thaw them, and feed them to your fish. A professor of fish medicine at N.C. State College of Veterinary Medicine has done this in several cases with very good results. He thinks that the peas somehow encourage destruction of the impaction. No hard scientific evidence, but it's worth a try.

2. Fast your fish for a couple of days. Withhold all food for three or four days, and sometimes this alone will break up the impaction and return things to normal. Most fish can go a week to ten days without food and be just fine.

3. Periodic aspiration of the swim bladder works very well. Basically, you stick a needle in the swim bladder and suck out some of the air. Not something to be entered into lightly, but does work well. This is not a cure, but a successful treatment.

Some of these treatments seem a bit extreme but it is worth giving a couple of them a try before going to the vets. There is also a Partial pneumocystectomy. This is another word for surgical removal of part of the swim bladder. But this is for the Vetnary side of things so is probably out of the question unless you know a vet that has performed such a procedure. (Very rare, heard about it through a Goldfish breeder).

Hope this helps. If you ever encounter the problem again this may help.

 

[mhoward1999]

Thanks, ryan. I knew about the peas and fasting them, but not the others. I wouldn't even know how to begin to aspirate the swim bladder. That one seems like it might just hasten death! I can't imagine a fish sitting still for it!

 

[ryan]

Thanks, ryan. I knew about the peas and fasting them, but not the others. I wouldn't even know how to begin to aspirate the swim bladder. That one seems like it might just hasten death! I can't imagine a fish sitting still for it!

As I said some are abit extreme, there are one or two other varied methods, but the frozen peas one is most common and IMO most effective.

 

[mhoward1999]

Should I feed them peas on a regular basis as a preventive measure, or would that be like giving them a laxative and lose effectiveness if done frequently?

 

[ryan]

The signs of Swim Bladder are quite easy to spot early on so when you see signs just give them a pea portion. As with most illnesses, catching it early is the key.

 

[mhoward1999]

okay. So I shouldn't do that as a regular thing, then?

 

[bribones]

what if your fish dont like peas ? could green water (ie cabbage) be used to similar effect ?