Swimbladder Infection.

[Jaymz]

Ok, so I have a pearlscale goldfish, another one recently died from what appeared to be swimbladder issues, now my other is exhibiting problems such as floating at surface of the tank, etc.

I have some aquarium salt and a bottle of Interpet medicine for this purpose (Anti Swimbladder infection), with instruction to add salt at a certain percentage per litre etc, but I was just wondering if there was anything I could do to support this fish? Feed it certain foods, not feed it, or anything like that?

Many thanks.

 

[helterskelter]

This is a common problem with these squat shaped fish, naturally they are more elongated and due to breeding over the years we have developed these strange body shapes, how ever the internal organs are compressed which affect them, like the swimbladder.
Sadly this means that it's not likely to be an infection just the swimbladder not being balanced correctly.
Given time the fish may be able to correct this problem on it's own, but adding salt makes the fish lighter in the water and could resualt in more problems.

 

[Imber]

I have an oranda with chronic swimbladder problems. However, I've found that he can still have a high quality of life and these issues can be controlled. The only food that I've been able to find that doesn't make him float is a homemade gel food that I made. I've been experimenting with different recipes, but the original that I made from him had: tomato paste, frozen(thawed) spinach, minced garlic, peas, wheat germ and bloodworms. I mixed it all together and gelled it with agar agar and then stuck it in the fridge overnight and then froze it for future use. Recently I experimented with a new recipe that included various baby foods, flaxseed oil, garlic, tofu, seaweed, wheat germ, but it made him a little floaty which I think was because of the tofu. Lots of people include fish like salmon and tuna in their recipes as well and just use the unflavored gelatin to gel it. Just be sure to dethaw it before you feed. You can probably find the exact measurements and ingredients of gel food for goldfish by searching around the net for goldfish gel food recipes. There are a lot of us goldy lovers that make our babies special food

Also, high nitrates can attribute to swim bladder issues so be sure to keep those below 20ish. There are a lot of things that contribute to floatiness and I think more times than not it's not an actual infection. Some fish just like to eat bubbles, too! If you want to start experimenting with other foods before you take the leap to homemade, be sure to feed a sinking pellet that's been soaked in tank water before you feed it. Some good ones that I'll recommend would be the omega one sinking goldfish pellets or progold. I tried both of these foods for my guy, but he still floats. They are very high quality foods though that might do the trick for you. Also, feeding foods like frozen bloodworms, skinned peas and other fruits and vegetables might help. I don't want to say that it's not an infection because it very well could be, but in my experience, a lot of the fancy goldfish just have problems because of their mushed up bodies and these issues can be controlled under the right diet and tank conditions.

Good luck!