Swimbladder

[Michelleuk]

Hi

My congo tetra has been having problems swimming up but swims ok going forward. He has been like this for a while (a month prob over this). I have change tanks recently but he still is doing this. So it cant be the tank. Could it be physical injury causing this? can t see any other signs.

I will add more details in a bit.

Is swimbladder treatable? All the times my fish have had it in the past they die a few weeks later.

thanks

 

[Irishfishowner]

A salt bath can help however swimbladder problems often lead to death. Its uncomfortable for the fish and stresses them unduly,albeit their may not been any pain as such.

Gavin

 

[Michelleuk]

i was trying to upload vid but its not working!

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons or litres is the tank?
How many fish and which type?
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph?
What do you feed the fish?

Can he maintain balance in the water?
Does he look bloated?
Does it look like his tail weighing him down in the water?
Does he tilt to oneside?
Is he acting listless and lethagic?
Does he look pale or darker in colour?
What does it look like when he goes to the toilet?
Is he able to go down to bottom of tank without a struggle?
Have you seen any fish fighting?

Swim bladder can be caused by injury, birth defect, unstable diet, to many dried foods, bacterial infection of the swim bladder, internal parasites, unstable temp.

 

[Michelleuk]

How many gallons or litres is the tank? 190 liters/41 gallon

Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph?i dont think this matters as his been in two different tanks.
What do you feed the fish?flake, pellets

Can he maintain balance in the water? yes
Does he look bloated?no
Does it look like his tail weighing him down in the water? yes, his tail when he is trying to swim up.
Does he tilt to oneside?no
Is he acting listless and lethagic?no
Does he look pale or darker in colour?no
What does it look like when he goes to the toilet?no idea
Is he able to go down to bottom of tank without a struggle?yes
Have you seen any fish fighting?no

I put the list of fish on in a bit.

 

[WILDER]

Get your water tested as it's very important. Bad water quality can lead to death, stress, disease.

Improve the fish diet with frozen foods and green veg.

To many dried foods can lead to constipation and swim bladder problems.

Cook some frozen peas in boiling water for a few minutes. Let cool down and pop out of shell.
Chop into small pieces and add to the tank.
Remove uneaten peas.

 

[Michelleuk]

http/s131.photobucket.com/albums/p317/michelleuk/FISH/?action=view&current=PICT0226.mp4

See link for video.

 

[WILDER]

If there no improvement after feeding peas for a few days, get back to the board.
Also get your water tested. All forums will look at your water stats first.

 

[Michelleuk]

see http/s131.photobucket.com/albums/p317/michelleuk/FISH/?action=view&current=PICT0226.mp4#!oZZ1QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs131.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fp317%2Fmichelleuk%2FFISH%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DPICT0227.jpg%26 for test results.

Nitrate - 40ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
PH 7.6
Ammonia - 0ppm

Does the video look like swimbladder?

Just notice my danio looks bloated!

 

[Michelleuk]

How long do you put them in a salt bath for, for it to be affective.

 

[WILDER]

It does look like the fish has a problem with the swim bladder.

If the peas haven't helped, isolate and use a bacterial med.

When you first do a salt bath you are meant only to keep the fish in the salt bath 10 minutes.
You gradually build the baths up to 30 minutes.
You have to stay with the fish when preforming salt baths incase they start to spin.
As then you should remove the fish from the salt bath.
Also keep an eye on temp of water, as you don't want it dropping my more than two degrees.

 

[Michelleuk]

Did n't work.

He diead.

 

[WILDER]

Bless him.
R.I.P.