Swim Bladder Problem !!!

[MeRcY]

Need help from all the AroMedics and any bro that have this problem b4. My Red is swimming at 45 Deg with head down.

Is it due to swim Bladder problem :confused:

What can be done to cure this problem :confused:

Does lowering the water level and increasing the temperature help :confused:

Any Medications require :confused:

Pls Help.... Thanks alot.

[nicholez]

cfrm swimmin bladder problemo......
hahaaa....
hard to be cured leyz....
becos if can cure qian hu will not sell their swimmin problem SR at 500 nia....
gd luck man dude....
:(

[MeRcY]

Thanks Bro, will try to put weights at the tail to keep its balance lor hehe

[Isna]

hey Mercy, glad to see u havn't lost your nerves..:D

well, if my fish was doing that, i'll be doing the following:

1) check for danger signs--might die quickly if these r present
a) depressed, inactivity, weakness, drifting....
b) or the opposite-hyperactivity, excitation....rapid breathing..
c) markedly decreased appetite
d)reddening at the base of fins, blood spots on belly, around anus, popeye, pine-cone scales
n treat accordingly if present.....antibiotics, oxygen etc

2) Do a water change, say 30-40%.
add salt( one tablespoon per 10 L)

3) ask myself all the questions in" approaching a case" to try to figure out why this happened....then treat it according to the cause. The prognosis can b quite good if u get onto it early.:D

[MeRcY]

Million thanks Dr Isna,

I believe I must be calm in the 1st place if I want to cure this poor fellow :D

This little fellow is doing fine at the moment. I think it might be the live feeder that I gave it to him/her that causes the internal bacteries to outbreak.

Will do partial water change, add salt and increase the temp for the water to see what's the outcome. Lastly, no food for this little fellow might help right :confused:

[kim_bak_lor88]

Hi Mercy,

How's your aro now?

Mine is having the same problem as yours. At first, the tail surface the water and the fish swim 45 degree head down. After a day, the whole fish over turned. I flipped it back again and lower the water level. Place a guide to prevent it from capsizing. After a few hours, it is okay...but not much okay as it swims with the shoulder above water level. But at least it is swimming with the right posture. I had increase the water temperature to 30 degree. Added some salt. Hope that it is okay a few day later....

If you got any cure, please share with me. Thanks.

[fishgirl]

this is why i'm here today too. mine's been doing this for a while and recently he's been hanging out more in one corner and acting just a little weird and the last two nights he hasn't eaten. if he doesn't eat tonite we're quarantining him. he is in a 125 tank w/ 2 other silvers (that he's lived with for his whole life..) that we set up about 3 weeks ago. he's always had a sway back, and swam with his tail a little out of the water, but recently its been exagerated. when we set up the new tank, we used all of the old water and the parameters are all good and the same as in their original tank. i plan on running a cycle of antibiotics on him.. we've successfully cured an internal infection on one of the other silvers in the tank with this method and we're keeping our fingers crossed for this guy too....

its always scary to try to decide what to do. i don't want to lose the guy and i know if this stuff doesn't get treated asap, it will can be fatal not only to this fish, but the others as well...... scared, any input?

[Isna]

Hi fishgirl! long time no see!

i'll probably do the same if my silver started showing such signs. but u have to b careful in distinguishing between a swimbladder problem from a pure fatigue/moribund posture.. a chronically weak illthrifty aro can have a head down, tail up, dangling around surface appearance...so can a chronic swimbladder case.:) :) ( easier said then done i know!)

also, can u attribute his inappetance to any form of stress? u know how sensitive aros r to stress induced starvation......a decrease in appetite without any apparent reason is often a danger sign.....but this might b different for aros, as they seem to experience periods of inappetance without any apparent reason.

but, trust your judgement....i would play safe n treat with antibiotics esp with a valuable fish. the big question i guess is which one to use..
what have u used previously?
nifurpirinol is my personal no1 choice when using baths.
very few other drugs effectively get absorbed through the gills, despite what the label claims.....
u should b able to get hold of some in the states easily..
about 6 mg per L of water for 3 hours. repeat each day for say 3-5 days, depending on reponse.
n definitely isolate him as soon as possible.

hope all goes well.
keep us informed!
:D :D

[fishgirl]

i believe that last time i used karacyn.. it seemed easy on the fish and the results were complete recovery (although last time the tail drooped down, not up...) i double checked the old package last night and know what it looks like, so i'll stop by the store on the way home tonite. this particular fish has always been our strongest, most agressive aro. he (or she as i think) is very stout and has just been different (more curious, aggressive, fearless) from day 1.. (we got this one from a different dealer and think maybe its closer to "wild" roots than the other two) anyway, we noticed the beginning of the symptoms a while ago and would just rather be safe than sorry.. and i don't think running the course of medication will do him any harm..

[Isna]

what else can i say?

Good luck then!
keep us updated.:)

[fishgirl]

UPDATE:

we quarantined "Three" on wednesday night and gave him the first does of Kanacyn. he's been resting but swimming and doing the "dragon dance" (or chasing the "reflectawana" as we call it). this morning i was watching him swim as i was working out and for the entire time, his tail never came up to the top of the water. it looks like he's straightening out a bit. tonite is the second dose of medication and we'll see how that goes.. but so far all is well.. fingers still crossed.

i am not feeding him. i put my finger in to see if he's interested in food, but he doesn't seem to be. i'm not worried about that though, i don't expect him to eat until sunday or monday.. once the medication has run its course, i'll put some cravex in to try to stimulate his appetite.

[fishgirl]

UPDATE:

Well, the second does of kanacyn was given on Friday night. he didn't move hardly at all on saturday. mostly sat at the bottom of the tank and would only get up and swim if i went over to the tank and talked to him for a bit. we were pretty worried that he wasn't ggoing tto pull thru it. by last night he was up and swimming regularly again.. just outof curiousity, before i gave him the last dose of meds, i offered him a cricket. i didn't figure he'd eat, but he did!!! i gave him 2 more and he ate them too. about ten minutes later, i put in the final dose of meds. today, he is up and swimming and doing his fierce dragon dance against the front of the tank. tonite, i'll make sure he's eating and re-introduce him to his tank!!! hooray!

i do not know for sure that he had an internal infection. HOWEVER, something was definitely wrong with him and even if it was just stress, the quarantine with raised temp and virtually no stimuli still was the right decision. and the dose of antibiotics couldn't hurt him. i've seen what happens if you don't take action on warning signs immediately and they do have an infection (very quick fish death) and want to make sure i am preventative. i'll watch him closely while he's back with his brothers this week.

[Isna]

well done fishgirl! congrats!
hope 'three' stays well.
:D