Swim bladder?

[candym0m]

Pls help.. I thnk my tetra has SBD. Hes jus floating upside down- cant swim. Is thr ANYTHING I can do?? He was fine ths morn.

[Dirk Bellstedt]

Candy,

Swim bladder problems can be treated with antibiotics but the success of these treatments is not good.

You can try two possible approaches:

1. take the fish out and put him into a treatment tank on his own. Treat with an antibacterial medication as can be obtained from your petshop. I would not just simply treat the whole tank as this could cause imbalances in the biological filtration, and may actually stress your other fishes more.

2. The alternative is that you leave the fish and hope that he comes right. You can try to increase the temperature a little as this will help, but not too much as this causes oxygen shortages if you do not have enough aeration and if the other fishes do not tolerate higher temperatures they may actually suffer more as a result of this treatment. What you can also do is to add 1 heaped tablespoon of salt (not the iodated type) to the tank as this is a mild antibacterial and also reduces the osmotic pressure on the fish which could help with the problem.

If he does not recover after 3 to 4 days he will permanently suffer from this condition and should then be put out of his misery.

Keep us updated on developments, maybe he will recover.

Kind regards,

Dirk

[solex69]

WRT to tetras swimming upside down, I have experienced that ich (in its advanced stage) also causes swim bladder failure. I have only mentioned to save one cardinal of SBD but all other attempts have failed. Once you see a tetra floating upside down, prepare his grave and then go investigate what could be wrong in your tank.

I also don't believe that meds available from LFS really help. Aquarium salt & clean water are your best friends when treating sick fish.

Cheers
D

[Dirk Bellstedt]

Hi Dale,

Thanks for your comments, and I agree entirely with what you have to say. The chances that this fish will recover are not good.

Sorry Candy.

Kind regards,

Dirk

[candym0m]

Thx guys.. He didnt make it:( i have since moved on 2 having just neons + a Siamese Fighter. Bt my fighter doesnt seem 2 hapi @ da mo. Nt sure wots wrong bt he kps under da filter ?

[Dirk Bellstedt]

Bad luck about your tetra, but once their swimbladders go there is little that can be done.

With regard to your Siamese fighter I am sure that Dale can help. With him they always get betta (uh, sick joke....)

Kind regards,

Dirk

[solex69]

lol @ prof :D

Just the right kinda joke to get a weekend started properly :)

Cheers
Dale