Swim Bladder Disease - Last Gasp Miracles?

G

GERONIMO3000

AC Members
Aug 23, 2005
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I have an ailing zebra who may be suffering from Swim Bladder Disease. Basically, he’s not swimming correctly (sidewise, upside-down, erratically – everything except normal swimming) and is definitely in bad shape. He’s been in the hospital tank for 3 days and is still fighting but I don’t know for how much longer. He does speed around sometimes but I’ve seen that “final spiral swim” before. My question is this: When a fish is clearly in bad shape like this, what can you possibly do? Any solutions or tips?

20g
----
4 Zebras
4 Neon Tetras
3 Plecos
1 Neon Blue Dwarf Gourami
2 Mickey Mouse Platies
5 Serpae Tetras
 
=( I couldn't figure it out and I just destroyed him when he couldn't compete for food anymore.
 
There isnt always much you can do, other than frequent water changes. SB disease is sometimes thought to be caused by a bacteria, some say its diet related.
Id do daily, maybe twice daily changes on your q tank, see if it helps.
Your 20 gallon sounds a little full, maybe to the point of being overstocked, but I admit Im often wrong on this. If those are common plecos, then you definatly are overstocked though. :(
 
Same thing happened to me...yesterday

I just purchased a Lyretail Molly not even 4 days ago...and saturday night she started swimming on her side and then her back...you could try frozen peas..but thaw them out and break them up..but my Molly wouldnt even feed...So i took her back to the pet store to see if they could help me and test my water and my water was great but My Molly wouldnt make it...So i decided to hand her over to the pet store because i knew i couldnt take her home and see her suffer,knowing nothing was going to work..and I just add another LyreTail to my tank..which is extremely active and all that and im just praying i dont have to go thru that again...But Best of luck to you and Your Fishie :) not everyones story turns out in a bad way!
 
BadRoma1 said:
i've heard it's stress related
Click to expand...
well, stress in and of itself won't stop a swimbladder from functioning properly (inflating, deflating as needed). What stress CAN do is make the fish more susceptible to infections. As TheZoo said, swimbladder diseases can be bacterial in nature. I had two fish develop SB infections (as evidenced by inability to maintain position in water column) and both were the result of my negligence to keep the tank clean.

When nitrates and other nutrients build up in your water, it creates more food for bacteria (and viruses, etc.) and your tank becomes a breeding ground for disease. Doing more frequent water changes helps to remove pathogens and the nutrients they need, and gives the fish a better chance of fighting the infection with their immune system.
 
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