Betta Fish Forum banner

Taco has SBD. Maybe. Please help?

3K views 69 replies 9 participants last post by  ifish 
#1 ·
Taco has Swim Bladder Disorder, or so I think. He has been floating listlessly at the top of his tank, tail down and mouth up to the surface, for a whole day. He's completely vertical. He only moves if I prod him, and only then, will he struggle to move away. He has not eaten at all.

I've done frequent water changes and treated him for any possible cases of illness. I've ruled out ich and fungus at this point (which is what I thought the cause of the sudden inactivity was attested to).

I also suspect it may be ammonia poisoning, but I've done nothing to how I've changed the water before. Tian-Tian is doing fine (though battling his own case of ich again. Freakin' fish.).

Help, please? :-( I've done all I can think of.
 
#5 ·
Hmm..yeah I have gone through this a few times now. Try fasting him for a few days. Hold off on meds. Im waiting for Smurfy to get back to normal,she keeps having sbd issues. Can you tell if Taco has eliminated at all? Maybe hes constipated if not sbd. It usually starts out as that,before it turns into sbd. Hope hes okay!!
 
#6 ·
GAH. I just took a closer look at Taco. His scales are raised and he looks a bit bloated than I initially recall. It's looking more like dropsy than SBD. :(

Gonna move him to another container and see if I can keep a closer eye on him. This is bad....

And too late on the meds advice fishyinpa; I JUST put in some Jungle Fungus clear on accident. FAIL. I'll get him out of there now. :-( This is bad, bad, bad..... *flails arms*
 
#14 ·
Thanks, y'all. Every little bit helps.

I just had a thought: I changed Taco's water yesterday, never varying from my usual routine. This includes using aquarium salt.

I just read up a bit on Fish Dropsy. It would seem that it's the failure of the kidneys, which leads to a buildup of fluid in the body. Given that salt, in humans, leads to a buildup of water retention, could the same be true for fish? I mean it sounds silly, since fish live in water, but it was a thought I had.

Taco hasn't changed at all. Given Taco's symptoms and behavior, it definitely looks like dropsy.

More updates to follow later this evening.
 
#20 ·
I put Taco in a smaller container, where he won't have to swim too far for air at the moment. He looks completely miserable. I'm changing out the water in his tank and only filling it halfway. If he goes, I just want to make him as comfortable as I can.

I'm giving a half-water change to Tian-Tian at the same time. Tian-Tian has been very active over the past few hours. I bet he knows something's up.

More updates coming.
 
#22 ·
Okay, Taco's water levels are about 2 inches lower than usual (just to give him a little room, too) and his tank is completely bare now. I added a small heater to heat up the water. If it's just constipation, perhaps it'll help pass the gunk in his body. Otherwise it'll hopefully make him more comfortable. Here's to hoping he pulls through the night.

Meanwhile, Tian-Tian is flaring at me. Maybe I did something wrong? :(

I'm just trying to do all that I can at this point. So frustrating that I don't seem to be making any progress.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top