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Swim Bladder Disorder

919 Views 2 Replies 2 Participants Last post by  Oldfishlady
Housing

What size is your tank?

It's a 10 Gallon tank.

What temperature is your tank?

At the moment, it's 76°F.

Does your tank have a filter?

Yes, it does have a filter.

Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?

No, it doesn't have an air stone.

Is your tank heated?

Yes, my tank is heated.

What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

None, he is kept by himself.

Food

What type of food do you feed your betta fish?

He hasn't really eaten yet, but I try to feed him TetraMin tropical flakes and TetraColor tropical granules.

How often do you feed your betta fish?

I've attempted to feed him about 2 times a day, and when I do, it's either a single granule or a small pinch of flakes.


Maintenance

How often do you perform a water change?

I do one every week, on Fridays mostly.

What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?

I do 10% - 25% water changes.

What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Since I'm not sure what to add, I don't add anything but some conditioner that claims to get rid of Ammonia and Chloramine.

Water Parameters:

Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

I haven't tested my water yet, I'm not sure what the parameters are.

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment

How has your betta fish's appearance changed?

It doesn't seem to have changed.

How has your betta fish's behavior changed?

I purchased this betta just recently from a Petco because I felt bad for him. I thought that his conditions might've been from SBD because he's swimming on his side, but I've given him the treatment that's been told to me (fast for 3 days and if it doesn't clear up try a de-shelled pea) and I gave it about a week, and it hasn't changed. This is why I'm asking about him. Shouldn't the symptoms have vanished by now unless it's from an injury that caused perminant SBD? I'm not completely new to bettas, but I'm not good with diseases and medicine. I guess I learned my lesson not to buy an animal when I'm not positive on what the treatment is. I just couldn't leave him there.


When did you start noticing the symptoms?

I noticed these symptoms when I purchased him from Petco.

Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?

I've tried fasting him for 3 days and it didn't seem to work, I then switched to the de-shelled pea and it also didn't work. During this time he was in a 1.7 gallon so that he could swim around easier.

Does your fish have any history of being ill?

I'm not sure because I just recently bought him because of this.

How old is your fish (approximately)?

I'm not sure how old the fish is because I don't know how to determine age. I can see if I can get a video if it'll help you.
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Does anyone know what the cause might be? I can attempt to get a video of him for you to see if that'll help you. This is going to be after school, though, because right now I'm in my Computer Animations class (6th hour).
If he is having buoyancy issues-it could be several things-one-it could be due to poor genetic and/or how he was reared at the fish farm, it could be bacterial infection, inflamed or impacted duct and even labyrinth organ related.....
Sometime they will have chronic buoyancy issues especially when it was related to genetic or rearing issue at the fish farm....usually they can still live a normal life allbeit on his side and/or limited.....

What I would do- 14 day Epsom salt treatment in a small QT-Epsom salt (Not aquarium salt) tannins either IAL or dried Oak leaf

Place him in a small QT-the small temporary container he came in works great for this-be sure and attach it to the side of the heated tank to maintain temp in the 77-78F range and cover the top with plastic veggie wrap to help retain heat/humidity for the labyrinth organ.

Premix some treatment water in a 1gal jug of dechlorinated water-Add Epsom salt 3tsp/gal and the tannin source if you have one-let this steep for 30min and use this water for 25% water changes every 15min for 1hour today-he needs to stay in the QT and Treatment water for the duration of the treatment of 14 days

Tomorrow start 50% water changes with the premixed Tx water every day for 3 days-On day 4 make 100%-repeat this schedule for 14 days.....

Nutrition-good quality varied diet fed in small frequent meals-If you have access to mosquito larva-offer a few rinsed for 1 meal a day

Good luck and keep us posted.....
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