Swim Bladder Disease or Disorder is a condition where fish find it difficult to float or sink in the fish tank.
Swim bladder disease or disorder refers to a variety of problems that affect fish’s swim bladder, rather than being considered a single disease. Although commonly seen in goldfish and betta fish, this disease can affect almost any fish species.
What Is Swim Bladder Disease?
Swim Bladder Disease is a condition in which the fish swim bladder does not function properly due to illness, physical abnormalities, mechanical/environmental factors or simply for reasons that cannot be diagnosed.
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Affected fish will experience buoyancy problems, meaning they will have difficulty controlling their ability to float or sink.
What Are The Symptoms Of Swim Bladder Disease?
Most of the time, fish that suffer from this disease will exhibit a variety of symptoms.
Some of these symptoms mainly involve buoyancy, including problems like floating on top of the fish tank or simply standing upside down or on its side. Other physical signs, such as the animal’s protruding belly or curved back, may also be related.
Affected fish may even eat normally or have no appetite. If the buoyancy problems are more serious, the fish will not be able to eat normally or even reach the water surface.
What Are The Causes Of Swim Bladder Disease?
Sometimes, this disorder is caused by the compression of the swim bladder. However, this can involve a distended stomach due to rapid food intake, excessive consumption, constipation and incorrectly swallowing air, which is believed to occur with floating foods.
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Eating dry foods that expand when they get wet can also lead to an enlarged stomach or intestinal tract. The low temperature of the fish tank can slow down the digestive process, which, in turn, can result in an increase in the gastrointestinal tract that presses the swim bladder.
Some other abdominal organs can enlarge and affect the swim bladder. Likewise, kidney cysts and fatty deposits in the liver can result in a sufficient increase to affect the swim bladder. Parasites or bacterial infections can also ignite it.
Occasionally, a strong blow when hitting an fish tank object, a fight or a fall, can also damage it. In any case, fish are rarely born with birth defects that affect the swim bladder, but in these cases, symptoms will usually be present at an early age.
What Are The Treatments?
If the enlarged stomach or intestine is the cause of swim bladder disease, the first step is not to feed the fish for three days. At the same time, increase the temperature of the fish tank water to 25°C – 27°C degree. On the fourth day, feed the fish with a cooked shelled pea.
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Frozen peas are ideal for this, they can be cooked in the microwave or cooked on the stove for a few seconds to thaw them, resulting in the proper consistency. Soon after, remove the skin and serve the pea to the fish. You can continue to feed with a pea a day for a few days. After 3 days, consider feeding the fish with an appropriate food for the species, but avoid floating flakes or pellets.
If for some reason, an infection is the cause of Swim Bladder Disease, treatment with a broad-spectrum antibiotic can help, and for that, you will need to see a professional.
Below we list some treatments that can be performed:
- Keep the water especially clean and with temperatures of 25° – 27°C degree;
- Add a small amount of salt in the fish tank(check if there are species in the fish tank that cannot tolerate salt);
- Reduce the water level to facilitate the fish movement;
- Reduce the water movement in fish tank with strong currents;
- Manual feeding may be necessary if the fish has significant problems with movement;
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Unfortunately, many cases of Swim Bladder Disorder do not respond to the treatment. If the fish does not recover within a reasonable period, the solution may be euthanasia.
How To Prevent?
It is known that poor water conditions make fish more susceptible to infections. Keeping the fish tank clean and performing Partial Water Changes can help prevent this disorder. Keeping the water temperature high will aid digestion and possibly prevent constipation, another potential cause of swim bladder problems.
Feed your fish high quality foods and consider soaking dry foods for a few minutes before feeding them. Above all, always thaw frozen foods thoroughly before placing them in the fish tank.
Avoid over-feeding as much as possible. In addition, feed the fish small portions so that they do not overeat, this will certainly help prevent this problem.
What are your experiences with Swim Bladder Disease? Were you able to save some of your fish? Tell us in the comments!
