Are specific fish breeds more prone to swim bladder disease than others?

[Myrkk]

As it says in the header. I’m having issues with diamond headed tetras. It’s over the space of several months but they keep coming down with this, then waste and either die or get put out of their misery. Nothing else in the tank is having any issues.

 

[Colin_T]

Any balloon fish or commercially bred fish like neon tetras, guppies, platies, angelfish, etc, are more likely to have health issues including swim bladder problems. However, true swim bladder problems are rare and it depends on what symptoms the fish have and what you feed them.

If the fish floats up when it stops swimming, then it could have air trapped in its intestine or have a swim bladder issue. Fish regularly take in air when feeding from the surface or eating dry food and the air can take a while to pass through their digestive tract. Eventually it gets farted out and they swim normally. To test this you stop feeding dry food for a week and feed frozen (but defrosted) or live food. If the problem resolves after several days without dry food, then air is the most likely cause. If it doesn't resolve then a swim bladder issue is likely.

If a fish sinks to the bottom when it stops swimming, it usually has a swim bladder issue. On rare ocassions fish swallow sand or gravel and this can cause them to sink as well but it's very rare.

There's no cure for swim bladder problems and the fish usually die within a few days to a week. If it is diagnosed correctly and it is a true swim bladder problem, then euthanasia is the best option for the sick fish.

A short video of the fish swimming/ floating can be very useful in diagnosing this issue. You can upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally (landscape mode) so the footage fills the entire screen and doesn't have black bars on either end.

 

[GaryE]

I have been told it can be related to fish Mycobacter internal cysts, depending on where they develop. They can affect swim bladders in a slow chronically developing way. Diamonds don't have any special disposition, and Mycobacter is the infection with a million faces. So that's a guess.

 

[Michael G]

I have been told it can be related to fish Mycobacter internal cysts, depending on where they develop. They can affect swim bladders in a slow chronically developing way. Diamonds don't have any special disposition, and Mycobacter is the infection with a million faces. So that's a guess.

Yes, your correct about that, but also it does depend on the species of fish, such as bettas for example, if they are overfed they will develop swim bladder, but that also can go for any fish if they overeat they will develop it especially after eating because they gulp lots of air.

 

[GaryE]

@Michael G - agreed. The swim bladders inflate from intestinal gas, and blockages cause problems with balance. But there is no such thing as swim bladder disease. It's a symptom of a whole lot of things - bowel blockage, infections, cysts, inflammation, wrong food choices... We view it as a disease, but it's a bit like saying a person has sneezing.
I find it's really common, like dropsy (another symptom we call a disease) in older fish, as well.

Violence can be a cause. If the swim bladder gets hit hard, it can rupture. Often people with sneaky attack fish like redtailed sharks, or territorial Cichlids see a lot of fish unable to recover their balance.

The only fish I can think of with a disposition to it are the really grotesque goldfish types, with no dorsals and strange fins. But that's a breeder created problem.

 

[Magnum Man]

Curious if mail order fish that fly to your destination, are more susceptible, due to cabin pressure changes???

 

[GaryE]

I know many annual killies, or eggs from the mail have belly sliders - fish with defective swim bladders. It's suspected they have taken too long before hatching.

All fish spend time as air cargo, so I don't think that's it. Sometimes the routes involve more than one transfer, and those fish do fine. I suspect if one species is dying days and weeks apart, they're carrying something internal.

 

[Michael G]

@Michael G - agreed. The swim bladders inflate from intestinal gas, and blockages cause problems with balance. But there is no such thing as swim bladder disease. It's a symptom of a whole lot of things - bowel blockage, infections, cysts, inflammation, wrong food choices... We view it as a disease, but it's a bit like saying a person has sneezing.
I find it's really common, like dropsy (another symptom we call a disease) in older fish, as well.

Violence can be a cause. If the swim bladder gets hit hard, it can rupture. Often people with sneaky attack fish like redtailed sharks, or territorial Cichlids see a lot of fish unable to recover their balance.

The only fish I can think of with a disposition to it are the really grotesque goldfish types, with no dorsals and strange fins. But that's a breeder created problem.

Absolutely, and also I find depends on water quality and stress levels as well so always make sure your water quality is consistent and the nitrates aren’t constantly going up and down which will stress out the fish, if you don’t want to do as many water changes you can let nature do it for you and add live plants such as Amazon swords they are constantly absorbing toxins from the aquarium, if the fish gulps lots of air and eats lots of dry food that could also be a cause. What I find cures it are boiled peas always removing the outer layer of the peas as they are hard to digest, if the fish isn’t eating try fasting the fish for a few days and monitor the fish, and that should usually help relieve bloating.

 

[GaryE]

Absolutely, and also I find depends on water quality and stress levels as well so always make sure your water quality is consistent and the nitrates aren’t constantly going up and down which will stress out the fish, if you don’t want to do as many water changes you can let nature do it for you and add live plants such as Amazon swords they are constantly absorbing toxins from the aquarium, if the fish gulps lots of air and eats lots of dry food that could also be a cause. What I find cures it are boiled peas always removing the outer layer of the peas as they are hard to digest, if the fish isn’t eating try fasting the fish for a few days and monitor the fish, and that should usually help relieve bloating.

I agree with almost everything, but the idea water changes can be avoided by adding plants is creeping back into the hobby with no basis. I see it said a lot, and it has momentum as an idea. I mean, everyone hates water changes. But a well planted tank gives you a couple of days buffer if your water changes are delayed. Nature does not happen in a small, indoor glass box. Too many elements are missing. You might be able to manage the nitrogen cycle with a heavily planted,very lightly stocked tank, but the nitrogen cycle is just part of it.

 

[Michael G]

I agree with almost everything, but the idea water changes can be avoided by adding plants is creeping back into the hobby with no basis. I see it said a lot, and it has momentum as an idea. I mean, everyone hates water changes. But a well planted tank gives you a couple of days buffer if your water changes are delayed. Nature does not happen in a small, indoor glass box. Too many elements are missing. You might be able to manage the nitrogen cycle with a heavily planted,very lightly stocked tank, but the nitrogen cycle is just part of it.

Of course absolutely, water changes are not something you can completely get away with, live plants just add some oxygen and also natural food for herbivores as they will eat dead plants, But yes keeping water conditions ideal is key to having less issues with your fish.

 

[Essjay]

live plants just add some oxygen and also natural food for herbivores

They do more than add oxygen, they also remove ammonia and turn it into protein. If there are enough plants, they can take up all the ammonia leaving none to be turned into nitrite and nitrate.

 

[Myrkk]

This is the video I put up before, the fish always do this same thing.

I do feed predominantly dry food, but have fed live food recently so will see if that changes anything.