Sick Or In Labor?

[Notsofab]

One of our female Molly's is behaving strangely tonight. I can't work out if she is sick or getting ready to give birth?

Basically when she swims she is a bit frantic, almost rolling like a drunk. She only seems to want to find a place to rest. So she keeps getting herslf in amongst the plants, with her nose pointing down towards the bottom of the tank and then just remains there very still.

Her fins will move occassionally and her gills are definately moving.

One of our other Molly's already gave birth and we did she her getting into an almost similar situation. But she never rolled or swam as frantically as this one has been.

Any ideas anyone ?

 

[WILDER]

Honestly she dosn't sound right at all, they are the movements of a dying fish sorry, can you issolate her.

 

[Notsofab]

Honestly she dosn't sound right at all, they are the movements of a dying fish sorry, can you issolate her.

Not properly no. I could dechlorinate and temperature match some water and put her in a large bowl. But I only have the one tank (which is in a poor condition as it's still cycling).

 

[WILDER]

Can you post water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, she dying i would issolate her, and i would preform a water change. immediately then add her to the bowl with some nice declorinated water.

 

[Annastasia]

The plants and staying still in them sounds like labor to me. The other parts, however, do not. How long have you had her, any idea how long she's been pregnant? Does she appear to have swimbladder problems? As I have heard of really pregnant fish have trouble with their swimbladders because of all the babies pressing against it.

Can you just describe the 'rolling like a drunk' a little more? I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, sorry!

 

[Notsofab]

Can you post water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph, she dying i would issolate her, and i would preform a water change. immediately then add her to the bowl with some nice declorinated water.

OK, i will go and prepare a bowl now. The tank water stats are very poor as I'm nearing the end of the cycle. Ammonia=0, Nitrite=Very High, Off scale. Nitrates=60, pH=8 temp=79

 

[WILDER]

Your'e right about that forgot yes if she is having a large batch then can press against the swim bladder, so it looks like they have swimbladder rolling over, i think i would still issolate her with the rolling over.

Preform an immediate water change if the nitrites are off the chart, as it won't be helping her.

 

[Notsofab]

The plants and staying still in them sounds like labor to me. The other parts, however, do not. How long have you had her, any idea how long she's been pregnant? Does she appear to have swimbladder problems? As I have heard of really pregnant fish have trouble with their swimbladders because of all the babies pressing against it.

Can you just describe the 'rolling like a drunk' a little more? I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, sorry!

Sometimes she will go nose down and her tail will come right over like she's doing a loop. She doesn't want to move much. She's very still, unless one of the other fish goes near her. She will also roll along her horizonal axis as well. She was fine until about 2 hours ago.

 

[WILDER]

She will be more comfortable in a bowl, do the water change to the tank, then add her to the bowl, good luck.

She might have this, or it the babies pressing on the swim bladder, but she still dosn't sound right to me, not the writer of this information below.
Swim Bladder Disorder



The Swim bladder is a gas-filled sac located inside the fish’s body cavity just above most of the other internal organs. This sac is what gives the fish buoyancy and controls equilibrium. The amount of gas in this sac changes as the fish rises and sinks in the water, enabling it to swim, hover and move in the water. Without the use of the Swim-bladder organ a fish is unable to control it's own movements.



Symptoms:

Fish with a swim bladder disorder appear to have an abnormal swimming pattern, usually with their tail end up. They also appear to have difficulty maintaining equilibrium. They may even float upside down or appear to be stuck at the surface of the water, being unable to swim down, or they may lie on the bottom, unable to rise. Fish with a swim bladder disorder will continue to try and feed, showing a normal appetite.



Cause:

The most common cause of swim bladder disorders is improper diet. An improper diet can lead to intestinal gas or intestinal blockages. Intestinal blockages can irritate the bowel, giving bacteria or other parasites an entry point where they can then cause damage to the swim bladder. Swim bladder disorders are most common in the larger, deep-bodied varieties of Goldfish. Fish also fed a lot of dried foods, especially pellets, are most susceptible. This condition is frequently observed in the later stages of Malawi Bloat, which is primarily due to an improper diet as well and intestinal irritation.



Treatment:

Because this disorder is due principally to an improper diet, a change in their feeding needs to be made. Dried foods with lots of protein should be kept to a minimum. Pellets and other dense foods should be soaked prior to feeding or completely eliminated from their diet. Foods with lots of fiber should be introduced, such as zucchini, squash, spinach, romaine lettuce, peas, and grated carrots. If you suspect that the fish is victim to a bacterial infection, treat the fish with a medicated food.

 

[Notsofab]

OK, we prepared a bowl with good dechlorinated water and moved her over. Since being in the bowl she has largely been swimming upside down. Only one of her fins is working correctly, the other doesn't look damaged but is just not moving when she swims.

She survived the night OK, and she seems to have plenty of energy. She has what I can only describe as a very fine silvery thread sticking out of her underside. There doesn't appear to be any fish poo in the bowl.

We have only had her for 2 1/2 weeks, during which time she has been fed flakes. She may also have helped herself to some of the Catfish pellets as well.

So it's looking to me from what I've read like a swim bladder problem. Apart from changing the water in the bowl, is there anything else I can do for her? Is there any medication that may help? I've read the 'sticky' about Swim Bladder so I know it's not looking good.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry it's not sounding to good to me either, try some shelled peas, frozen daphnia is good as well it helps the fish digest there food, not sure what the silver threads are, is it coming from the anus, does it look like a worm, does it have a forked tail.

 

[Notsofab]

Well against all odds, my Molly is still with us and seems to be doing a whole lot better.

I purchased a cheap plastic tank, with basic filter and heater to use as an emergency treatment tank. We re-homed her on Friday evening where she promptly settled herself on the bottom, upside down. She hardly moved, and when she did it was with a lot of effort and she still had obvious orientation problems.

I purchased a Swim Bladder treatment also which we added to the tank ( without the salt .... .because I didnt have any ). Then suddenly at about 17:00 yesterday, she suddenly decided to swim upto the surface of the tank. I promptly added some flake as I was concerned about how much she had eaten since becomming sick. She managed to swim around for about 20 minutes before settling herself down on the bottom again. Her orientation problem seemed to have gone. About an hour later she started to swim again, and has been actively swimming ever since. There is no evidence of the swim bladder problem whatsoever ..............

........ but now she isn't using her left side fin. It isn't clamped to her body - just sticking out straight. So two things really, 1) do I carry on with the swim bladder med as directed and treat her on day 4 and day 8, 2) is there anything I can do for her damaged fin? There doesn't appear to be anything physically wrong with it, its not torn or marked. She just isn't using it.

Thanks.

 

[WILDER]

The babies might of moved so they are not pressing on the swim bladder, when should you finsih the med, her fin might of pulled it like us with all the floating upside down and they having to put alot of effort into righting her self

 

[Notsofab]

The babies might of moved so they are not pressing on the swim bladder, when should you finsih the med, her fin might of pulled it like us with all the floating upside down and they having to put alot of effort into righting her self

Just wanted to let you know she didn't make it. After seemingly getting so much better on Saturday evening / Sunday, she just gave up first thing Monday morning. I didn't really hold out much hope when I realised it was swim bladder, but she tricked us when she appeared to be much better

Anyway, thanks for your help.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry bless her, how old was she, as keep having babies takes i toll on them, R.I.P.