Swim bladder or gas?

[Tank Bruno]

Hey all,

I recently got some black neon tetra from my LFS and one of them is showing signs of swim bladder, swimming with his face upwards.
Could it be trapped air or are neons prone to swim bladder disorder?

 

[Myraan]

I read in PFK today that in overgrown flooded fields in the pantanel, sometimes the clear water cause so much plant growth causes so much oxygen in water it makes a bubbles into the swim bladder causing light headed to fish to float and be a free meal for the birds.

Never heard of that in an aquarium though.

If it's just the one it could some weird genetic thing I suppose.

Did you check for ammonia or nitrite just in case? It probably isn't bad water, but if it is you will find out before they all get weird with it.

 

[itiwhetu]

Was the fish like that before you got it? Fish are exposed to all sorts of chemicals on their journey to your tank. My guess is that all that stuff has been too much for your fish.

 

[Colin_T]

Swim bladder problems are rare in fish and most fish diagnosed with it actually have air in their intestine. The air is ingested by the fish when they eat dry food from the surface.

If the fish floats upwards when it stops swimming, it is usually air. To test this, stop feeding dry food for a week and use live or frozen (but defrosted) foods instead. If the problem rectifies itself without the dry food, then the problem is air that gets farted out by the fish.

If the problem doesn't get better after a week without dry food, or if the fish sinks to the bottom when it stops swimming, then it has a swim bladder issue.

There is no cure for swim bladder issues and the fish are normally euthanised if it is confirmed.

 

[Tank Bruno]

Swim bladder problems are rare in fish and most fish diagnosed with it actually have air in their intestine. The air is ingested by the fish when they eat dry food from the surface.

If the fish floats upwards when it stops swimming, it is usually air. To test this, stop feeding dry food for a week and use live or frozen (but defrosted) foods instead. If the problem rectifies itself without the dry food, then the problem is air that gets farted out by the fish.

If the problem doesn't get better after a week without dry food, or if the fish sinks to the bottom when it stops swimming, then it has a swim bladder issue.

There is no cure for swim bladder issues and the fish are normally euthanised if it is confirmed.

Looks like I might have to euthanise. He sinks when he stops swimming, he must be exhausted.
Is it worth giving him a chance and feed on frozen food? Maybe even starve for 3 days, drop a pea in?

 

[Colin_T]

You can try feeding them peas for a few days and see if it helps. But if it doesn't then euthanise the fish so it doesn't burn out (from swimming continuously) trying to keep up with its mates.

 

[DoubleDutch]

If it is gass / starts floating it swims with its head down instead of up