Why does my balloon molly float

jellybellyfish

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Hey there,
Can anyone tell me why my fish has problems swimming. Their bottom always seems to float back up to the top? This fish never had this issue prior, although we did have a fish with this same issue who passed a couple days ago. Could this be related? If so how can I stop this fish from dying too?
Any help would be appreciated, thanks guys
 

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Could be a swimbladder problem which is a kind of normal that they can have this problem as being a balloon molly. Everything is cramped in its body. Balloon mollies, balloon platies, balloon guppies and lyretail goldfish have the this problem quite often at some point. There's no real cure for balloon fish when having this problem. Not even a boiled pea could help you out if it's swimbladder problem. Which it most likely is. Sorry to say...
 
It could be air trapped in the fish's intestine. This happens a lot with deformed fishes like balloon mollies and fantail goldfish when they eat dry food. they ingest air at the same time and it builds up in their intestine and causes them to have trouble remaining bouyant.

To test this, stop feeding dry food for 1 week and feed frozen or live foods instead. If the problem goes away, then the dry food is causing the problem and you will need to feed less dry and more frozen foods.

If the problem persists after a week without dry food, then it has a swim bladder problem and there is no cure for that.

In future, try to avoid buying balloon fishes because they have a much shorter life span than normal shaped fish.
 
Could be a swimbladder problem which is a kind of normal that they can have this problem as being a balloon molly. Everything is cramped in its body. Balloon mollies, balloon platies, balloon guppies and lyretail goldfish have the this problem quite often at some point. There's no real cure for balloon fish when having this problem. Not even a boiled pea could help you out if it's swimbladder problem. Which it most likely is. Sorry to say...
It could be air trapped in the fish's intestine. This happens a lot with deformed fishes like balloon mollies and fantail goldfish when they eat dry food. they ingest air at the same time and it builds up in their intestine and causes them to have trouble remaining bouyant.

To test this, stop feeding dry food for 1 week and feed frozen or live foods instead. If the problem goes away, then the dry food is causing the problem and you will need to feed less dry and more frozen foods.

If the problem persists after a week without dry food, then it has a swim bladder problem and there is no cure for that.

In future, try to avoid buying balloon fishes because they have a much shorter life span than normal shaped fish.
Hi Colin,
For the past week I have been feeding my fish frozen food and that fish did not have this problem until today.
After some research I came to a conclusion it might be gill flukes as their gills are quite swollen and pink and my other fish who died had these exact symptoms.
Do you think this could be the issue?
 
Could be a swimbladder problem which is a kind of normal that they can have this problem as being a balloon molly. Everything is cramped in its body. Balloon mollies, balloon platies, balloon guppies and lyretail goldfish have the this problem quite often at some point. There's no real cure for balloon fish when having this problem. Not even a boiled pea could help you out if it's swimbladder problem. Which it most likely is. Sorry to say...
Hello emeraldking,
After some research of my fishes symptoms it seems gill flukes are common with all the symptoms experienced. She does have very red and swollen gills so believe this may be the issue? What do you think?
 
Hello emeraldking,
After some research of my fishes symptoms it seems gill flukes are common with all the symptoms experienced. She does have very red and swollen gills so believe this may be the issue? What do you think?
It could be but as I've already mentioned, it could also be swimbladder problem or what Colin said that it's something with the intestines.
 
The fish could have gill flukes and intestinal worms because these are both very common in fish from Asian fish farms. However, gill flukes don't cause fish to float. So the floating is a separate issue to any breathing issues that this fish might have or other fish have had.

If you post a video of this fish we can see if it is breathing normally. You should also check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH, because these can cause fish to breath heavily. And tell us what, if any, lant fertilisers and chemicals you add to the tank because these can cause fish to have trouble breathing too.

You can upload videos to YouTube, then coy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the hone horizontally (landscape mode) so the footage fills the entire screen and doesn't have black bars on either side.

Make the video about 1 minute long and maybe film the other fish in the tank so we can check them too.

Section 3 of the link below has info on deworming fish and treating them for gill flukes. Same medication (Flubendazole or Praziquantel) does both.
 
Balloon fish are, sadly, doomed to live shorter lives by the spinal problem bred into them. It causes gut compression, and a variety of issues.
 
The fish could have gill flukes and intestinal worms because these are both very common in fish from Asian fish farms. However, gill flukes don't cause fish to float. So the floating is a separate issue to any breathing issues that this fish might have or other fish have had.

If you post a video of this fish we can see if it is breathing normally. You should also check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH, because these can cause fish to breath heavily. And tell us what, if any, lant fertilisers and chemicals you add to the tank because these can cause fish to have trouble breathing too.

You can upload videos to YouTube, then coy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the hone horizontally (landscape mode) so the footage fills the entire screen and doesn't have black bars on either side.

Make the video about 1 minute long and maybe film the other fish in the tank so we can check them too.

Section 3 of the link below has info on deworming fish and treating them for gill flukes. Same medication (Flubendazole or Praziquantel) does both.
Hi there,
Please find attached the link to the YouTube video of my fish and fish tank
 

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