just adopted a fan tail need a bit of help

RyanML

Small Fish
Aug 18, 2010
26
0
0
#1
hey,

just adopted a fan tail off my mother, pretty sure its swim bladder has gone as all it does is float on top of the water, but its been doing it for about 6 months now and its still alive, it attempts to swim but cant get from the top of the water, most of the time its upside down lol.

my original plan was to put it in my 30gal community tank but im pretty sure that some of the fish in there will nip its fins as it doesnt move about much, so ive set up a 10L tank for it with a small filter and a small heater (set on low as the room its in gets really cold).

my question is, is there any way at all to sort its swim bladder out? ive tried feeding it a pea before but it wasnt interested in it in anyway, so any help will be great!

thanks
 

aakaakaak

Superstar Fish
Sep 9, 2010
1,324
0
0
Chesapeake, Virginia
#2
Here's an article that looks like they know what they're talking about.
http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/swim_bladder_disease/

Methods were:
1. Fasting for 3-5 days
2. Peas
3. Aquarium Salt
4. Poking the swim bladder manually to let some air out

Prevention includes:
1. Presoaking your flakes or pellets
2. Feeding gel-based foods
3. Feeding frozen or live foods.

If nothing works and your fan-tail stops eating period then it may be time to euthanize. The easiest method is to give it a clove bath. It simply puts them to sleep.
 

RyanML

Small Fish
Aug 18, 2010
26
0
0
#4
back when it first started happening if we didnt feed it for a day or so it would swim about fine but now regardless how its fed it will float, it still eats tho, what kind of aquarium salt should i go and get? oh and where is the swim bladder located? i wouldnt like to poke it in the wrong place lol.
 

ValRasbora

Superstar Fish
May 2, 2009
1,202
0
0
Atlantic Canada
#5
Waaay back when I had a fantail with a swimbladder issue. Before that, my neighbor's goldfish also had a swimbladder issue. It's really common with fantails, and it's best avoided by keeping the water heated on low.