Swim Bladder treatment

[dhavalsp]

I think one of my discus is suffering from Swim bladder. I noticed this yesterday morning and have isolated it in a separate tank.

So far I have treated it with Epsom SAlt 2 tbsp./10G and cranked up the temperature. It has been 18 hours with no improvement so far suggesting it could be an internal bacterial infection. It is just lying at the bottom of the QT and swims like a 'leaf in a storm' if I try to approach it.

what is the recommended treatment for this? I know odds are against me.

Here is the video from yesterday morning when I first saw it: https://youtu.be/EltPZTL32HQ

Thanks for your help.

regards,

Dhaval

 

[Becca]

Once fish have the spins, it's usually too late.

 

[YSS]

That's too bad. It's a really nice looking discus. Not sure if it's a swim bladder issue. If it's an internal infection, heat treatment works well. You gotta crank the temp to 94 to 96 for a few days. I've had good results with heat treatments. Good luck.

 

[dhavalsp]

This was so sudden...it was happy and chirpy the night before and woke up to this in the morning.

I have 2 suspected reason, a day before,

I added potted plants from my other tank which is also fairly well maintained and I often move plecos and feed shrimp from that tank to these discus. Not sure if any contaminants/microbes got through this time..

I fed them boiled beetroots..just for kicks and now I am kicking myself...

this one is a big guy...6.5 inch...Epsom salt did not work, temp at 90F now, and treating with oxytetra....

hoping for a miracle.

 

[Becca]

This was so sudden...it was happy and chirpy the night before and woke up to this in the morning.

I have 2 suspected reason, a day before,

I added potted plants from my other tank which is also fairly well maintained and I often move plecos and feed shrimp from that tank to these discus. Not sure if any contaminants/microbes got through this time..

I fed them boiled beetroots..just for kicks and now I am kicking myself...

this one is a big guy...6.5 inch...Epsom salt did not work, temp at 90F now, and treating with oxytetra....

hoping for a miracle.

If it were the beet roots, all of the fish would be sick, and probably dead. Toxins from agricultural pesticides are pretty effective at killing fish pretty quickly. Sometimes things happen to fish that aren't the result of external diseases. If the other fish all seem happy and healthy, this is likely isolated and due to some defect in the fish itself.

 

[dhavalsp]

I think the beetroot was fine...it may have caused digestion issue. leading to blockage/constipation and so on....

All other fish do look fine and happy. He is still kicking it in the QT I have started oxytetracycline treatment...lets see how it goes.

 

[Kareen]

you can go on simply discus.com were you can get help

 

[dhavalsp]

Hi Kareen, I have been posting updates there as well and have been treating as advised by some veterans over there..

Overall, things are not looking bright, but hoping for the best.

thanks,

Dhaval

 

[YSS]

Good luck with the treatment. I was a regular poster at simply for a while, but got tired of attitudes of so called experts who dish out advises that for the most part make situations worse. I would be careful before carrying out advises you get from there or anywhere for that matter. Typically, when you are treating with anti-biotics, you don't raise temp as it lowers oxygen level. You can use heat treatment as the last resort. This is something Discus Hans told me about personally and it worked for me well. He even said that he does not recommend this treatment on simply because some know it all members would blast him for giving a bad advise. As I said before, if you are using the heat treatment, you need to raise the temp to 94 to 96.

 

[Howie]

Reed uses a miraculous technique with a syringe that releases the air in the swim bladder that reestablishes buoyancy.

 

[dhavalsp]

The condition of the fish has not changed...no improvement or further deterioration....hoping for the best over the next few days.

Yun, I know exactly what you mean about 'experts'. I will try the heat treatment as the last resort, post antibiotic dose completion. I opted for Furan-2 instead of tetra (after consulting with your friend - Don in Virginia)

Howie, we will need a miracle to convince me to do something that extreme. I have seen Reed 's video, it is pretty cool but the dude is crazy... I think the needle thing works if you have a floater(due air retention). this one is staying flat at the bottom. Plus, we don't even know if it is a swim bladder issue so I think I will refrain from stabbing the poor guy..

 

[YSS]

Don is a good guy. Sucks when your good fish get sick. I've been through that too many times with discus. Good luck!

 

[Reed]

The condition of the fish has not changed...no improvement or further deterioration....hoping for the best over the next few days.

Yun, I know exactly what you mean about 'experts'. I will try the heat treatment as the last resort, post antibiotic dose completion. I opted for Furan-2 instead of tetra (after consulting with your friend - Don in Virginia)

Howie, we will need a miracle to convince me to do something that extreme. I have seen Reed 's video, it is pretty cool but the dude is crazy... I think the needle thing works if you have a floater(due air retention). this one is staying flat at the bottom. Plus, we don't even know if it is a swim bladder issue so I think I will refrain from stabbing the poor guy..

This not a cure for the problem. The fish lived several more months before kicking it