Sick Ryukin

[Orandas]

Hi, I hope I'm posting this in the right place!

I have a ryukin who is showing major signs of swimbladder and has been for about 3 weeks now... The water is all coming back as fine, i have done water changes, treated with swimbladder treatment, fasted him and also fed him peas but nothing has really helped. He has a brief time where he is the right way up and able to have a swim on the bottom of the tank, but 80% of the time he is upside down in the corner.
Any advice would be great please x

 

[germanyt]

Never had a fish with swim bladder so I'm not much help. He seems to be, after 3 weeks, to be hanging in there. Can you not squeeze him gently around the abdomen and force some of the air out? I don't know if that will work.

 

[Fresh N Salt guy]

Really basic advice to start but have to say it. Over feeding can expand the stomach and compress the swim bladder. Also, if he is eating the food dry while its floating on top it can expand in his stomach after it wet and also compress the swim bladder Try putting concentrated garlic on the pees when you feed him. The peas act more as a antibiotic and the garlic will act as a laxative. Hopefully this is the case and he can poop out any blockage causing it.
Not sure if this is the case, but presoaking his food after he gets better can eliminate Thais and feed 2-3 small feeding a day instead of 1. Once again, not sure if this will fix it since I'm not there watching his habits but is the common reason for swim bladder issues

 

[Sharpchick]

I have also hand fed spinach under the surface of the water to the affected fish. My ryukin is very tame and took to hand feeding quite well. I keep a bag of frozen chopped spinach and thaw bits in boiling water to feed a couple of times a week. I personally found with my fish that spinach moved things along better than peas. Some folks have gotten excellent results with peas, though.

 

[Berylla]

Have you tried epsom salt in the main tank? The dosage is 1 tbs/10 gallons. Do a 25% water change, dose, wait 2 days, then do another 25% water change.

You could also place him into a 10G QT tank and treat him there with sponge filter, air stone and heater. Don't feed to keep up water quality and change the water out 50% a day and redose the epsom salt. The lower water level will help him right himself as well. Sometimes just clean water changes cures infections.

Please let us know if he is not well in a week.

 

[Berylla]

Sorry, I meant don't feed him his normal food. Just the peas or spinach and lightly. Fish can survive without food for a long time.

 

[Orandas]

Thanks for all the advice.. I have only been feeding him peas every few days just incase there is a blockage and he is prone to constipation so I'm always careful to not over feed him. I've never done an Epsom salt bath before though, so I will try that. Is the salt available from specialist pet stores or general stores? Thank you

 

[Berylla]

Epsom salt is super cheap and can be found in the drug section of your local grocery store, Walmart or Target. Just make sure it doesn't have any additives, like scent. Ingredients should only be magnesium sulfate.

 

[Orandas]

Ok, thank you very much. I'm from the uk but I'm sure ill manage to find some over here

 

[Orandas]

Any advice as to what the purplish marks might be on his head? They're abit darker in the flesh. I noticed them a couple of days ago but they now seem to be getting worse... He's been spending a lot of time upside down due to his swimbladder so I'm not sure if it could be bruising or something??

 

[Berylla]

Thanks for posting a photo. He looks good despite his swim bladder problems. Very pretty fish!

How large a tank is he in right now? If it's a 10+ gallon, you can reduce the water level to 70% or even 50% if you filter has a longer intake. He will be able to right himself in shallower water. Remember to change your water out daily by 25% to keep it clean.

If you have been using the epsom salt for a few days now, stop, and just keep up the water changes. You can also add 1tbs. of salt per 10 gallons.

Regarding the purple spots, keep a close eye on them. If they look like an infection, I would net your fish, and place him, net and all, on a clean damp paper towel.

Pat dry the affected area with a damp towel, then dab with iodine with a swab. Make sure the iodine is not dripping wet on the cotton swab as the iodine can drip in the fish's eyes and cause extreme pain. Yes...be careful.

I suggest this because goldfish are pretty big fish and netting them shouldn't cause the same stress as a smaller fish.

 

[Orandas]

Thank you. How will I recognise if it's starts to look like an infection? Sorry if that's a silly question, I'm quite new to all this!

 

[Orandas]

He's only in a 25 litre at the minute, but I'm looking to expand that ASAP. Would you still recommend making the water shallower for him?

 

[Sharpchick]

He's only in a 25 litre at the minute, but I'm looking to expand that ASAP. Would you still recommend making the water shallower for him?

25 liters is only a little more than 6 US gallons.

I wouldn't lower the water level in a tank that small. The fish needs all the clean water he can get.

 

[Orandas]

Me again, sorry for all the questions! Am I ok to use the Epsom salts and swimbladder medicine at the same time? He's due a dose of swimbladder medicine but I only dosed Epsom salts yesterday. Thanks

 

[Berylla]

Are you referring to Iodine? Yes, you can use epsom salt with it, since you are only using very little topically. I agree with Sharpchick about the water level. I didn't realize that it was only a small tank. Do you have a clean 5 gallon bucket handy? If your fish shows no signs of improvement, you can try giving him 4 hour baths in Methylene blue. Fill bucket with tepid water treated with water conditioner. Add the Metheylene blue according to instruction on the bottle, add an airstone, and then the fish. After the 4 hour treatment, you can return him to his tank which has had a 100% water change. You can do this every other day for a week and see if he improves.

Dump the water out of the bucket, rinse and let dry, ready for another treatment. Be careful handling methylene blue. IT STAINS EVERYTHING BLUE PERMANENTLY. Don't dump into your toilet. Only a laundry sink which you don't care about or a stainless steel sink.

Remember to change the water 100% every other day in your main tank since it is very small.