I got 2 casualties Swim bladder disease?

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DaPony87

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I got a 55 gallon tank and I fill it with well water and it has a ph of 6.8 out of the faucet, One of my dwarf gouramis died bout 2 weeks ago it couldnt swim to the bottom....it would swim really hard to about midway and then it would go striaght tp the top like a bouy held under water u oculd tell it was something in its body and not its own purpolsion well...now one of my kyhli loaches got it and i dont know wat the heck it is anybody had this problem or know wat i can do to save my loach and possibly the other fish!?
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Da Pony
 
i can only imagine all the nasty metals and other things that your well water has in it. i'm sure the water source could have something to do with it.
 
Buncha questions DaPony:

What are the water parameters (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/pH) in the tank? How do you treat the water before you put it into the tank? How long has the tank been set up? How often do you water change? Any new fish added recently?

Are there any other symptoms? Unusual markings, heavy breathing, not eating? What are you feeding them? How much?
 
amonia= 0 ppm, nitrite= 0 ppm, pH= 6.7, i juss fill up a bucket and put in water into the tank i do mayb a 40% water change every two and a half weeks. the tank has been set up for 10 months now and i added 3 snakeskin gouramis about a month ago. the loach was breathing heavy earlier but he has since buried himself behind a plant, im feeding them tetra min tropical flake food...i changed my gravel 2 days ago to flourite gravel by seachem and i give them as much as they eat in a couple of minutes twice a day
 
Ooh. Change your water more frequently than that... I change it every week, though I know plenty of ppl who don't (my brother and the LFS ppl included).

I had a similar problem with Kuhli loaches when I started out. I think they may well be susceptible to swim bladder infections. And, by many accounts, these infections are chronic and poorly understood.

Just so you know. These infections are usually caused by:
1) Excessive gulps of air taken by fish because an aquarium is poorly oxygenated
2) Sudden temperature changes
3) Microbial infections that can or may not be opportunisticly-related to the previous two problems.

Also, do you use a dechlorinator for the water? Many dechlors also remove heavy metals from the water. You might want to consider using TLC (Tender Living Care)or Wardley or other brands of Dechlor to detoxify the well water. Water from the ground is not necessarily pure... E.g. Bangladesh...
 
Okey dokey; ammonia and nitrites looks good. What about nitrates? High levels of nitrates (above 40 ppm) can also cause probs. Those are good size water changes, but since they happen every 2 1/2 weeks nitrates can really build up. Also, you don't treat your water before you add it (no dechlor or heavy metal remover?). I wonder if that might also be an issue; can you find out what exactly is in the well water? To be honest, chloramine is usually not found, but other things (nitrates, heavy metals, etc) can be. Also, do you match temps?

Did the problem start after the new gouramis were added? I wonder if they brought disease along with them; did you QT them?

The flake food could also be a factor; flake food is usually still dry when the fish eat it. It can swell up in the fish's digestive tract and cause blockages, which can cause constipation and swim bladder issues. Not to be gross but, whats their poo look like?

Obviously I have no specific answers but these are some places to start.
 
My water is untreated from the ground so i didnt see the need for a dechlorinator I kept african cichlids for a year with no problems related to this thing...I put the gouramis in Qt for 3 days nothing seemed wrong with them so I put them in....the tank doesnt have a huge biolaod as it is....3 red-lined rasaboras, and a male paradise fish....the loach right now is on the bottom but hes breathing heavy i guess the gills are goin alot faster than normal and hes in the middle of the open not hiding like usual he'll rest fr bout 30 seconds then wriggle for a second and stop...again not his normal behaviour...it couldve been disease from the introduced gouramis thats my guess I dont think I quarantine long enough
 
Yeah, I think you hit that one on the head. In the case of the swim bladder probs and the unhealthy loach, I also think the gouramis brought something along with them. The problem is what. I'm pretty sure one of the diseases is some sort of infection, but no idea if its bacterial or viral. If its bacterial, a broad spectrum med like kanacyn or tetracycline might help. The other prob is the loach. I kinda think its a parasite prob as well, possibly ich (it can infest the gills and not be apparent elsewhere, causing the fish to have breathing probs). But again, I can't say for sure.

Oh, and just a FYI, most of us QT our guys for at least 2 weeks...least those of us with some patience *grin*
 
Not that Alli really *does* have patience!!!! :wink: :wink:

Hahahaha!

OK, she has patience when it counts... When I tell her I've got new tank inhabitants, she bugs me about getting pix up non-stop!
 
*smirks*

OK, so patience isn't one of my virtues LOL

I have learned the hard way about QTing new fish tho. Despite that, and even tho I only do 2 weeks for domestic bred fish, and 3 weeks for wild caught, I am chewing at the bit the entire time!
 
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