Rosey Barbs Bloated and struggling to swim. Swim bladder?

[creebo]

Hi all,

I need some advice on my rosey barb.

I have a male rosey barb thats around 2-3 years old. In the last month ive noticed hes become quite bloated (not massively so), hes struggling to balance properly in the water and swim, and has changed his behaviour; (he used to swim around the tank a lot faster, darting about playfully, now hes just hovering in one spot for a while and slowly moving on.) His scales are fine, no change in colour, damage or pineconing.

I have had a rosey barbs for a few years now, and I have experienced one with swim bladder, and treated them for it.

Although the symptoms are very similar to swim bladder (bloated, cant swim properly) Im not quite sure it is, hence i need some advice before acting.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum


Any chance of a video and some pictures of the fish?
You can upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally (landscape mode) so the footage fills the entire screen and doesn't leave black bars on each side.


What are you feeding the fish?
If you only feed it dry food, try using frozen or live food instead. Do this for a week and see if it helps.


If a fish gets really fat over a few months, it is usually a tumour and there is no cure for them. You wait until the fish stops eating or can't swim properly, then euthanise it. Post pictures and video first though so we can see what is going on.

 

[creebo]

Hi and welcome to the forum


Any chance of a video and some pictures of the fish?
You can upload videos to YouTube, then copy & paste the link here.
If you use a mobile phone to film the fish, hold the phone horizontally (landscape mode) so the footage fills the entire screen and doesn't leave black bars on each side.


What are you feeding the fish?
If you only feed it dry food, try using frozen or live food instead. Do this for a week and see if it helps.


If a fish gets really fat over a few months, it is usually a tumour and there is no cure for them. You wait until the fish stops eating or can't swim properly, then euthanise it. Post pictures and video first though so we can see what is going on.

Thank you for your welcome and response. Ive made a lil video showing him and explaining a bit more.

He looks like a female now in body shape, he used to have usual thinner male body type. As hes a few years old I know hes probably on the way out now

 

[Andy Sager]

Sadly, that swelling could be internal worms or a sign of organ failure which is causing the body to fill with fluid because it can't get an osmotic balance. Is the fish eating and if so, do you see him defecating?

 

[Colin_T]

Major internal problem and breathing heavily, which indicates he's not doing well. I would euthanise him.

 

[creebo]

Hi andy, oh no! Yeah he is eating fine, (he seems to be very hungry, which is obviously a sign of worms in any species) and I have noticed, hes defecating a lot more than usual.


And Thanks colin, unfortunately I think you could be right. He seems like he is in distress now and i dont want to prolong any pain for him.

I had a look online and the australian RSPCA recommends clove oil as a humane way, any tips you can give?


Thanks for your help tho guys

 

[Aiken Drum]

https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f17/an-overview-of-euthanasia-73775.html

 

[Andy Sager]

Hi andy, oh no! Yeah he is eating fine, (he seems to be very hungry, which is obviously a sign of worms in any species) and I have noticed, hes defecating a lot more than usual.


And Thanks colin, unfortunately I think you could be right. He seems like he is in distress now and i dont want to prolong any pain for him.

I had a look online and the australian RSPCA recommends clove oil as a humane way, any tips you can give?


Thanks for your help tho guys

If the fish is pooping regularly, it's more likely organ failure so Euthanizing the fish would be best for the fish. Just to satisfy a curiousity, after the fish has expired, carefully open the fish from the skin closest to the body and see if the pocket is filled with fluid. ( It should be from organ failure.) If it were worms, you would be able to see the worms as well.

 

[creebo]

An update for you all, Ive done the deed...
I used the boiling water method in the end, as its pretty much instant.

In response to you andy. It was organ failure, one of his organs had filled with fluid and was making him tilt tail up. I didnt open him up, but after taking him out of the boiling water, the skin had ruptured and the whole organ come out. it was the size of a medium sized marble! poor guy.

Thank you all for your advice!!

 

[Andy Sager]

An update for you all, Ive done the deed...
I used the boiling water method in the end, as its pretty much instant.

In response to you andy. It was organ failure, one of his organs had filled with fluid and was making him tilt tail up. I didnt open him up, but after taking him out of the boiling water, the skin had ruptured and the whole organ come out. it was the size of a medium sized marble! poor guy.

Thank you all for your advice!!

Thanks for the update. At least now you know that what it was was not contagious Intestinal worms will keep reproducing unless they are killed and spread to other fish. Organ failure will not. That could be caused by a number of things from environmental to diet to stress. Hopefully this is the end of this episode.