Jurupari swim bladder

[Big Ben]

I suspect something is going on with my jurupari salazaar's swim bladder. Hes swimming around with his head downward and tail in the air. He moves around diagonal like this / . It appears sometimes for moments he straightens out but its rare. I have seen him hanging around my bubble wand and sometimes it looks like hes trying to get the bubbles in his mouth? I kind of notices it yesterday but today i noticed its def not normal.

Ive heard it can happen from food exanding inside the fish. Normally i feel hikari cichlid gold, but i also have the staple. The last few days ive been feeding the staple cause im trying to get rid of it. Maybe thats why? I also feed flakes for some fish which he somtimeseats and im sure he gets some shrimp pellet intended for cories.

My water is very clean, not sure about nitrate cause i dont have that test but other wise itsgood. i just did a water change today infact. This tank has had very minor ich in the past but not anything recently. Infact my jack dempsey comesout more now, due to my water quality improving.


Is there any cure for this? Please let me know asap, hes one of my fav and really hope theres some cure.

 

[Zagz]

What size tank is it? Is the fish bloated at all? Have you tested for both ammonia and nitrite? How long has the tank been set up? How long have you had the fish? What percentage pwc did you do? Did you add dechlorinator? Without this additional information it can be hard to offer suggestions. There is a sticky at the beginning of this section that asks a number of helpful questions that you can answer to help us help you.

 

[Big Ben]

48 gallon tank, no bloating, tanks been up since last july, ive had him for 4 months i think, 33% around water change yesterday, decholorinator is always added. His tankmates ignore him prob cause he looks so diferrentfromevery1, jack dempsey 4.5 inch, greenterror 4.5, severum 5, 4 convicts under 2.5 smallest is 1 , clown loach 2, 4 bronze cory cats all 1, bristle nose pleco 1.5, gold gourami 3.

i havent tested ammonia or nitrite but tahts cause i have to find my test tube as ive broken all but one of them...i dont have a nitrate test but im gona get one asap. I doubt theres a problem with ammonia or nitrite as all the fish seem normal (besides mr. salazar jurupari)
emperror 400 filter with a bubble wand for filtration/airation.

nothin new added lately other then new carbon in the media cartridges and new better filter cartridges. that should be it cause every1 else is good and the emperror 400 has 2 bio wheels... will post pics of tank and fish soon.

 

[Zagz]

Couple of things I would try, if possible QT him first for the other fish's sake. I would try feeding some frozen peas and add some epsom salt to the water. Now if you can't QT him I would wait on the epsom salt. Not sure if loaches and cories like epsom salt. I know they don't like aquarium salt.

 

[Big Ben]

Thanks alot zagz, I just fed him a pea w/o the skin. I read online that not feeding for a a couple days helps if it's due to food expanding and impacting the swim bladder...so i did that and hes still having a little bit of trouble to swim but i have noticed an improvement. He is swimming normal more often but its still giving him trouble. Hopefully hell recover 100%, im going to continue to feed him peas.

I could QT in my 10 gal which has 15 baby guppies, a female guppy and a female betta.

What is epsom salt? I have some sea salt if that would be ok?

This was him 4 days ago, pardon the JD blocking him.

 

[Zagz]

Epsom salt can be purchased from most drug stores or walmart. Sea salt is not the same thing. I don't think it would have the same effect. Epsom salt is a natural diuretic.

 

[Big Ben]

He's getting better 8) . I think the no feeding and then pea diet is working. Today i haven't seen him have any trouble swimming, infact he stood up my female green terror guarding her unfertilized eggs.

Im going to continue with peas, maybe for now on ill pre soak my pelletets.

 

[Zagz]

Glad to hear he is doing better. Soaking the pellets might be a good idea.