Very Bloated Angelfish

[ZooOwner]

I have a lone angelfish who is about 5-6 yrs. old and this morning I woke up to her floating nose up. She's not breathing hard, but she is VERY bloated. She also laid a few eggs, but nowhere near as many as she usually does. Mostly she is just hanging in the corner, but she takes a normal horizontal position when swimming. She is in a planted 29g tank. Parameters are PH-8, Ammonia-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrate-20-30
I can't do a water change at the moment, but if anyone has any other ideas that would be great. TIA

[V227]

Sounds like Swim Bladder Disease. About the only thing to do is stop feeding for a few days and hope for the best.

[ZooOwner]

She's floating about two inches from the surface and seems to have control over where she is in the water. Is that normal for swim bladder disease?

[V227]

Welcome to AA.
You know her normal behavior, evidently what she is doing is abnormal.
Your Angel might be in the process of aging out.
Does she still eat? Are you certain the water parameters are fine?
Are there any recent additions to the tank?
There are just so many possibilities.

[ZooOwner]

She was eating good the last few days, I tested the water today (the parameters are in the original post), and the only thing new is that I added some water treated with prime and Aqueon water conditioner (I'm trying to use up the bottle). I didn't do a full dose on either.

[ZooOwner]

Could she be egg bound? I was googling a little to see if I could find anything and came across a post from another fish forum about it and my angelfish has almost the same symptoms. The thread was saying to starve her and see if she reabsorbs the eggs while also putting in some Epsom salt. This would also help if she has bloat right?

[V227]

What I meant by "Aging out" is that being 6 y.o. she is getting pretty old. I've had numerous fish over the years simply die of old age.
I suppose being "Egg Bound" might be the cause. I have not read about it in the forums and not experienced it with any of my cichlids.
As noted above, IMO, to stop feeding is a good idea.
Good luck with your Angel.

[Angellove78]

What's your temp? And do you have an air bubbler? If your temp is about 80 and air bubbler is set low I'd increase air for her, I'd keep the lights low, and stop feeding for a day. If she still looks bloated then see if she'll eat some skinless cooked peas. Sounds like egg bound if she didn't lay as much as she usually has. And if that's starting, her time could be up for breeding anymore. Imo.

[Autumnsky]

Yes on the Epsom salts. All info could be as mentioned above.

Do a pwc and then Plain Epsom salts (ES), no additives and mix in up to a slightly above level tablespoon per gallon dissolved into water.

Leave enough room in the tank to add the water ES concentrate back in - use water conditioner /dechlor. any time you add in water.

Add concentrate in at about a 1/3rd at a time over the course of 12-18 hours. More quickly than I would normally but in an urgent or emergency it can be added in over a few hours if you feel the health is critical.