I've had three fancies for quite a while now, and only one of them has this problem that's got a few different aspects.
The first is the usual constipation. I feed sparingly (every 2 days), and mostly used boiled, shelled peas.
The second is that he constantly eats air bubbles. He's not gasping at the surface, he's actively going up to the top when he sees a bubble, and is eating them. I've reduced the amount of bubbles that occur in the tank but he still will go out of his way to eat the few that show up now and then. They show up in his poop later.
Because of his, every other day or so he's floating at the top, head down/tail up. The problem only clears up momentarily after he's been flushed out using the boiled peas.
I've tried so many things to fix him, and the peas obviously work for constipation - but he won't stop eating bubbles, which is not making him bloated but is causing him to float.
He's not in mortal danger - the worst he's sustained from his condition is a small abrasion on his side from floating up to the surface and getting stuck for a short time beside the fluval tube which I've sinced moved to prevent this from happening again.
What should I do to keep my poor fancy from floating like a bobber every other day? Am I destined to build one of those soft rubber tubing harnesses that there's videos of on the web? I've seen mention of "swim bladder medication" on some sites but when I searched for more info I couldn't find any.
Thanks.
The first is the usual constipation. I feed sparingly (every 2 days), and mostly used boiled, shelled peas.
The second is that he constantly eats air bubbles. He's not gasping at the surface, he's actively going up to the top when he sees a bubble, and is eating them. I've reduced the amount of bubbles that occur in the tank but he still will go out of his way to eat the few that show up now and then. They show up in his poop later.
Because of his, every other day or so he's floating at the top, head down/tail up. The problem only clears up momentarily after he's been flushed out using the boiled peas.
I've tried so many things to fix him, and the peas obviously work for constipation - but he won't stop eating bubbles, which is not making him bloated but is causing him to float.
He's not in mortal danger - the worst he's sustained from his condition is a small abrasion on his side from floating up to the surface and getting stuck for a short time beside the fluval tube which I've sinced moved to prevent this from happening again.
What should I do to keep my poor fancy from floating like a bobber every other day? Am I destined to build one of those soft rubber tubing harnesses that there's videos of on the web? I've seen mention of "swim bladder medication" on some sites but when I searched for more info I couldn't find any.
Thanks.