maybe swim bladder?

[fantaildaz]

hello everyone,

my shubunkin is swimming on its side and when it does manage to swim off the floor of the pond
as soon as it stopr propelling itself it sinks rapidly to the bottom again.
not just one side either after sinking to the bottom it just tips over

any suggestions

daza

 

[CountryEscape]

Dang, hope the fish is doing better. I'm no help, but was hoping someone else would have posted by now. I'll watch this to see what others who are much more professional on the subject post! Good luck!!!

 

[addy1]

Missed this post, I had a shubunkin do that, it finally just recovered on its own. No clue what was wrong

 

[j.w]

I noticed one of the little Shubbies that I bought last summer now has a curving in his spine. Don't know why either. Hope he survives tho.

 

[fantaildaz]

unfortunatly its still the same, not moving much and spending most of the time between plant pots but still alive, im at a loss :sad:

 

[koiguy1969]

first things i'd try for a possible swim bladder problem is getting it isolated in a hospital tank and slowly warming the water up to regular feeding temps.and feed it green peas...canned or frozen. (if you use frozen boil them till theyre soft). pinch the "meat" from the skin. feed the peas for a couple days, 1 or 2 at a time... they work like a mild laxative. if clogged digestive tract is the cause it will usually take care of it... if theres no improvement some antibacterial food may be in order....good luck

 

[fishin4cars]

I agree with Koiguy, warmth, and antibacterial food would have been my first suggestion as well. I haven't heard that before about the green peas but I have heard green food like spirulina in the spring does help clean the intestinal tract so it really make since that the green peas might help. If the shubunkin is fairly small you can try crushing the pea a little more and watch and see if it's eating at all. Unfortunately by this point it's usually a hit and miss of survival. Best of luck!

 

[fantaildaz]

thanks all, might it be too stressfull to move it now?
also the water is starting to warm up now and the other fish are starting to feed.
not fed them much just a few pellets between them all.
which sort of antibacterial will i be looking for.
thanks for all your help.

 

[koiguy1969]

FANTAILZ:....microbelift makes a good BROAD SPECTRUM antibacterial food...amongst others.

LARKIN:....green peas are an oldschool treatment...I googled "green peas and koi" and posted a little bit of documentation for you, here:

Heres a copy and paste from the article "Feeding vegetables" from AQUATIC COMMUNITY:
****If you fish are prone to constipation, try giving them boiled green peas. A lot of goldfish breeders regularly feed their fish boiled green peas since the compressed and heavily altered goldfish has compressed intestines that easily clog up without sufficient amounts of fibre. Boiled green peas have saved the life of many a goldfish. Boiled snow peas are also popular but should be split prior to serving

****This is a segment, cut and pasted from the article "Bouyancy Problems" on petplace.com:
Green Pea Treatment
Oddly enough, one treatment that has had good results is feeding your fish a pea. That's right, a single green pea (canned or cooked and lightly crushed) once daily often helps cure the problem. Exactly how the "green pea" treatment works is unknown, but it is possible that the pea helps move or displace lighter and/or air-filled food through the digestive tract. Your veterinarian should still examine your fish, including a physical examination and radiography; however, the harmless and inexpensive "pea treatment" seems to have its place in managing buoyancy problems of goldfish.

The "green pea" protocol should also include increasing the water temperature to 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and continued feeding of the regular commercial fish food. However, discontinue feeding your fish floating pellets or flake

 

[fantaildaz]

ok, since i have segregated it i have seen something that rings alarm bells to me.
you might just be able to make out a possible uklcer that has burst or something, i dont know what it is
but i know you guys will be able to help me out,
its on the back of its head
take a look and see what you think.

 

[fantaildaz]

also, i know im a pain, but i,ve noticed that it has a patch on its side that has lost all colour (just white) with
what looks like fuzz on it.
all these things wrong with the fish
i dontt beliieeeeeeve it

 

[fishin4cars]

Have you checked to see what all your water parameters read? many of these signs are secondary infections. this could be caused by spring warming and water quality issues. If the fish is eating the best thing to try is warm water, 3% salt bath and internal medicated food. The fungus needs to be controlled as agressively as possible. This can be very dangerous and if to much stress is going on with the fish due to the fungus attack it may not be able to fight off the internal problems on it's on.

 

[fantaildaz]

ok, heres some more pics.

water readings are fine.

1) is this going to harm the other fish that were in the pond aswell?

2) is this as bad as it looks? (to far gone to help it)

3) what is it?

the fish isnt eating

 

[fishin4cars]

That's better pics for sure. the above treatment will not harm other fish but could harm some plants, mainly lilies. Appears like you have one of two things with that fuzzy look. Saprolegnia which is a very aggressive fungus that is far more common on koi than goldfish. Or Flexibacter Columnaris. One is a fungus, one is actually a bacteria and if that is the case then you'll need to treat the fish with Potassium Permagate as fungal medication will not work since it is not fungal at all. only way to tell the difference is by microscope. If you do decide to use Potassium Permagate you must treat seperately. 2ppm -3ppm for 6-8 hours once a day for three to five days. then give the fish 1-2 weeks and treat a second time if needed.

 

[CountryEscape]

Good luck Fantaildaz! I'm rooting for you and your fish. Keep us posted.