Marie

Does anyone know anything about swim bladder infection? First of all, I don't know if it is an infection or a disease or what. I have 2, 12 year old plecos; about 12" long. For the last week one of them has had an extremely bloated abdomen(not rounded, kind of deformed and lumpy looking). He is laying(hanging) on his back at the top of the tank and is having problems staying upright or on the bottom of the tank. He is still eating, and seems okay except for this. I do not think it is dropsy b/c it is just his abdomen and, since plecos are scaleless, I don't have that sign. They have just been moved to a new tank, which has been established for 3 months, with 3 small fish. The new tank had a brown/red algae bloom, but I was told to do a 25% water change go ahead and move them and they would eat all of the algae. About a week before I moved them, I did a 25% water change, added aq. salts, and cleaned a couple sides of the tank. (I was worried that it would be too much) One was a little bit shocky but the other one, the one that I am worried about, seemed to really enjoy the new tank. In fact, he had most of the tank cleaned by the next morning and before the other one came out of his shock. Could he have a bowel obstruction from too much algae in one sucking or am I correct about the swim bladder? I have tried peas (canned?) and they are disappearing, but it is hard to know exactly who is eating them. I have consulted "fish experts" and they pretty much tell me that there is nothing I can do for him. To me, that is unacceptable! I love him and I cannot just watch him die. I have to try something! Please help, I will try anything you suggest! Sorry if Marie

capekate

Hi Marie
welcome to fishlore. Sorry to hear about your pleco. Its hard to tell what can be wrong with him and it sounds like you have been searching for answers. There can be a few factors to its problem. One being the obvious, that it is 12 years old. And knowing that you have had them for that long tells me that you have been taking very good care of them and the water they are in. So it may be in fact just old age. Or it can also be a constipation problem. Like you mentioned he may have ate too much algae. I think that I would not feed him for a day and see how its going. Maybe its just something he/she needs to pass. I hope that is all it is. I doubt that the water change has caused that kind of problem. I hope others here with Pleco's will be able to give you more advice. Good luck with the guy.. I know its so hard after you get attached to your fish especially one that you have had for so many years.

~ kate

Wolfgang8810

when using the pea method you shouldn't use canned peas they have other preservatives and what not that aren't good for fishies. Instead you should use frozen peas and thaw them in the microwave for a few seconds.

Marie

Thank you sooo much for responding. I have tried a broad spectrum antibiotic to help any underlying infection and have been limiting his food intake. I also bought a piece of driftwood to help him stay down and with digestion. He is not doing well at all. I fear that I will lose him soon. The other one is starting to display similar behavior although he does not have an enlarged abdomen. It could be sympathy. My Plecos seem to really love each other. The other one(Maize) will come and put his head up against the sick one (Humpty)and sometimes try to help him stay down. It is sweet and sad at the same time. Do you know of anything that will help with digestion if it is an obstruction? I bought some frozen peas. Do I remove the skins after microwaving for a few seconds? Thanx again for any help. Marie.

susitna-flower

Hi Marie and welcome to fishlore,
Yes remove the pea skins. The swim bladder can get 'bruised', and can recover, but this sounds like something else to me. Did you have aq. salt in the tank they came from? This should not cause these conditions, but might weaken him if not used to it. Usually it will cause the fish to sluff its slime coat and produce more because it is an irritant. It might have caused stress, as it sounds like the whole move was a bet stressful on both fish, which given their age I can see...

You said the tank had been up and running for 3 months, but did you do tests with a Master test kit to see if the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates were right? If there was an algae bloom I would worry that the tank may have bad water conditions, and need more than just 25% water changes. Several 25 % changes a day for a few days would be good just in case.

What are the water parameters?

If the peas don't help, I would suggest withholding any food for several days. This will not hurt, and it would be harder on your fish to allow him to eat anything if there is an obstruction.
Our prayers are with him....