Epsom salt for Swim Bladder treatment

I think you mean aquarium salt? This type of salt will not help with swim bladder. The type of salt you need is Epsom salt.

Just use any container, even the one you use for WCs, fill it with some tank water. Do 1 tbsp of Epsom salt per gallon of water. Let the salt dissolve, then leave your fish in for a maximum of 30 minutes. Discard water.


For prevention, I would look into their diet and water quality. Make sure your tank is stable and that they get high-quality foods and variety in their diet. Daphnia is a great laxative too, and if he’s not taking to foods, garlic will make it more appetizing.

Interesting so your saying that epsom salt not the kind of salt you get at LFT is more appropriate for swim bladder? Why is that? I have some rescued bettas with swim bladder and I have some epsom salt from my local target, how much epsom salt should I add to small deli cups?

 

Interestingly, I just cured a fish with positive buoyancy (tail up) using 8 g salt / 10 gal. I don't know if it was actually a cure or just treated the symptoms somehow. I'd already tried antibiotics.

 

Interestingly, I just cured a fish with positive buoyancy (tail up) using 8 g salt / 10 gal. I don't know if it was actually a cure or just treated the symptoms somehow. I'd already tried antibiotics.

That's very interesting. I'm gonna try the epsom salt method on the bettas I rescued with swim bladder tomorrow. I'll keep u guys updated and if they improve I'll definitely post here so that others who are struggling with their bettas can have some sort of treatment going

 

Epsom salt baths are usually only helpful treating the swelling of dropsy by changing osmotic pressure, thus removing water from the body.

With buoyancy problems there can be dozens of reasons and yes, there are some that can be treated with salt. But not all.

 

Epsom salt baths are usually only helpful treating the swelling of dropsy by changing osmotic pressure, thus removing water from the body.

With buoyancy problems there can be dozens of reasons and yes, there are some that can be treated with salt. But not all.

2 of the ones I rescued can't swim down and just float to the top. The 3rd one can swim down and stay up for brief periods of time but the belly is still bloated.

 

I think what was meant was that SBD is a secondary symptom and it has many causes so in order to address the problem you need to treat the likely cause of the SBD.

For example, parasites, chronic bloat/constipation, and bacterial infections are common causes of SBD. Treatment for each will vary, but by treating the cause you should be able to fix the buoyancy issues.

 

Interesting so your saying that epsom salt not the kind of salt you get at LFT is more appropriate for swim bladder? Why is that? I have some rescued bettas with swim bladder and I have some epsom salt from my local target, how much epsom salt should I add to small deli cups?

The type of salt at the LFS is aquarium salt, not the same as epsom salt. For swelling epsom is the way to go. Aquarium salt can be used for certain kinds of external parasites but not for swelling

 

The type of salt at the LFS is aquarium salt, not the same as epsom salt. For swelling epsom is the way to go. Aquarium salt can be used for certain kinds of external parasites but not for swelling

Perfect I will use epsom salt, definitely swelling going on with bettas I rescued. I had no idea you can use for bettas! I use that salt to soak my feet after a long day at work lol

 

I think what was meant was that SBD is a secondary symptom and it has many causes so in order to address the problem you need to treat the likely cause of the SBD.

For example, parasites, chronic bloat/constipation, and bacterial infections are common causes of SBD. Treatment for each will vary, but by treating the cause you should be able to fix the buoyancy issues.

Absolutely correct.

Just doing Epsom salt baths will only treat the symptom, not the cause. For the fish in question the emergency template would be helpful to fill out.

 

Absolutely correct.

Just doing Epsom salt baths will only treat the symptom, not the cause. For the fish in question the emergency template would be helpful to fill out.

Absolutely agree, i have been doing a lot of research this past week and I read that I first have to identify the cause and none of them appear to be showing parisite or fungal issues. Based on my observations these bettas have been suffering from SWD due to overfeeding and they have become bloated because of this. Therefore, my plan is to fast them and use the epsom salt to aid in the bloating. The good news is they appear to float to the surface instead of laying on the bottom which makes it easier for them to get oxygen. I shall update you guys on the progress so that others who have similar issues can have some direction to go