Hi everyone. This morning I woke up to a loud splash and found my oscar at the surface of the water swimming sideways. I think it's swim bladder because I just introduced him to a 75 gallon tank and he was still "sulking" at the bottom and he would not have been ready to come out yet as he's not comfortable with the new environment. I don't know how to treat this. please help. I think he may have hit something like a rock and caused it.
Self inflicted swim bladder problems.
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Try an Epsom salt bath (ratio of 1 tablespoon of salt per every gallon) for 10-20 minutes. It may help him release air. You can also feed daphnia, which is a natural laxative.
It’s possible it’s not caused by an injury, but if it is or if it doesn’t get better, euthanasia may be the best solution. Sometimes with swim bladder it goes away and comes back on its own, but the fish is able to live a good life despite it. Other times, it goes away and never comes back.
If it was for sure an injury that caused this, you may have to euthanize unless the fish is able to find a way to live despite the issue and is for sure not in any pain.
It’s possible it’s not caused by an injury, but if it is or if it doesn’t get better, euthanasia may be the best solution. Sometimes with swim bladder it goes away and comes back on its own, but the fish is able to live a good life despite it. Other times, it goes away and never comes back.
If it was for sure an injury that caused this, you may have to euthanize unless the fish is able to find a way to live despite the issue and is for sure not in any pain.
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Sometimes they are able to release the air on their own. What do you feed him and how much? What are your water parameters? Poor water quality, overfeeding, and poor food quality are the most common causes of swim bladder problems.
Also if you feed freeze dried, flake, or pellet, be sure to soak them first. They often expand in the fish’s stomach, which can cause swim bladder
Also if you feed freeze dried, flake, or pellet, be sure to soak them first. They often expand in the fish’s stomach, which can cause swim bladder
Yeah The water is excellent. I have a fluval aquaclear 110 on the 75. I don't overfeed as he just recently got introduced to the 75. should I fast him because he still looks a little unstable. I mainly feed him Hikari Cichlid Gold and crickets. Let me know if I should fast him.
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With peas all you do is thaw and remove peel. Definitely soak his pellets.
Daphnia is more effective than peas because it is a natural laxative, some say peas don’t help at all.
I include fast days by default in my feed schedule, it’s always good to let your fish digest any excess food.
Do you know your exact parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? Even if the tank is cycled it’s important to monitor parameters. They may explain why your fish is agitated
Ammonia is 0, nitrites 0, and nitrates are 10. I think its getting better. maybe he released the air. He's been swimming normally since like 10:00 pm last night. I'm still monitoring closely. And I'm interested in trying that default fasting in the feeding schedule. How do you do it?
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Depends on how much I feed and people do it differently, depending on the fish. Some people will feed only once a week in a large amount. Others feed small-medium amounts and fast once or twice a week. Others will feed every other day or fast 2-3 days at a time.
I usually feed a medium amount than fast 1-3 days a week. Since my tank is a community, a medium amount is the best way for me to get food to everyone, though sometimes I feed less, other times more. If I see my fish devour the food very quick I’ll give them a bit more. My fish usually finish eating within a minute, sometimes I’ll give a small algae wafer or blanched veggie for them to play with
Random Great Topic!
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