Help! How to treat arowana with swimbladder problem? And what maybe the cause of it?

[mudskippy]

Hi there,

2 of my SR arowanas (out of 10 SR in a 8x3x3 community tank) have the swimbladder problem recently. One of them started 2 weeks ago, which is quite serious and swims 45 degree head down. Another one started 3 days ago but in mild condition, about 5 to 10 degree head down.

I have read this article by D24 from arowana club, as to how to treat this swimbladder problem, which is excellent: http://arowanaclub.com/stories.php?s.../03/02/6700203

I have a question as to the the medication used for orally, which was direct injected to the food fed to the arowana. What is the medication used for the injection? Is it the same as put in the water i.e. anti-internal bacteria?

Another question is what is the main cause for this swimbladder problem? Some say the bladder is infected by bacteria, some said overfeeding might be part of the factors. I do pump my arowana like crazy and they can grow 5cm in a month time... Maybe I have pumped them too much... :s

Hope you guy can answer my question. Thanks.

(I had sent my 2 SR to a LFS for hospitalize, and had printed out the article for the aquarium owner to refer when treating my arowanas. Really pray to god they can be cured)

[naser90096]

some causes of sbp
1. internal bacterial infection causing swim bladder to malfunction.
2. deformed swim bladder from birth (birth defect)
3. injury to swim bladder due to fights or startled and hit against something hard
4. swallowed air into stomach and affected the swim bladder.

In ur case, i suspect its either reason 3 or 4 or both.

treatment
- reduce water level to aro's height + ~2". wait until aro stable horizontally then can increase water level to 2X or 3X of aro's height, might take around 1/2 day to 2 days.
- add salt with concentration of 0.3% (300g per 100L)
- add heater, set to 32-33'C
- add epsom salt 0.1% (100g per 100L) [optional]

it will take around 2-3 weeks to totally cure the sbp.

If sbp is due to reason 1, then it could take months to cure. for reason 2, no cure.

some say that if u place the aro in plastic bag and pump in O2 (like bagging when u buy fish) and leave it for 1 day can cure for reason 3 & 4. may continue this procedure daily if necessary, but need to wc and pump O2 daily. may take up to 4-5days to cure. I had not tried this method, thus no comments if it works.

gd luck

[naser90096]

Originally Posted by naser90096

some causes of sbp
1. internal bacterial infection causing swim bladder to malfunction.
2. deformed swim bladder from birth (birth defect)
3. injury to swim bladder due to fights or startled and hit against something hard
4. swallowed air into stomach and affected the swim bladder.

In ur case, i suspect its either reason 3 or 4 or both.

treatment
- reduce water level to aro's height + ~2". wait until aro stable horizontally then can increase water level to 2X or 3X of aro's height, might take around 1/2 day to 2 days.
- add salt with concentration of 0.3% (300g per 100L)
- add heater, set to 32-33'C
- add epsom salt 0.1% (100g per 100L) [optional]

it will take around 2-3 weeks to totally cure the sbp.

If sbp is due to reason 1, then it could take months to cure. for reason 2, no cure.

some say that if u place the aro in plastic bag and pump in O2 (like bagging when u buy fish) and leave it for 1 day can cure for reason 3 & 4. may continue this procedure daily if necessary, but need to wc and pump O2 daily. may take up to 4-5days to cure. I had not tried this method, thus no comments if it works.

gd luck

juz to add - must wc daily or every other day. maintain gd water quality.

lookout for infection if there is any injury. treat it fast.

[mudskippy]

Originally Posted by naser90096

some causes of sbp
1. internal bacterial infection causing swim bladder to malfunction.
2. deformed swim bladder from birth (birth defect)
3. injury to swim bladder due to fights or startled and hit against something hard
4. swallowed air into stomach and affected the swim bladder.

In ur case, i suspect its either reason 3 or 4 or both.

treatment
- reduce water level to aro's height + ~2". wait until aro stable horizontally then can increase water level to 2X or 3X of aro's height, might take around 1/2 day to 2 days.
- add salt with concentration of 0.3% (300g per 100L)
- add heater, set to 32-33'C
- add epsom salt 0.1% (100g per 100L) [optional]

it will take around 2-3 weeks to totally cure the sbp.

If sbp is due to reason 1, then it could take months to cure. for reason 2, no cure.

some say that if u place the aro in plastic bag and pump in O2 (like bagging when u buy fish) and leave it for 1 day can cure for reason 3 & 4. may continue this procedure daily if necessary, but need to wc and pump O2 daily. may take up to 4-5days to cure. I had not tried this method, thus no comments if it works.

gd luck

Thanks for the reply. I think mine problems might be either 1 or 4. Wouldn't be no.3 because my arowanas basically don't fight at all, except chasing each other once in a while.

Just want to double confirm, will overfeeding causing swimbladder problem? I have already reduce 1/4 of regular feeding to my arowanas just in case it does.

Currently my 2 SRs are in treatment in a LFS, and they are trying to cure it according to the article that I quoted earlier on. Hopefully I will receive good news after a month...

[naser90096]

Originally Posted by mudskippy

Thanks for the reply. I think mine problems might be either 1 or 4. Wouldn't be no.3 because my arowanas basically don't fight at all, except chasing each other once in a while.

Just want to double confirm, will overfeeding causing swimbladder problem? I have already reduce 1/4 of regular feeding to my arowanas just in case it does.

Currently my 2 SRs are in treatment in a LFS, and they are trying to cure it according to the article that I quoted earlier on. Hopefully I will receive good news after a month...

heard about overfeeding causes sbp, but dun noe if its true.

[naser90096]

bro, when u first got it, did it have sbp?? if not, then probably its due to 4.

[AlvinLeong]

high chance is no.4 if u have lots of airstone in ur tank...

[mudskippy]

Originally Posted by naser90096

bro, when u first got it, did it have sbp?? if not, then probably its due to 4.

When I just got them, they are all normal. The sbp only appear after 2 months later. Sigh...