Aussieshawn
New member
Sorry for the long post, I want to provide as much info as possible hoping to get some good advice....
I purchased a Borb back in November 2019. When I put him in my DT I noticed he swam with a bit of a head down disposition, but otherwise was fine and eating well and always out swimming around looking for food.
Fast forward to Feb - March and I noticed he was hiding in a rock cave almost 100% of the time, coming out only when I fed the tank. When he did come out he swam in an almost vertical position like he was fighting to stay down. I could see his abdomen was bloated and translucent.
I did a little research and found it was likely a swimbladder issue, possible causes were infection or parasites.
I put him in a hospital tank and treated with prazipro for 5 days at which time he seemed to be getting worse, barely eating. With a little more research I found a video of a fish with a swimbladder issue being aspirated with a needle and syringe. Given he was barely eating and I could clearly see his over inflated swimbladder, I figure I'd give it a try. I removed approx. 1ml of air and returned him to the HT and dosed Furan-2. He appeared to recover from the aspiration well and began eating and swimming normally within a day. After approx. 7 days in the HT being treated with Furan-2, he started with the head down swimming again.
I stopped the Furan-2 and started treating with Metroplex and Kanaplex but after another 5 days, he made no improvements. I posted on #AskBRS and most of the responses were "his behavior is normal". Nothing particularly useful. He was still eating well so after a total of approx. 3 weeks in the HT, I returned him to the DT. Moving forward another 2 weeks, he had stopped eating again and he looked like a bloated football and actually floated to the top of the tank.
I put him back in the HT, aspirated the swimbladder again removing 1.75ml of air, and treated with Furan-2 at 150% (1 packet/ 7.5G). He was good for 5 days or so, out swimming around normally and eating well. (Feeding pellets soaked in Selcon) But now he's taken to the head down swim position and hiding in the rock cave other than coming out when I feed him.
Does anyone have any advice or other treatment options recommendations? I have researched and cannot find any other treatment recommendations. (other than feeding him peas???) I'm afraid he's going to die if I continue down this path for much longer. TIA!
I purchased a Borb back in November 2019. When I put him in my DT I noticed he swam with a bit of a head down disposition, but otherwise was fine and eating well and always out swimming around looking for food.
Fast forward to Feb - March and I noticed he was hiding in a rock cave almost 100% of the time, coming out only when I fed the tank. When he did come out he swam in an almost vertical position like he was fighting to stay down. I could see his abdomen was bloated and translucent.
I did a little research and found it was likely a swimbladder issue, possible causes were infection or parasites.
I put him in a hospital tank and treated with prazipro for 5 days at which time he seemed to be getting worse, barely eating. With a little more research I found a video of a fish with a swimbladder issue being aspirated with a needle and syringe. Given he was barely eating and I could clearly see his over inflated swimbladder, I figure I'd give it a try. I removed approx. 1ml of air and returned him to the HT and dosed Furan-2. He appeared to recover from the aspiration well and began eating and swimming normally within a day. After approx. 7 days in the HT being treated with Furan-2, he started with the head down swimming again.
I stopped the Furan-2 and started treating with Metroplex and Kanaplex but after another 5 days, he made no improvements. I posted on #AskBRS and most of the responses were "his behavior is normal". Nothing particularly useful. He was still eating well so after a total of approx. 3 weeks in the HT, I returned him to the DT. Moving forward another 2 weeks, he had stopped eating again and he looked like a bloated football and actually floated to the top of the tank.
I put him back in the HT, aspirated the swimbladder again removing 1.75ml of air, and treated with Furan-2 at 150% (1 packet/ 7.5G). He was good for 5 days or so, out swimming around normally and eating well. (Feeding pellets soaked in Selcon) But now he's taken to the head down swim position and hiding in the rock cave other than coming out when I feed him.
Does anyone have any advice or other treatment options recommendations? I have researched and cannot find any other treatment recommendations. (other than feeding him peas???) I'm afraid he's going to die if I continue down this path for much longer. TIA!
