Why does my fish keep sinking

Avoid feeding air-filled foods. Some types of food will be more porous in texture than others. The air from the stomach may get into the swim bladder and enlarge it. Soak foods before offering. By soaking dried foods in water before offering you allow them to expand. Thaw frozen foods. Whenever you offer a frozen meal, it should be fully thawed. These foods will gain volume when thawed.

If this happens inside of your fish, it will lead to bloating. Perform regular water changes. As much as this goes without saying, I am still obligated to mention it. Water changes will keep the nitrates in the aquarium in check, preventing potential bladder infections. Buy a large filter.

The bigger the filter — the more beneficial bacteria your fish tank is housing. The more bacteria, the stronger the biological filtration, lowering the chance of bladder infection. Canister filters are the most spacious so far. Maintain the water temperature. Fish are coldblooded creatures. Colder water will inevitably slow down their ability to digest food efficiently and on time.

If you have a small tank check my guide on some of the smallest and yet reliable fish tank heaters. Diversify the diet of your fish. Once a week feed your fish high-fiber foods. It could be a pea or any other fiber-rich source of food your fish will be willing to eat. Another way to prevent SBD is by occasionally feeding your fish with bloodworm. Avoid ball-like fish. The fancy goldfish is a good example. When stocking your tank avoid fish that are being bred to achieve a certain ball-like shape.

Be mentally prepared for a grim ending It is fairly important to point this out. Usually, if the problem is caused by constipation the treatment is easy and efficient. There are numerous factors that can cause this condition. A proper, yet timely diagnose is not always possible. Leave me a comment below if you need more answers.

I was just given a blood parrot that i was told has swim bladder was told it has been like this for 4 years. Is it to late to help him? I just got him today. After a long thought process and reading, for my angel fish with SBD came to the conclusion to say goodbye and humanely euthanize it as to not see it suffer before its future grim prognosis!

P my angel! I have a pair of 7 yr old angels. All of a sudden one of them who looks perfectly fine and eats still like a piggy is in a corner behind the heater, nose up and tail down.

It stays there in that position most of the time swimming out only to feed or when I approach the tank. The other angel of the pair appears to be hovering near it as if protecting it. Itdoesnt look sick and becuz it eats very well I am really perplexed at what is wrong.

I feel bad. Was thinking of trying an antibiotic, for lack of any othe idea. Can you suggest anything?? Thank you!

We have 6 koi fish that we keep in a fairly large fish tank. Probably about 5 feet. We try to change the water as often as possible as soon as we notice the walls getting a bit dirty. Your fish will show signs of difficulty swimming or staying afloat. Some things you might notice are:. Your veterinarian can help you diagnose this problem by performing a physical examination of your pet and perhaps taking a radiograph X-ray of your fish.

Usually, there is a recent history of the goldfish appearing upside down at the surface of the water. While a number of medical and surgical procedures have been tried to correct the problem, results are usually not successful. Oddly enough, one treatment that has had good results is feeding your fish a pea. However, discontinue feeding your fish floating pellets or flake food. There are several things you can do to prevent this problem.

These include: Select fish that are swimming and behaving normally in the pet store aquarium. Quarantine any new fish for one month before introducing them to your established aquarium or pond. For more information on quarantine, please click on How to Quarantine Your Fish. If you are keeping round-bodied varieties of ornamental goldfish, then it is probably a good idea to feed them sinking pellets and supplement their diet with some green vegetables, including canned or frozen peas.

Swim Bladder Disease Many buoyancy problems are simply idiopathic, which means that there is no known cause, and are associated with the swim bladder — a small epithelium-lined sac in the anterior abdomen responsible for maintaining buoyancy. What To Watch For Your fish will show signs of difficulty swimming or staying afloat. Also, a hard blow from the fish striking an object in the aquarium or from a fight can damage the fish swim bladder. These instances are particularly risky because they can quite easily cause permanent damage to a fish system unlike overfeeding which goes away after a while and consequently lower the lifespan.

Although rare, birth disorders that affect the swim bladder or any other organ close to it can cause flip over problems for the fish. However, as I had mentioned, such cases manifest in a fish from an early age as opposed to later in life. Low water temperature settings can slow the digestive process which in turn can result in enlarged intestines that put pressure on the fish swim bladder. This is instance also occur mostly in fancy goldfish, which unlike narrow-body-breeds, like fairly warm aquarium water.

Unfortunately, most hobbyists place them in cooler aquariums without heaters. Generally, when a fish has a swim bladder problem, the fish will lose its ability to control its buoyancy and balance in the water.

You may, therefore, notice your fish swimming on its side instead of with its body weight or have it just floating or up-side-down at the surface of the water and sluggish to swim downwards.

In some instances, the fish will sink to the bottom of the aquarium and struggle to swim upwards or generally be tilted with the tail is higher than the head. Even so, these are just physical clues, over and above which, your fish will also get stressed, and the condition will affect its immune system exposing the fish to other infections.

It may also get lethargic or too exhausted to move around even for food and its common for some fish to starve especially when the owner has no prior experience with swim bladder disorder.

Since the eating habits of a fish are the most common cause of swim bladder disease, you may want to consider feeding your fish a little less and also think of fish foods that are unlikely to cause constipation. You can even stop feeding the affected fish for three days restart the feeding schedule with a small amount of peas with the shell removed.

Feed the fish either cooked or skinned peas, with the frozen type quite ideal because they can be microwaved or boiled a few seconds to thaw to get a proper consistency. Another popular and effective solution for swim bladder disease is placing your fish in water that has added salts to de-stress the fish.

Ideally, place the fish in a separate container with the salt solution to treat it instead of adding it into your fish tank.