oranda with swimbladder problem

[annie]

I have an oranda with swim bladder problem. It is in a hospital tank with the water reduced. I have treated it with interpet swim bladder treatment and salt, fed it on peas and frozen blood worms.I have been getting advice from local store who have been a great help. Also had a word with the vet but it has been over six weeks now. I hand feed it every day and it eats well ,swims around a little (obviously upside down) It doesn't seem to be stressed out but I do not know what else to do. Can it continue to live like this or is there anything else I can do. I test all my tanks regularly. I have one other oranda and three faintails and they have no problem even though they are all fed the same. I would appreciate if anyone has any help they can give me

[garfieldnfish]

Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot more you can do that you have not already done. I have the same problem with my ryukin and he has had it for almost one year now. He is in a 10 gal tank by himself while the other 2 goldfish enjoy the space in their 46 gal. I would love to put him back in there but he would starve and the bristlenose that keeps the goldfish tank algae free (well almost, lol) would probably attack him. He is fine with healthy goldfish but a fish that spends most of his time face on the gravel and has problems choosing the direction he swims towards is an easy target even for an algae eater/occasional opportunistic scavenger. I have tried 3 times during the past year to reintegrate him into the main tank and each time he ended up with torn fins making things this much worse. I change his water twice a week and feed him peas every 3rd day to make sure he gets no bloat (which makes matters worse). His lack of activity makes him poop less then the other fish so he needs the peas. I have picked up Castor oil also and will soak some flakes in it before feeding him. I heard that may also relieve the pressure on his bladder but I have not tried that yet, since the peas seem to be doing the trick so far. There is a place in Atlanta that does experimental surgery on goldfish to cure inverted goldfish disease. If you go into yahoo and put in the search words goldfish and inverted it should come up. They surgically insert small rocks under the goldfish skin to help them retain their balance.It even shows a before and after video. It is like I said experimental and I thought about it, living in Atlanta myself but so far my fish appears to be in good spirits, sits in a tank next to the others and can safely watch what they are doing. I don't know if I will attempt to get him into this program, he may not survive the surgery and he seems to be in no apparent discomfort. I have the space in the 10 gal so I just might let him live as long as he does this well. I have tried all sort of medicines, none had any long term effect. Maracyn together with Maracyn II seems to improve his condition every time for a short time, but the tank gets all messed up by the meds and I believe the only help those meds give him is that they cause fish to poop a lot. And peas and castor oil will do the same, are safer for the fish and don't mess up your tank. Good luck. If you ever find something that works with your fish let me know.

[Ownager2004]

You could try to make a harness thing like listed on the site below. Go to the 2004 photo section and look throughthe pictures for the harness. Ive also read that at the first sign of a swim bladder problem you should feed goldfish peas for the rest of their lives...

anyways here is the link

www.sullivanet.com/misc/fishie/fishpics.htm

PS also some great photos here

[garfieldnfish]

Interesting. Wonder how that would work. It must be attached to something but then the goldfish can only stay at a certain level. Would that not cause damage to the scales, being wrapped like that? Wish she's have an email address on her home page. I did not see one. I would love to find out more.

[Thunderkiss]

Keep its water ULTRA clean. Pond it in the summer too if you can.

[Ownager2004]

Its attached to a fishing bobber with fishing line, i believe. Im not sure of the material used to make the "harness". But if you look through the pictures on the site, some of the fish have been wearing one version or another of it for over a year..

[helen623]

in the previously mentioned site it says the harness is flannel with sinkers on the bottom and bobbers holding it up. The author says she hand feeds the fish because itt can't come to the surface but otherwise its fine.

[chrisinha]

i have a balloon molly fry that i believe has a swimming bladder problem since it was born because it doesnt stop flipping over and over. i thought it would die, but instead, it's getting bigger! i'd like to make a harness thing for him/her but dont know why... it's still pretty small though