Swim Bladder Disorder

What is Swim Bladder Disorder?

The swim bladder of a fish is responsible for maintaining buoyancy.

The cause of Swim Bladder Disorder is mainly mechanical such as constipation or air gulping at the surface when feeding. This disorder mainly affects those fish with a globoid body shape: such as your fancy goldfish, Orandas and Fantails.

Symptoms manifest as swimming erratically, not being able to go to the bottom of the tank, listing or floating to the surface.

What causes Swim Bladder Disorder?

With other fish, it is normally caused by an underlying bacterial or sometimes a fungal infection.
It can also be a kidney or liver disorder, and the underlying cause will need to be treated.

How to treat Swim Bladder Disorder:

- Check your water conditions. Chemistry and water temperature.

- Complete a 30% to 50% water change.

- Do not feed usual fish food for at least 48 hours.

- Feed a couple of frozen peas (thawed and skinned), these act as a natural laxative.