Hi, last time I had a goldie upside down I knew it was a deformity. Now I have a 6 month old goldie who is resting upside down. I started feeding the goldies smushed peas, how long should i be feeding them this? Can you fast a baby fish? According to koko's website on sbd, epsom salt helps but is it ok to put in a baby tank? I cannot seperate the baby w/sbd b/c I do not have any place or room to put him in. Also, I read on koko's site that high nitrates can cause sbd but according to the test i just took, the nitrates are between 5 and 10 but closer to 5. They have 2 sponge filters, lot's of anacharis plants and i change their water 3x per week. I also add Amquel+ and NovAqua+ to help w/water chemistry plus NovAqua+ is suppose to help w/electrolytes.

I do not want to euthanise anymore babies, I've had to do it twice so far . Is it really this difficult to keep babies? I just need to know how long I should keep feeding peas and can i fast them for a while? Also can i try Epsom salt or are they too young? I've never treated sbd before.

Thanks for all the help.

karla

Heres a link full of swim bladder info and things you can do.Hope it helps

http://www.geocities.com/swimbladderhelp/index.html

How big is the fry?

I've been fasting my fry (now 10 months old) once a week for several months now. He went thru a period of SBD also. I tried fasting for 2 days then feeding peas for 2-3 days. You can put a grain of epsom salt in the pea rather than putting the epsom salt in the water.

Peas with epsom salt didn't help him much. So I fasted for a couple days again and made some gel food with spirulina, peas, and blanched fresh spinach (as recommended by daryl). It worked like a charm. After his 2nd feeding on the first day he was better. (He wasn't flipped over but floated at the top all the time.) I continued to feed only the gel food for about 3 days then slowly introduced his regular food. I still give the gel food a few times a week and he's been fine since.

Good luck with your little guy!

hi, thanks for replying quickly. Thanks Blue for the link, I've read it but i have to admit, i did not actually fast him yet, just started on the peas. Also I do not know if i overfed them but i did give them one algae wafer at least once a week.

Thanks fantailfan1 for your suggestion. I do not think i'll be able to get spinach though due to the recent problems with some vegetables. There's been a total recall of all spinach here b/c ppl have been getting sick.

The little guy w/sbd problems is about 6 months old and approx. a little over an inch w/o tail. He is starting to develop a sore on his belly. He is able to swim down and get the peas but I'm concerned that this red sore will get worse. I just have two questions, Do i put vaseline on his belly or maybe just conditioner that helps w/their slime coat? And I cannot put him in another tank due to lack of space in my apartment so should i fast all the babies?

Thanks again for the help, i really appreciate it. I will try to get at least spirulina and see about making the gel food.


karla

Yeah, I forgot about the spinach problems . . . .

As far as the red spot, I would put some Vaseline on it rather than conditioner in the water as those conditioners tend to coat the gills.

I would think fasting all the babies would be fine. A little "cleansing" won't hurt them at all! Are they all about the same size? How many do you have?

I have 8, about the same size, except for one who is chubbier than all of them. Ok, I know I said only 2 last questions but i have just one more. I hope that's ok.
I know w/goldies you are suppose to fast them for 2-3 days but if the babies are still smaller than an average adult, would you still fast for a few days or less? I'm curious b/c the babies bodies are so tiny so it would not take much to pass through their bodies, whereas w/ a goldie who is 3+inches would take longer. Am I right? I guess I'm worried b/c I think babies need to be fed more to help them grow and I'm afraid I'll find them all dead from starvation. Sorry for sounding so paranoid. This happened to one of the little ones a while back and it got so bad i had to put him down and i do not want to lose another one.
I will put the vaseline on him right away.

karla

I wondered and worried about the same thing!!

You could start off by trying to fast just one day. If he does OK with the fasting but is still floaty, try to fast for 2 days.

I really think they would be fine for a couple of days though at that size. But it's better to be safe than sorry!

And, please, ask all ya want and I'll try and help if I can.

Finally, I would like to add how jealous I am that you have EIGHT babies!! I only had one survive.

Keep up the great work.

Thanks again so much for helping me and the little guy through this fantailfan1, I really appreciate it. I will keep you up to date on how he's doing.
Oh now that i think of it, I think you're right about them being able to survive for several days w/no food b/c the last one i had to euthanize got sooo sick that he did not eat for at least 2-3 days. Unfortunately he was really ill and i knew he would have starved to death.

Karla

I have 2 small fish less than an inch.I find fasting for max of 2 days and no more.I also add vitamins to tank during these times to help them as well.

Hi Blue, thanks! It is a little scary worrying that you are going to hurt the babies if you fast for too long but it helps knowing others experience w/fasting baby goldies so thank you .

As for the vitamins, I add NovAqua+ to their tank b/c it says that it helps w/slime coat, and that the vitamins in NovAqua+ helps boost immune system, heal open wounds and sores and promotes cellular regeneration.

I hope this is ok.


karla

Hi, just a quick update,

he still rests upside down but I have caught him resting upright as well. I have to lower the water level by a few gallons since he's been having a hard time getting to the bottom. I'm still feeding peas, i have to smush them up good b/c some of the babies' mouths are too tiny. I do not know how many peas i should put in their tank so i go by how long it takes them to eat the peas. Just to be sure everone is ok, i've started looking at their poop just to be sure there is no unusual looking poop or diarrhea due to possible overfeeding. The sick guy is still able to swim well and fast, and now gets to the peas so knock on wood he is on his way to a full recovery.

Well the good news, his sore on his belly appears to be healing.

Thank you so much fantailfan1 and Blue for helping my little guy, hopefully soon he will be 100% recovered.

karla

Thats great news heres to a full recovery