My rescue fish, Rhapsody, has had problems swimming since I brought her home. We've been fighting flukes and worms, and I've seen her headstanding, swimming sideways, and floating upsidedown at the top of the tank. But she's been getting a LOT better lately and I've been very pleased.

She was doing fine even after I went away for 5 days. When I came back, I dropped in some ProGold pellets and she gobbled them up. Then, the entire next day she had as much trouble swimming as she did the first day I brought her home, and her poop was full of airbubbles. I fed her peas, and this morning she's swimming fine and the poop is thick and green. It seems to me that she becomes constipated very easily.

So my question is: what do I feed her? It appears that the ProGold caused her problems but the peas are fine. I want her to have variety and protein, but not at the expense of her swim bladder.

You should try duckweek(baby duckweek).

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Plant,%20Duckweed.htm

Thanks ranchu! That seems like an idea worth exploring... I think my LFS might have some, too!

Joy, I have read here on Koko's that some people feed gel food for floaty fish. Do you soak the pellets before feeding? I know most do - but I was wondering.

Debbie

Well, I haven't ventured into the land of gel food --- yet. I did presoak the ProGold, but they just disintegrated when I put them in the water. Another thread said that presoaking ProGold isn't necessary. My other fish, Roxanne, has no problem digesting the non-pre soaked ProGold. I could try presoaking Rhapsody's pellets to see if there is a difference.

I picked up some duckweed this afternoon, however. My LFS gave it to me for free! How do I go about disinfecting it for my fish? They're so tiny!

Wow! You got lucky with the free duckweed! I really can't help with the disinfecting though, as I've never done it myself. Maybe there would be something in the plant section?

Debbie

Edit: Found this link to disinfecting plants.