PLEASE HELP--Swim bladder disease(?) in raphael catfish
Posted: 10 Mar 2016, 19:56
So I have a little baby striped raphael catfish (platydoras armatulus) that I've had for a few months and love very much. He's only about 1.5" long so he's still a juvenile. He's been doing great for so long but all of a sudden two days ago he started acting weird. He went from a big belly to super skinny, and it seems like there's a bump near his belly. (which I'm assuming is an air bubble or his swim bladder) He's been eating /something/ because I only feed him half of a small wafer every 1-2 weeks since he's so small, but he was still getting fatter. I don't think I've been overfeeding him, but it's definitely possible. 
He was swimming upside down on the surface and not moving, and whenever he tried swimming down it was like he was floating right back up. He's back on the substrate now but he has to sit under something so he doesn't float back up.
I gave him a small piece of wafer without thinking when I first saw how skinny he was which was a really bad choice on my part. He gobbled it right up, so he still has his appetite.. I'm gonna fast him now.
He doesn't look or seem ill, he just keeps floating and therefore isn't very active now. It definitely seems like swim bladder disease. The thing is, I checked upstairs and we don't have any peas except for an instant bag of sweet peas. It says there's no added preservatives or anything, but I'll have to check to see if there's any added salt or sugar. (anything in particular I should watch out for?) It's a stupid and probably obvious question but would sweet peas work the same way..? I'm just panicking because I don't want to lose my baby. I won't use the sweet peas until I get a few quotes on it.
I did a 70% water change about 2 days ago when I first saw him acting weird and I plan on doing another big water change tonight. The temperature is either 73 or 74 (it used to be 78 F but my heater has been slowing down lately.. it's brand new too. Sigh.) The ph is 7.8. The tank is 40 gallons, and it gets 50-80% water changes every week.
I can't go to the store either--someone is borrowing my car and I doubt they're gonna wanna go to the store to bring me peas.. What can I do to help him in the meantime? Any form of help is super appreciated. Thank you.
He was swimming upside down on the surface and not moving, and whenever he tried swimming down it was like he was floating right back up. He's back on the substrate now but he has to sit under something so he doesn't float back up.
I gave him a small piece of wafer without thinking when I first saw how skinny he was which was a really bad choice on my part. He gobbled it right up, so he still has his appetite.. I'm gonna fast him now.
He doesn't look or seem ill, he just keeps floating and therefore isn't very active now. It definitely seems like swim bladder disease. The thing is, I checked upstairs and we don't have any peas except for an instant bag of sweet peas. It says there's no added preservatives or anything, but I'll have to check to see if there's any added salt or sugar. (anything in particular I should watch out for?) It's a stupid and probably obvious question but would sweet peas work the same way..? I'm just panicking because I don't want to lose my baby. I won't use the sweet peas until I get a few quotes on it.
I did a 70% water change about 2 days ago when I first saw him acting weird and I plan on doing another big water change tonight. The temperature is either 73 or 74 (it used to be 78 F but my heater has been slowing down lately.. it's brand new too. Sigh.) The ph is 7.8. The tank is 40 gallons, and it gets 50-80% water changes every week.
I can't go to the store either--someone is borrowing my car and I doubt they're gonna wanna go to the store to bring me peas.. What can I do to help him in the meantime? Any form of help is super appreciated. Thank you.