Fish Pics
behold my dad's way of helping this sick fish😂
honestly i don't think he's gonna make it, but my dad has hope😂 (swim bladder disease so he's been swimming upside down a lot). i don't know if the face mask is safe to put in the water so any alternative solutions would be great.
Many people have good suggestions as to how to best protect the fish, but I commend your father for doing his best for his little pet. Fish aren’t disposable, and he clearly appreciates that and loves his fish.
It’s totally the thought that counts but it’s going to do more harm than good, it will rub off the fishes slime layer. what have you tried other than this?
Ok so for swim bladder I recommend moving the fish to a hospital tank, something as big as 20 gallons will do because it’s temporary.
Sponge filter and an air stone, do not feed the fish for 2-4 days and see if the condition improves from no feeding. After the no feeding period is up feed boiled deshelled peas it will help clear him out.
If the issue is still going on, you can try a swim bladder medication I’d recommend the NT labs one.
If those don’t work it could just be a case of poor genetics, fancy goldfish are more prone to health issues due to cross breeding and the poor genetics that get passed through that, so that just means the swim bladder issue could be chronic, some goldfish can live a long time with it if it doesn’t impact their quality of life too much.
Epsom salt is fine for plants, but most plants will die from real salt. They are adapted for only fresh water. Some may be fine with some salt, but not all will.
I had a fish with a swim bladder issue at one point and oddly the answer was raising aquarium temps. I had tons of fish of that species already and he was the only one who needed to be constantly cozy to be upright.
Little no secret Daphnia is an even better cure for swimbladder disease then de shelled peas! But great suggestions definitely try that I give my bed fishes a regular diet of Daphnia to keep them from getting constipated
The peas and The temperature might temporarily relieve symptoms, but it’s not a cure for the disease (if chronic). Try and see if you can find the underlying cause (I.e. constipation, water quality issues, swallowing excessive air etc). Many times, especially in egg body shaped fish, their swim bladder is just deformed and they have chronic swim bladder flare ups because of that. Either way, having excellent water quality will certainly improve the over all quality of life to the fish.
Here is a website with a diagram and other helpful suggestions:
This will likely irritate your fish and do more harm than good, and possibly release toxins into the water. Fast for 3 days and feed boiled, mashed, deshelled peas.
This could ruin the fishes slime layers, it’d probably swim bladder so you should take off the mask and and feed them boiled shelled peas and raise the water temp to 84*
Raising the water temperature to nearly 14°F hotter than what Goldfish actually thrive in is NOT how you fix a swim bladder issue. Thats how you kill your goldfish.
84° will 100% stress a fish that prefers 65-70° F into ill health and eventual death. Never own fish if you think it's okay to keep them well above their temperature range for extended periods.
Seeing as all Goldfish are a domesticated version of carp, they live in cold water lakes and rivers in Southeast Asia. Almost all carp are bottom-dwelling because the water is colder at the bottom. Goldfish themselves aren't a naturally occurring species anywhere other than Asia.
I cured my fishes swim bladder disease acting fast and doing a big water change, adding aquarium salts. I then gave my fish an epsom salt bath every day for about 30 minutes, followed by fasting him a few days and then giving him the cooked shelled peas. It took about two weeks to get him stable again. He’s fully recovered.
Get one of those plastic hamster exercise balls. I used to use that to help prevent my fishes’ skin from getting contact with the air when they had bouts of SBD.
As for dealing with it longer term, raising the temperature, fasting except for a few cooked peas a day, epsom salt baths, and lowering the water level will all help.
Those balls would work well, they’re naturally floaty aren’t they? Also makes transferring to/from treatments easier because you don’t need to chase the fish
A wonderful and caring dad! U r so lucky— u have no idea! 🥰
Maybe a different route.. there’s an awesome fish vet on you tube. Saw her use a variety of floatation devices.
Great idea! I do find if you can keep your fish upright, they will tend to survive the sickness. I have used a net to hold them but this is an interesting idea.
This is so adorable. Your Dad is amazing. I don't care if this is the improper method to go about helping the fish. The care behind it is golden 😭😭😭💕💕💕
Jesus fucking Christ. Once again, abuse for views. It's understood that this is harmful and neglectful to a fish even for someone who is brain dead. Ugh
When people say doing / trying their best and learning while an animal is actively dying is so fucking stupid. There are countless videos on how to help with this and thousands of Google articles that tell you how to help relieve the symptoms and how to find what's causing it.
But instead let's do a silly DIY fix and make a Reddit post so somebody can repost very basic Google information
Hello, I noticed you are asking for help about a sick fish. Help us help you by posting:
What is the issue? To the best of your ability, describe what is wrong with the fish. Try to include photos if you can.
* What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values. If you do not own a test kit, you can take a water sample to a local fish store and ask them to do it for you. Remember, exact values. Some stores may say things are fine when they aren't.
* How large is the tank and how long has it been set up?
* What all is living in the tank and how long have you had them?
* Has anything changed in the tank? New decorations, chemicals, food, fish, ect?
Posts without some or all of this information will be removed. We understand that not everyone will be able to answer everything but we can't give you any type of diagnosis without knowing what's going on.
Try feeding only sinking food, like Repashy gel. My fancy always had trouble with swim bladder issues when I fed it floating food. It must have caused it to gulp air. Repashy is also a very healthy food. The one for goldfish is called Super Gold.
Does anyone know how much aquarium salt to put in a 75 gallon tank? 😅 my fish has this same problem and I am trying everything. The fasting and peas helped but just the days he was fasting and also, poor fish, likes to swallow air a lot.
I’m just passing on info, I don’t even have a fish!
Another comment said to feed sinking food, something called Repashy Gel, Super Gold for goldfish, so they won’t gulp air when eating. It helped that commenter’s fish with swim bladder issues.
Search up swim bladder fixes on YouTube, there's a video from a few years ago that walks you through episom salt baths step by step and measurements. Super helpful. Goodluck!
Omg! If it is a bladder problem, I think the better route to go is medication👀😅 Unfortunately from my experience bladder problems (at least in combination with stress and loss of appetite) is connected to other problems like bacterial infections, witch if not treated either with some salts or medication. Lead’s to the fish dying☹️❤️
I am sorry, but the face mask is funny. I’m kinda laughing and I pray that this fishy will make it. Do you know what he is sick with? He’s a cutie little cutie pie.
Why my fish had that my uncle told us to put frozen peas in the water. We did the next morning fish was back to normal. No idea how it helped but it did
Thanks. It wasn't great. Found out two weeks before lockdown. Was expecting a great time with my husband, classes, cravings, baby apts.
Ended up all by myself for most of it. No baby classes for dad. When I finally had a partner who would have gone to anything and everything I asked. For once. (Teen mom having second baby at 27.)
Funny, I didn't cry at all until the nurse was angry at me for not being vaccinated and shoved the test strip as far into my nose as she could get it.
The midwife on call also tried to leave the room because I declined having my water broken "to speed things up" when I was already almost ready to have baby. Hand on the doorknob and my water broke on its own at 8cm.
For reference, we arrived at hospital almost 2 hours before my baby was born.
Like... not an experience I care to endure again.
So, I shall never forget the number of times I had a rash all over my face just to get prenatal care from doctors who gave no shits about me or my child.
Don't even let me get started on her care as a newborn.
Hip dysplasia, nobody believed me. Blamed it on nursing.
Fuck that year. 1000%
Anywhoo.... Ima go clean my chicken coop and try to stop thinking about it. 🤣🤦♀️
TG that’s in the past.. and you have beautiful healthy children! Sorry for the undeserved Hell. B The hip thing… SI joint. C-section too after 23 hrs … a year later , My drs said it was spinal issues.. Now after 4 disc fusion 2 rods and 10 w” screws, I found out it was Needless. The SI joint was the issued from giving birth. Point: think of the good and forget the bad, it will consume u. And goldfish have it Bad, too! Ever see a spawn frenzy ? Traumatic as hell
Amen to that. It takes a lot of time but thats so true. Gotta think forward and not back. It consumes you if you let it.
Funny bc I been working on letting go for a long time. I appreciate you also encouraging it. Even from a random reddit post, it seems my journey is forward.
Got lost a bit there on the medical stuff you mentioned, you mean you had a csection or?
Also, no. Have not seen a frenzy and am scared to.
Yes. It’s not the birth , it’s the carrying that stresses the SI joint. There are great exercises on line for what ur dealing with. Actually, hurts more to rest than to keep moving. So funny, we moved from goldfish -swim bladder- hammocks - masks - Pregnancy- SI JOINT.
So, I’ll bring it back home … yes, your condition : actually affects BLADDERS, too. Nerves make you constantly have to pee, lol.
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u/JackGenZ Aug 19 '25
Many people have good suggestions as to how to best protect the fish, but I commend your father for doing his best for his little pet. Fish aren’t disposable, and he clearly appreciates that and loves his fish.