# Fish is belly up. Pics! What's wrong?



## sinhcredible (Dec 20, 2007)

My dad has a fish and its belly is getting bigger and its been swimming upside down. Now the belly seems to be filled with air so it floats. Pics are attached. Does anyone know what's wrong?


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## Feathers (Dec 2, 2007)

Aw, the poor baby!

I know that swimming problems like that are usually either swim bladder problems or occasionally a digestion blockage. Giving fish frozen peas (mashed and with the skin removed) is supposed to help, but I'm not sure if it can at this point. Sometimes fish will pull too much air into their swim bladder, and it makes them swim funny. But water quality can usually tell a lot about what's going on.

Do his gill movements seem labored? Or does he seem to be doing okay other than being upside down?

Some things that will be useful for us to know are:
Tank size
Number of fish in tank
What types of fish
Water Temp
PH
Nitrates
Nitrites
Ammonia

That way, we can see if anything in the water might be the culprit?


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## SueM (Jan 23, 2004)

Damn I'm sorry Sinh :sad: I hate to say it, but by the time a fish gets this bad, there's no other way but surgery. Like a cow in the pasture that bloated up, you are going to need to "poke" him. 
Wash your hands thoroughly, rub stresscoat on them, you don't want to add damage to damage. The only way I know to knock him out is to add 2 drops of clove oil per gallon of tank water, pick him up and add him to the mixture. Or if you can get him to let you hold him without the anesthetic, even better, but he can NOT wiggle. But make sure his gills are below water level.
You will need to find a hypo needle (one like they give shots with) they are hollow and will let the gas escape, and some Liquid Bandage you can find it at the drug store. You are going to have to poke him in a downward move (when hes rightside up), just barely into the side. I marked your 3rd pic to about where the needle should go in. But use a magnifying glass or very good vision to make sure you don't Peirce a blood vein. You will hear when you Peirce the air pocket, go slow, using your finger to plug, flow, plug, flow. When you have released as much gas as you can, use the liquid bandage on his DRY skin. Then hold him in the tank till he gets his wits back about him. And stay by him for as long as you can, making sure the liquid bandage does not come off, and the poor guy bleeds. 
Steady hands my friend, and good luck.


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## Shaggy (Apr 29, 2005)

Sue, should he do the poking outside of the water?


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## SueM (Jan 23, 2004)

That's kinda what I meant about "dry" skin. With a belly that big, he can still be 1/2 under water. ;-)


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

This is what happens to blood parrots sometimes...well, oftentimes. These mutants are deformed inside, you see, and this makes them prone to blockage, which then leads to severe gas like this. Ordinarily you could give it oil and Epsom salt laxative treatment, but this fish is too far gone for that.

If this fish is a favorite pet, then I would seriously suggest taking him to a veterinarian. It's hard to find one who does fish, but any of them should be able to do this without too much trouble.


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## Knight~Ryder (Dec 2, 2007)

I don't know much about this sort of thing, but I would like to know what happens and if he gets better.


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## Flingo (Jan 2, 2008)

I don't know much about this sort of stuff, but it could be air bladder problems. I had a fish that had an air bladder problem and it caused him to swim side ways and upside down. In the pet shop they said to give him half a tea spoon of sea salt. But I would bring him to the vet.
Please say how he gets on.


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