# Arowana swim bladdder problem for days



## ladystoneheart92 (Sep 17, 2013)

i have a silver Arowana that's almost a foot long in my African Cichlid 120g tank. I'm cycling my new 150g 6ft tank which would be his new home with some of my New World Cichlids. I got a new Cichlid from a seemingly reputable LFS but apparently it had some sort of parasites that caused lesions on half of the fish in my tank, causing damaged scales and fins in a very short period of time (i should have put him in a hospital tank but all 3 of mine are occupied, i know, my fault). A couple of my Africans died but the Arowana was fine. It's been probably a little over a week since the fish started getting sick. I treated with meds appropriately and raised the temp to 86 degrees F and dosed the tank with aquarium salt nearly everyday and also have done 50% water changes i think 4 times already since the fish got sick.

Well all of the Africans now are healing and acting normal but low and behold the Arowana became effected by this parasite outbreak and he has swim bladder problem (only one other fish had this issue that died). We stopped medicating and kept salting the tank and the temp is still around 86 and I put the Arowana in a big net, propping him up at the top of the tank in the bubbles from the airstone (which is all the way on high). He has been like this for days now and I'm truly surprised he is still alive. He sticks his mouth slightly out of the water and has his tail lower than his head in the net. 
I feel he probably should be able to try to swim so I just got ANOTHER QT tank that i'm getting ready to put him in. I put the water level at his height + 2" but I'm afraid he'll still end up sideways or upside down if let out of the net into the QT tank (when i let him out of the net he swims around confused for less than a minute then either ends up on his side or lays at the bottom of the tank). 
He hasn't ate since the day before his obvious symptoms showed up and needless to say I'm worried! I love that Arowana and I want him to survive this! He has pooped, but of course it's white because he hasn't ate, and his eyes are slightly cloudy but no Popeye yet.

If anyone has any tips or anything please let me know! 
(Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0, Nitrate is below 1ppm, pH is around 8.2)


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Methylene blue is purported to work well on fish with swim bladder problems, however I don't have any experience treating for this.
I'd try daily 30 minute baths with MB and epsom salt as described here: http://www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/20 ... baths.html
You'll want to use a container that you're not fond of as MB will stain silicone and other materials.
Is the fish still not eating? Try some de-shelled, blanched peas. 
Add epsom salt to his tank, 1 tbsp per 10g, premixed and added gradually over 5-6 hours. Slowly lower the temp in his tank back to normal, if it's a bacterial infection, higher temps will increase their growth rate.


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## ladystoneheart92 (Sep 17, 2013)

thanks for the great reply. sadly, my beautiful arowana past away the day after i made this post ((


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