Ever feel concerned when you notice your Flowerhorn appearing sick? Have you ever felt worried observing your Flowerhorn swimming sideways, laying at the bottom, or even swimming upside down? These behaviors may be indicative of a disease or disorder affecting the fish’s swim bladder.
In this blog post, we’ll provide a detailed guide covering what swim bladder disorder is, why it occurs, the symptoms to look out for, how to help your Flowerhorn recover from it, and the available treatments.
Let’s get started
What is Swim bladder disorder in flowerhorn cichlids?
What is a Swim bladder? The swim bladder is an important organ in any fish, including the flowerhorn, enabling them to swim properly in a water environment, much like how airplanes fly in the air.
The swim bladder disorder is an issue affecting the swim bladder organ in the stomach of flowerhorn fish, resulting from various reasons. Problems in the swim bladder make the flowerhorn unable to swim normally, making it more difficult for them to swim and potentially leading to issues such as not being able to eat or staying at the bottom of the tank.
Flowerhorn swim bladder disease can be caused by factors like constipation, gas formation, bacterial infections, and more. This disorder is considered dangerous and serious in flowerhorn cichlids, posing a risk to the life of your beloved fish.
Therefore, it is highly recommended to take necessary actions as soon as you notice any symptoms of swim bladder disorder, as mentioned below.
Symptoms of Swim bladder disorder
If you identify a swim bladder disorder in your flowerhorn at an early stage, you can easily facilitate its recovery through minimal treatments. However, if you are unfamiliar with the symptoms of swim bladder disease, you may find yourself in a critical situation.
Many flowerhorn enthusiasts may mistake their fish’s sideways or upside-down swimming for playful behavior. It is only when the fish becomes more stressed and refuses to eat that they realize these actions are not playful but indicative of symptoms
Symptom 1: Irregular swimming pattern:
Once a flowerhorn is affected by swim bladder condition, it will find it very difficult to maintain its balance and swim straight as it normally does. At this stage, you can observe the fish struggling to swim straight, exhibiting a wobbly motion, and occasionally turning upside down before returning to swimming in a straight line.
These early symptoms are clear indicators of a swim bladder disorder. When you observe these symptoms, it is crucial to promptly decide to initiate the recovery procedure or aid treatment to save your fish at the earliest opportunity
Symptom 2: Upside-down floating:
When the swim bladder sac becomes filled with an excessive amount of gas, the flowerhorn loses its balance in the water. As is commonly known, materials with lower density tend to float on water. In the case of our flowerhorn, with the swim bladder sac now filled with an unusual amount of gas, it starts to float upside down above the water, as the swim bladder is located in the dorsal cavity of the fish
Symptom 3: Laying on the bottom of the tank
It is quite common for a flowerhorn to lie at the bottom of the aquarium tank, and this behavior can be attributed to various disease reasons such as a bloated stomach or bacterial infections. However, lying at the bottom can also be a symptom of swim bladder disorder.
If the flowerhorn has a bacterial infection in its swim bladder or experiences an imbalance within its bladder sac, it can lose the ability to float and swim. As a result, due to gravity, the flowerhorn will rest on the bottom of the tank
Swim Bladder Treatment for Flowerhorn
The treatment of swim bladder disorder in flowerhorns is relatively simple and easy; however, the possibility of the disorder recurring in the same fish is higher. Consulting with an aquarium vet can be a good solution to completely address swim bladder disorder. They might suggest surgery, or in some cases, adopting normal tank-level treatments can effectively cure swim bladder disorder.
The treatment for swim bladder disorder in flowerhorns is categorized into three sections.
- Quarantine (Hospital tank setup)
- Treatment procedure
- Post-treatment
Quarantine (Hospital tank setup):
Once you have identified swim bladder disorder symptoms in your flowerhorn cichlid, you should categorize your flowerhorn based on the observed symptoms. Based on swim bladder symptom categories, prepare the hospital tank
Symptom 1 Category:
- Remove 30% of the water from the tank and replace it with new conditioned water.
- Ensure the tank maintains suitable parameters (refer to the table below).
- Verify that the filtration and heater systems are functioning properly, and introduce an air pump.
- Stop feeding pellets to the flowerhorn until improvements in health are observed.
- Avoid subjecting the fish to additional stress by placing the tank in crowded or noisy locations; instead, keep it in a calm and peaceful environment.
- Ensure there are no tank mates with the flowerhorn undergoing swim bladder treatment.
- Daily change the water up to 30%
| pH | 7.4 to 8 |
| Temperature | 26- 29 |
| Hardness | 8 to 20 dGH |
Symptom 2 Category:
- Change the water quantity by up to 30% with newly conditioned water.
- Adjust the water level in the tank based on the height of the flowerhorn, adding one or two inches of water beyond the flowerhorn’s height (e.g., if the flowerhorn is 4 inches tall, add up to 6 inches of water).
- Ensure that you maintain suitable tank parameters. Keep the heater and filtration system running at all times.
- Introduce an air pump to supply oxygen throughout the treatment process.
- Hold feeding pellets until improvements are observed.
- Maintain a peaceful and calm environment in the tank.
- If there are any tankmates, remove them.
- Change the water quantity by up to 30% daily.
Symptom 3 Category:
- Change the water quantity by up to 30% with newly conditioned water.
- Adjust the water level in the tank based on the height of the flowerhorn, adding one or two inches of water beyond the flowerhorn’s height.
- Ensure that you maintain suitable tank parameters. Keep the heater and filtration system running at all times.
- Introduce an air pump to supply oxygen throughout the treatment process.
- Remove the substrates or gravels (if any)
- Hold feeding pellets until improvements are observed.
- Maintain a peaceful and calm environment in the tank.
- If there are any tankmates, remove them.
- Change the water quantity by up to 30% daily.
Flowerhorn swim bladder disease treatment steps:
So far, the treatment tank with optimal conditions to reduce the stress level of flowerhorn and decrease the intensity of disease has been identified. Now, the focus is on the treatment procedures, which can be categorized into three groups:
- Bacterial infection
- Parasite infection
- Constipation.
For bacterial and parasite infections, adding Epsom salt will aid the flowerhorn and reduce the infection level by eliminating the bacteria or parasites.
In cases of constipation, adding stress relief medicine or metronidazole (consult a vet for the required amount) will alleviate the constipation stress in the flowerhorn’s stomach and help in releasing gas and excretion.
The complete treatment may take around 4-5 days, during which the mentioned steps should be performed daily along with water changes.
It is also common for the flowerhorn kok to shrink and lose its bright color, but once the flowerhorn recovers from swim bladder problem, its color and kok will return to normal.
Post-treatment:
Once the flowerhorn has returned to its normal state, it is advisable to add a small quantity of pellets (ideally 2-4 pellets) and ensure that it consumes them all. If not, then remove any uneaten sinking pellets.
It is preferable to introduce parasite-free frozen bloodworms to provide a quick nutritional boost to the flowerhorn.
Restore the water level to its original level if it was reduced. Additionally, consider adding Epsom salt for up to one week to completely eliminate the infection.
Change 20% of the water daily and monitor for any recurring symptoms. Following these steps can cure your flowerhorn from swim bladder disorder.
How to prevent swim bladder problems in your flowerhorn?
There are numerous reasons behind the swim bladder disorder in flowerhorns, most of which are associated with poor water quality and feeding habits. High levels of nitrites in the tank can lead to bacterial infections that endanger the swim bladder, while overfeeding pellets can cause constipation.
Additionally, feeding live foods containing parasites, such as bloodworms, can result in parasite infections. Changes in aquarium water, such as adding new water or performing water changes, can also contribute to swim bladder problems due to poor water quality.
By avoiding these situations, you can prevent swim bladder issues in your flowerhorn cichlid.
Final words:
I believe that this blog post on swim bladder treatment for flowerhorn cichlids will be valuable to aquarium hobbyists who frequently encounter such diseases. We have covered the basics of swim bladder problems, their symptoms, treatment, and prevention.
I hope you have gained valuable insights from this blog post to help save or prevent your flowerhorn cichlid from such diseases.
Please share your thoughts below, and feel free to comment if you have additional suggestions.
Thank you for reading until the end. Goodbye for now. Sincerely, Thaha.
Special Mentions:
Image Credits: Fish Dr India