Floating Fish

[Zac]

Hey all,

I have a few king blue tetras and one of them is a super competitive eater. He tends to suck in a lot of air when he eats which in turn causes him to float to the surface. I know it’s not swim bladder because I’ve had these fish for a month or so and I ran meds through the tank for potential gill flukes a couple weeks ago. I don’t want to feed the fish peas every other day because that’s just a bad idea haha. The floating usually goes away after a couple hours or maybe a little more after eating and he’s usually fine by the next feeding. Is this behavior something I should be concerned about? Can it end up causing long term damage?

Thanks

[laritheloud]

I would just try to reduce food or switch up their diet until you find that sweet spot. One of my thicklipped gouramis also tends to pork out and is prone to overeating/bloat because of it. I'd also recommend one fasting day per week to help clear him out!

[GardenStateGoldfish]

As laritheloud said, I think it’s either the amount or type of food your feeding. Some fish foods are harder to digest or have more fillers which can create temporary swim bladder disorder. If it is a more aggressive eater and eating to much it could have food/ consitipation pushing on its swim bladder which causes the floating. 
 

 

[Zac]

On 11/7/2021 at 8:51 PM, GardenStateGoldfish said:

As laritheloud said, I think it’s either the amount or type of food your feeding. Some fish foods are harder to digest or have more fillers which can create temporary swim bladder disorder. If it is a more aggressive eater and eating to much it could have food/ consitipation pushing on its swim bladder which causes the floating. 
 

 

I’m pretty sure it is the second one. I would think that if there was a problem with the food then more fish would be experiencing issues. I just feed tetra flakes and frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms. So there shouldn’t be a huge issue there. He’s just a pig haha

[laritheloud]

How often are you feeding bloodworms? I wouldn't offer them more then twice a week and withhold other food when feeding bloodworms, maybe add in some spirulina-and-invertebrate-based flakes (Fluval Bug Bites makes a good one ime) and/or some frozen daphnia into the rotation. Tetras definitely tend to pig out on bloodworms. 😆 Good luck, I hope you'll find the right combo to help your fish!

[Zac]

On 11/7/2021 at 10:28 PM, laritheloud said:

How often are you feeding bloodworms? I wouldn't offer them more then twice a week and withhold other food when feeding bloodworms, maybe add in some spirulina-and-invertebrate-based flakes (Fluval Bug Bites makes a good one ime) and/or some frozen daphnia into the rotation. Tetras definitely tend to pig out on bloodworms. 😆 Good luck, I hope you'll find the right combo to help your fish!

I usually feed them once a week. I haven’t fed them in quite a while haha. Thanks though!