Looks like swim bladder disease/white cloud mountain minnow

[Jeff Bogey]

Hi! I have a white cloud minnow showing symptoms of swim bladder disease. He can’t keep his tail fin upright, it’s always drooping. He is otherwise healthy as far as I can tell.  

After some research, I’ve narrowed it down to a couple of potential treatments.  

1. 48 hour fast, then feed frozen peas (thawed, skinned). Continue this for a few days. The fiber in the peas should help to clear any blockages in his digestive system that might be affecting his swim bladder. 

2. If that doesn’t work, give him a 10 minute epsom salt bath. This will be challenging. I’ve already tried to move him to my quarantine tank and so far I haven’t been able to catch him.  He’s fast and there are a dozen other minnows in the tank.  Plus a lot of live plants and other places to hide.  

3. I’ve heard conflicting opinions on epsom salt vs. aquarium salt.  Some people say one, others say don’t use aquarium salt for this condition.  

Can anyone comment on the above plan of action?  Pros, cons or any other ideas?  

Thanks, much appreciated!

[Colu]

On 12/31/2023 at 4:32 PM, Jeff Bogey said:

Hi! I have a white cloud minnow showing symptoms of swim bladder disease. He can’t keep his tail fin upright, it’s always drooping. He is otherwise healthy as far as I can tell.  

After some research, I’ve narrowed it down to a couple of potential treatments.  

1. 48 hour fast, then feed frozen peas (thawed, skinned). Continue this for a few days. The fiber in the peas should help to clear any blockages in his digestive system that might be affecting his swim bladder. 

2. If that doesn’t work, give him a 10 minute epsom salt bath. This will be challenging. I’ve already tried to move him to my quarantine tank and so far I haven’t been able to catch him.  He’s fast and there are a dozen other minnows in the tank.  Plus a lot of live plants and other places to hide.  

3. I’ve heard conflicting opinions on epsom salt vs. aquarium salt.  Some people say one, others say don’t use aquarium salt for this condition.  

Can anyone comment on the above plan of action?  Pros, cons or any other ideas?  

Thanks, much appreciated!

You want to use Epsom salt not aquarium salt Epsom salt acts as a muscle relaxant to help relieve pressure on the swim bladder i would do epsom baths 1 table spoon for 1 gallon for no more than 15 minutes for 5 days aquarium salt used treat external bacterial fungal issues at the correct amount can be used to treat ich