Striated Anglerfish bloated during hyposalinity

[johnf3]

I recently started hyposalinity for my striated anglerfish because he came down with what appeared to be ich. Lots of small white dots that changed location overnight and grew in population over a few days, they were even on his ”hair”. He seems to be fine with the lower salinity but last night I noticed he was floating vertically (head down) and was very bloated, almost ball shaped. I immediately googled and read that I could try to gently burp him by running my finger from the base of his stomach up towards his mouth which was successful. He ended up burping out some white tissue stuff and this morning there was half a mollie from earlier this week on the tank floor. I only feed once a week but for some reason it seems he couldn’t digest this particular one. This morning his belly is definitely smaller but he is now floating at the top of the tank, belly up. Doesn’t really look promising but I’m hoping he just has to burp a bit more out? In one of the photos I’ve attached you can see him burping

I read that you can use a straw in the gill or even small syringe in the stomach to help relieve the gas but I feel like these would do more harm than good and would risk infection

He still has energy and tries to swim down but then just rolls over onto his back and floats back up. Any advice to help him get back on his feet?


Also I couldn’t find any information for specifically striated anglerfish in hyposalinity but I’m hoping that the lower salinity didn’t maybe make him take a gulp of air from the top or something. Not sure just trying to think of all possibilities.

I’ve read this is usually a deadly situation but I really want to try to help him if there’s anything I can do. Any input is appreciated!

 

[johnf3]

Also again this is my hospital tank which is why it isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing and is bare bottom. His usual tank is macroalgae/sponge 20 gallon

 

[johnf3]

He is still floating around upside down but seems to be doing alright. He was even “anglering” and swinging his lure around last night. Does anyone have any experience with this getting better by itself? Or should I intervene with a sterile baby needle and syringe? I can feel the gas bubble right beneath his thin belly skin

 

[johnf3]

@lion king

 

[AnglerFrog]

I am also in the exact same predicament with my striated frog. It’s been just under a week of him getting ich, freshwater dips, hyposalinity treatment, antibiotics, MB dips to ward off fin/tail rot, and more. His ich is just about nonexistent, but he’s still floating at the top of the tank. He’s still eating (small guppy days apart), breathing is normal, and I burped him but he’s not bloated so it was worth a try. Does anyone know if they can come back from this?? I’ve had him just under two weeks. I have 3 other frogs and all are set up in a species only set up and I’ve never had this problem with them before. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[johnf3]

I am also in the exact same predicament with my striated frog. It’s been just under a week of him getting ich, freshwater dips, hyposalinity treatment, antibiotics, MB dips to ward off fin/tail rot, and more. His ich is just about nonexistent, but he’s still floating at the top of the tank. He’s still eating (small guppy days apart), breathing is normal, and I burped him but he’s not bloated so it was worth a try. Does anyone know if they can come back from this?? I’ve had him just under two weeks. I have 3 other frogs and all are set up in a species only set up and I’ve never had this problem with them before. Any advice would be appreciated.

Mine unfortunately ended up passing away. Only thing I can think of is over feeding, mine had eaten 2 ghost shrimp and a guppy within 2 days and I think that was a bit too much. Going to try again soon and feed more sparingly…. sad seeing my macro tank fishless at the moment

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I am also in the exact same predicament with my striated frog. It’s been just under a week of him getting ich, freshwater dips, hyposalinity treatment, antibiotics, MB dips to ward off fin/tail rot, and more. His ich is just about nonexistent, but he’s still floating at the top of the tank. He’s still eating (small guppy days apart), breathing is normal, and I burped him but he’s not bloated so it was worth a try. Does anyone know if they can come back from this?? I’ve had him just under two weeks. I have 3 other frogs and all are set up in a species only set up and I’ve never had this problem with them before. Any advice would be appreciated.

This sounds like a good question for @Jay Hemdal

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This sounds like a good question for @Jay Hemdal

Sorry - I’ve actually never used hyposalinity on an anglerfish.

Generally though, hyposalinity itself causes fish to be slightly less bouyant than they are in full strength seawater.

In the first case, I wonder if the issue was gas being produced by bacterial decomposition of the food in the gut?