Thanks for sharing. Hope all goes well
I'm sure some of you have seen my last post in regards to my Black Cap from Divers Den arriving with a swim bladder issue. After not receiving any help from LA Divers Den except "we hope your fish gets better" i decided to look into venting the swim bladder. With the help from @Humblefish he directed me to some literature that i studied the best i could. The day of the procedure, when i had the fish in a glass container right before it went onto the table, it actually floated to the top and was sticking out of the water, that's how bad the swim bladder was. The first picture below is how the fish was the entire 2 weeks i had it. It would wedge its self in between the PVC so it didn't float to the top. The second picture is the fish 3 days after the procedure. I am not in the clear yet as a bacterial infection may occur at any time. My gf who recorded it accidentally hit pause on my phone so please excuse the cut in the video. I wanted to share this with everyone as there isn't much information and How To's on venting swim bladders for such small fish. Hopefully this will help somebody one day.
Tools Required:
Surgical gloves
Rubbing alcohol
Iodine
Q-Tips
Clear platform with bright light for under the platform
30 gauge insulin syringe
Understanding of swim bladder location and organ locations.
Clean qt tank
General antibiotic for healing/prevention of infection. I used Maracyn Two.
Step 1: Have all the items out and ready to go, having the fish out of the water for least amount of time is best.
Step 2: Place the fish on the clear platform, laying the fish on it's right side. (It's a good idea to have some aquarium water on the platform already.)
Step 3: Identify the swim bladder, it will be easy to see as it will be behind the pectoral fin. (I made sure to study the anatomy of fish, so I knew what I was looking for and looking at.) Once the swim bladder is identified, lightly place some rubbing alcohol on the area to be pierced using a Q-tip.
Step 3: Take your syringe and insert it on a angle towards the front of the fish, inserting in the middle of the swim bladder. You will feel resistance at first as the needle breaks through the skin, then it will slide right in. It's best to hold the syringe near the bottom to have better control. Be careful not to go through the other side or hit organs. You do not need to insert far, just under the skin. Slowly pull back on the plunger to suck out the gases. Be sure to know what your fish is suppose to look like normally. If you suck out to much air the fish with not have any buoyancy and will have a hard time staying afloat. (I looked at hundreds of videos and pictures of healthy black caps. I used a 30 gauge insulin syringe, I believe the smaller the needle the better. Some do not list what kind of gauge to use but let's think about this for a moment. Humans use these for insulin, HGH, HCG etc and we are going to stick a very small fish with it... I think we best use the smallest syringe. If you break it down to scale a 30 gauge syringe is similar in size of some pores on humans, to the fish I performed this on it's similar in size it the fish's pupil. How would you feel to get stuck with a needle the size of your pupil? The smaller the gauge the quicker the wound will heal.)
Step 4: Pull the syringe out and place far away from you. (always be carefully when working with needles)
Step 5: Place iodine on the injection site with a NEW Q-tip.
Step 6: Place the fish back into its QT tank and leave the lights off for 1-2 days. ( be sure that there is fresh clean water in the tank, no other fish and all equipment is clean, this will reduce stress and chance of
infection.)
The fish might look like it is dead and that is normal. The first night was the worst as I'd keep checking for movement on his gills.
Step 7: On day 2 I started meds. Meds can be good and bad. They will help prevent infection but also can suppress the fishes appetite.
The fish might not eat at all for a couple of days, this is normal. Feed twice a day but feed lightly. Be sure to squirt the food near the fish so it doesn't have to move to far for food.
After 3 days or so after starting the meds if the fish is not eating remove some of the meds from the water using water changes.
You should be performing water changes every 3 days, I had a 15 gallon qt and replaced 5 gallons every 3 days.
My black cap started to come around on day 8, continue with the care for atleast 3-4 weeks. You want to observe the wound to make sure it is healing and there is no sign of infection. It might have a whiteish look a couple days after that is normal mostly from the rubbing alcohol.
After 3-4 weeks if all looks good and you fattened him/her up then they are ready for the dt!
Feel free to pm me for any questions you might have!
We take these living things from their natural habitat, for our own enjoyment. The least we can do is provide them with the best care possible.
Can’t even sleep in the rocks anymore I love him so much... Thank you for sharing
I’m not sure I did this correctly a few weeks ago. My black cap just lays on the bottom, floats to its side, and when he moves, it’s usually backwards. Maybe I took out too much air? I just can’t believe he’s still alive.
