Rhomboid swim bladder?

linus.chan · Feb 17, 2018

I am wondering if I have got the dreaded swim bladder issue. Ordered a rhomboid from LA 3 weeks ago, been in qt and eating and doing well. last night I notice that it was more hovering vertically. It can swim around and go up and down but isn’t going horizontal much. Tried the boiled peeled peas but it wasn’t interested.

Here is a video- what options do I really have? The lancing thing doesn’t seem to last long as a solution esp if this is a result of bad decompression right?

Any one have other suggestions? I have treated win Prazi without issue.

I need to figure out how to post the videos

linus.chan · Feb 17, 2018

Deinonych · Feb 17, 2018

That swimming behavior is indicative of a spinal injury, not swim bladder disease. If it were the swim bladder, the fish would be head down. For spinal injuries, waiting it out is the only course of action. Sometimes they recover, sometimes they don't.

If the fish continues to eat and can catch food, prognosis is good.

linus.chan · Feb 17, 2018

Ugh- it did attack the glass aggressively once- so the best option now is to just wait it out? Will do

Humblefish · Feb 17, 2018

^^ Agree with @Deinonych; not much you can do for a spinal injury except hope it heals.

linus.chan · Feb 17, 2018

What timetable should I expect if it does heal?

Deinonych · Feb 17, 2018

Like any spinal injury, it depends on the severity. Could be a matter of days, or it could be weeks.

PGT253 · Feb 17, 2018

I have the exact same problem with my Rhomboid, ordered from 3 LA exactly 3 weeks ago...

linus.chan · Feb 17, 2018

Right now mine is able to move and eat, and coloration looks good. I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. Anyone have a way to put a wrasse into traction [emoji16]

linus.chan · Feb 19, 2018

Seems to be getting worse, but can still move around and able to eat- though has a hard time judging where the food is now. Hopefully this is as bad as it gets and it starts to recover, worries though that any downturn from initial injury is not a good sign.

linus.chan · Feb 19, 2018

Still able to move and eat (though has more trouble) and mosy is upside down- but can definitely control its buoyancy

linus.chan · Feb 19, 2018

PGT253 said:
I have the exact same problem with my Rhomboid, ordered from 3 LA exactly 3 weeks ago...

How is yours doing

PGT253 · Feb 19, 2018

Mine's behaving as yours lol. I dosed GC yesterday for internal worms (white stringy poo) and that's pretty much I can do to help. All of the sudden...

linus.chan · Feb 21, 2018

i am really hoping the fish starts to bounce back, it is now almost exclusively on its back.It can go down and up without issue, and can occassionally flip over to chase some food, but it is just awful looking. It is definitely having difficulty eating in terms of being able to properly judge the food location.

PGT253 · Feb 21, 2018

Mine is now just laying on the bottom, breathing looks hard, not fast but hard. I think it's a goner

Wesley42079 · Feb 21, 2018

Sorry to hear about both Rhomboid wrasses. Does LA give any warranty on those?

PGT253 · Feb 21, 2018

Thank you. Unfortunately, it happened after the 14 days live guarantee

linus.chan · Feb 21, 2018

that is correct- i got the fish on the 30th, and it was doing well until the 18th.

I am still curious about this being a spinal injury. I don't think it is a swim bladder issue as it can still control its buoyancy for the most part (sleeps on the bottom, but swims to the top etc), but it is progressive, i.e. the first day he just seems to swim more in a vertical manner, and then slowly starts swimming more and more until it is now flipped upside down. I would have thought that a spinal injury would not be so progressive.

So if anyone has any other potential ideas, i am game for them.

Deinonych · Feb 21, 2018

I've always been puzzled why the injury is progressive and not acute. Perhaps someone more familiar with fish biology will chime in. IME that's exactly how a spinal injury plays out, though.