Swallow tail Angel seems to want to float

[jkapit]

I recently bought a Swallow Tail Angelfish and she is in my QT. She is eating both flakes and dry food crumbles. Especially after she eats she looks like she struggles to maintain her dept h in the tank and constantly swims to keep from floating up.

Seems to be worse after she eats. Is it possible she is taking in air when she grabs food from the surface and gaining buoyancy or is there some other issue going on?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[ngoodermuth]

Sounds like a swim bladder issue. Is she bloated? Any white stringy poop?

As crazy as it sounds, sometimes just being constipated can cause swim bladder issues too. Maybe try feeding a peeled pea and see if that helps.

 

[jkapit]

Sounds like a swim bladder issue. Is she bloated? Any white stringy poop?

As crazy as it sounds, sometimes just being constipated can cause swim bladder issues too. Maybe try feeding a peeled pea and see if that helps.

I have not seen her poo yet, she looks very healthy otherwise.

 

[melypr1985]

yeah. I would try the pea. What about the bloated appearance? Does she look swollen in the abdomen? How about a good picture?

 

[jkapit]

Thanks Merideth, is the peeled pea raw or cooked?

Seems to be better today, I took a couple short videos. She always had a full stomach but not what I would consider bloated. This morning she looked less full. I took a video, then fed her.

She seemed to release quite a few bubbles which looked like she had gas. Seems like she is swimming ok now.

Before eating...


After eating....

 

[jkapit]

Just took this video, clearly she seems to have trouble swimming with a proper orientation....

 

[jkapit]

Well, I found out my yellow tang loves peas! Angelfish, not so much. Although again I saw a big bunch of small bubbles get exhaled through her gills, like 20 of them. But in my opinion she is just not swimming quite right.

I'll try again with peas tomorrow and time will tell. I also read about adding epsom salt to the water. I'll wait a few days and maybe give that a try.

 

[melypr1985]

The peas are boiled so that they are soft and mushy on the inside. You can use frozen peas which have been flash steamed or whatever. Just thaw and peal and feed. It takes some time for the peas to do their work and push out anything that's creating a blockage. The peas are to help push out the poo

Epsom salt is good for reducing swelling. You can try it since it's pretty harmless, but I doubt it will help much.

 

[jkapit]

Well the mistery is solved. I thought my Swallowtail was either constipated or had a swim bladder issue. I tried to feed her peas, then treated with Kanaplex but no real change.

So I put her in my display tank and can now spend more time viewing her habits. It looks like she loves to gulp air or swallow bubbles that pass by then burp them up. So she goes through a period of looking like she is struggling to stay down then she expels a bunch of bubbles and then swims fine. So I've name her Bubbles.

I ran across this information on a web site called the spruce.com in profiling the Swallowtail Angel which describes this peculiar behavior is typical.

"An Interesting Feeding Trait:

This fish will gulp food from the water's surface, which makes it swallow air at the same time. It is not unusual for the fish to become bloated, resulting in the fish appearing to be struggling while swimming head down, but don't worry. The fish gets rid of this trapped air by expelling bubbles from its mouth and anus."

I hope this info helps others who buys one and think they have a problem.

 

[Empress]

So it burps and farts [emoji100]. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]