Bloat. Possible cause?

[Lady Hobbs]

Reading here today about gourami's and bloat, I started thinking back to when I had gourami's and how several of mine had also died of bloat. Also a killie. And a couple others plus the angel I nearly lost a month ago due to bloat. It got me thinking of how I did things then that I don't do now.

It comes down to an air pump. I used to blast the tank with air because it looked cool but when you consider fish go to the top for food, they have got to be swallowing those bubbles as well. None of my bottom feeders or mid-tank feeders have ever had bloat......only top feeders.

The angel didn't have an air pump in his tank but he had a very powerful bubbler that put a lot of bubbles at the surface so it probably worked in about the same manner.

It does cause me to wonder but since then, all I use is air stones. All pumps and bubblers are been replaced.

Does this make sense to anyone else?

[Fishguy2727]

Yes it does. It is a known cause of swim bladder disease in goldfish. However, it does not seem to be a strong trend in general. Top feeders can pull in a lot of air in general, not just with air pumps running. That is why round-bodied goldfish should be fed sinking foods, keep them away from the surface as much as possible. It is one of those things that is possible, but may be so rare that it is considered safe.

[Nick_Pavlovski]

That is why round-bodied goldfish should be fed sinking foods, keep them away from the surface as much as possible.

...so that's why!!!!
I'd always wondered - thought it was a bit more scientific than that!

Fishguy, you da man!!!!!

[Lady Hobbs]

Make sense to me too. I know that since I stopped using the air pump, I haven't had this problem with my fish. I also feed more veggies than I did so it could be a combination.

Thanks

[Fishguy2727]

I would just turn off the air pump during feeding time.

Round-bodied goldfish are basically a goldfish that is compressed fron to back. That means the organs are not arranged according to the design nature provided. The air duct that connects the swim bladder to the oral cavity is not open enough to keep the swim bladder open to the atmosphere. This is what can lead to an assortment of infections that can cause the symptom of swim bladder disease (more accurately swim bladder infection). To reduce the risk of infection, they should be fed sinking foods. This limits their air intake.

[Lady Hobbs]

People don't know that.
That good information to put in the goldfish thread.

[tropfish]

I had lost one of my comets to bloat. It was 3 and 6 inches long. It got really lathargic and sat at the bottom for a day then died. Is that the same thing?