Red Severum Help!

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moosemj

moosemj

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Oct 27, 2012
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I think my red sever may be dying. It is swimming upside down at the top of the tank. It is really bloated. Not sure if there is a way I can resolve this or not or if she's done. She was getting thick so I figured she was just carrying eggs but today I see her struggling to get upright. Any thoughts on what I can do? Is it an issue with the swim bladder? Can I relieve the pressure?ImageUploadedByMonsterAquariaNetwork1402752537.384335.jpg


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Usually when it's that advanced, they do not recover unfortunately.

You can attempt treating in a separate tank with epsom salt which is a laxative and will often help fish pass a blockage if it isn't too severe. It could also be a swim bladder issue or even an internal bacterial infection, so in those instances the epsom salt would have no impact.

I had a super red severum do the same thing. It was a more short-bodied fish and I think it just gorged itself on pellets one day and then ended up with a blockage that it couldn't pass. Unfortunately that seems to happen with a lot of short bodied fish, probably because the deformity interferes with the normal length/position of the intestinal tract.
 
As ryansmith83 said it's either a swim bladder issue caused by damage or constipation or infection causing swelling of the digestive tract that presses against the swim bladder making use of it impossible for the fish. Also as he said unfortunately it's not often a fish will recover when it's gotten to the point it has in the fish pictured.

If you have a hospital tank you should move the severum there and you can add 1 to 3 teaspoon fulls per 5 gallons. Of course start with the 1 teaspoon and work your way up slowly and make sure you dissolve the Epsom in water before adding it to the tank. Another option not to considered lightly is to orally administer the solution with a pipette. This is a far more efficient delivery system then just adding it to the water as it makes sure the solution is administered at the proper concentration directly to the digestive tract. If the problem is constipation or hexamita the Epsom salt should help.
 
It all happened very quickly. Yesterday didn't see any issues, this morning floating upside down. I did end up moving the fish into another tank and treating it with salt and paraguard. I hope this works...


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To my knowledge regular aquarium salt is used primarily for treating osmoregulatory stress and nitrite poisoning which can be a secondary symptoms of disease, so it helps the fish in their gill function and their efficiency. It is also used for parasites when certain stages of said lifeform(ich) is susceptible to salt but generally to be used as a anti paracide it has to be used at high concentrations in a dip.

Paraguard lists it's uses for external fungal/bacterial/viral lesions and as such I don't believe it will be any help in your situation. Still I hope I'm wrong and hope your Sev pulls through for you.
 
koltsixx said:
Another option not to considered lightly is to orally administer the solution with a pipette. This is a far more efficient delivery system then just adding it to the water as it makes sure the solution is administered at the proper concentration directly to the digestive tract. If the problem is constipation or hexamita the Epsom salt should help.
Click to expand...

If I were to shoot some of the solution directly into the severum what dilution should I use? How much should I shoot down? Presumably the pipette should go past the sphincter muscle leading into the digestive system?



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koltsixx said:
To my knowledge regular aquarium salt is used primarily for treating osmoregulatory stress and nitrite poisoning which can be a secondary symptoms of disease, so it helps the fish in their gill function and their efficiency. It is also used for parasites when certain stages of said lifeform(ich) is susceptible to salt but generally to be used as a anti paracide it has to be used at high concentrations in a dip.

Paraguard lists it's uses for external fungal/bacterial/viral lesions and as such I don't believe it will be any help in your situation. Still I hope I'm wrong and hope your Sev pulls through for you.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm not as versed on some of this info. I have heard of salt as being a general help with various issues and same with the paraguard. Just wanted to try something instead I letting it sit there. It took a while before anyone posted so treys something. Still learning so I appreciate all the correcting.


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Regular salt will do nothing for it in this condition. You need to use Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate).
 
Well, severum is still alive. I gave it a soak in an Epsom salt bath. I did 2 teaspoons in about 4.5 gallons of water from the aquarium for about 20 minutes. Then put it back in the tank. We will see what happens...


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