What Causes Swim Bladder In Neon Tetras?

[happydanio123]

Hi everybody! My Neon Tetras keep having swim bladder and constantly die even though I regularly do water changes and remove any dead matter in my fish tank. However, I see a layer of oil on the surface of the water when I feed my fish. Is it the oil that is making the fishes float? Or is it because of another factor? I use TetraBits for my tetras and I make sure that I release the pellets close to the output of the filter so that it immediately sinks into the water the moment I drop them in. My water is clear and algae is under control but I have'nt been checking my water parameters but I always do a 30-40% water change every week. Any advice on would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Happydanio123

[Urban Aquaria]

The oily film layer on the water surface isn't a cause of swim bladder issues... its just the oils that are released from fish food and organic waste matter. Some fish food tend to generate more oily residue than others. If you see an oil layer, its often due to either overfeeding, high bio-loads or insufficient surface agitation (or a combination of those factors).

Swim bladder issues in fishes are usually due to overfeeding (stomach too full or intestines blocked) or parasite/bacteria infections (introduced by new fishes or due to adverse water conditions), you'll have to look out for indications. In the meantime, try to feed less, cut the feeding amount by half (or more), or only feed every 2-3 days.

Do also check that your water parameters are safe for the fishes (accumulated toxic levels in parameters can weaken the fishes), just doing water changes and seeing clear water doesn't guarantee that the water parameters are okay, you will need to use test kits to actually measure the parameters to find out, otherwise it'll just be guesswork.