# My Gulper Catfish Expelled His Swim Bladder !!



## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

I looked at my Gulper tank tonight from across the room & saw that one of the Gulpers had a big white thing hanging out of his mouth. I thought to myself "that's odd, I don't have any white feeder fish in there" and moved closer to investigate. Up close it looked like a white balloon hanging out of his mouth!

I thought that he had somehow vomited out his stomach because I have seen Gulpers vomit before. My son snapped a couple of photos with his iPhone. After a few minutes the Gulper started to panic, thrash around, and get very pale. I grabbed the Gulper in my hands and tried to force the white thing back into his mouth, but it wouldn't go in. The Gulper got so pale that his normally black coloured areas had turned almost white.

I started to panic myself. I phoned Charles from Canadian Aquatics because I thought that if anybody knew what I should do it would be him . Charles told me that it was actually his air/swim bladder which was out. Charles knew about it happening with deep water fish but had never heard of it happening in an aquarium before. Charles said that I should put the fish in something tall (like a pvc pipe) with water in it & force the fish down so that the pressure would make the bladder go back in.

While I was talking to Charles the Gulper managed to swallow his swim bladder. He is swimming around normally now and is getting his colour back :bigsmile:. I'd say that the poor Gulper had his swim bladder organ out for over 15 minutes.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Of course you would post this while I am eating lol Wow , thats just messed up! Glad he was able to "gulp" it back down.
Love the new avatar btw


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

Diztrbd1 said:


> Of course you would post this while I am eating lol Wow , thats just messed up! Glad he was able to "gulp" it back down.
> Love the new avatar btw


Sorry, guess I should have warned about the graphic pics! I felt really bad for the Gulper because he was freaking out & swimming upside down & running into things. I thought that I was going to have to pop it to get the air out to deflate it to get it back in, ew, but Charles said to definitely not do that.

I figured it was about time I ad an avatar, maybe one day I'll get around to adding a signature too


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

it looks more like a naughty child sticking its tongue out to his mommy  I bet it gave you quite a scare


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

He is a naughty little Gulper for scaring me like that!
Thanks again for your help Charles :bigsmile:


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Pamela said:


> Sorry, guess I should have warned about the graphic pics! I felt really bad for the Gulper because he was freaking out & swimming upside down & running into things. I thought that I was going to have to pop it to get the air out to deflate it to get it back in, ew, but Charles said to definitely not do that.


lol ew is right..... no worries, being an avid fisherman most of my life I have seen far worse come out of a fishes mouth. I would have freaked the hell out if that had been my fish.....glad all is well now


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

May be that's why it is called a "gulper" ?


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

That's crazy, I've never seen anything like it.


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

effox said:


> That's crazy, I've never seen anything like it.


Same here but at least u know what to do if it happens again. Good thing he is ok now


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## Atom (Apr 21, 2010)

Wowwwww....that's intense. I don't think I would have been able to handle that. Glad he is alright.


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

It was really crazy when it happened! My teenage son had friends over & they were creeped out about what was happening with the fish. 

The Gulper is about 6-7" long and his swim bladder kept changing size while it was out. At the biggest is was probably sticking out almost 1-1.5" out of his mouth.


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

Grrrr ...I just went downstairs & the Gulpers swim bladder is out again !! 

I'm just going to leave him alone & hope that he gets it back in again by himself.


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

So the Gulper managed to get his swim bladder back in after a few minutes last night. The Gulper was fine when I checked on him first thing this morning, but unfortunately his swim bladder is out again now. The Gulper isn't panicking so much when it's out anymore, but he does look very uncomfortable.

I'm really confused why this is happening. One thing I've noticed is that the Gulper's body has stayed puffed up since this first started (Gulpers can puff up kind of like pufferfish).

Edit:

The Gulper got his swim bladder back inside again. His body is puffed up & his colour is pale. I think that I'm going to try to 'burp' him while his swim bladder is on his insides. I'm going to gently massage his belly in the hope that it will push out some of the air that he's retaining.

I'm not going to try it yet, but another possible option that I read online is to manually push his swim bladder all the way back into his insides with a tube. I'm fearful that doing this could do more harm than good though.

Does anybody else have any suggestions? If I had known that this was going to be an ongoing issue I would have posted in the hospital section instead.


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## Nicole (Nov 21, 2011)

Gosh, reading this raises my blood pressure. GOOD LUCK.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

I had a bad feeling it was going to be on-going, as the cause of it wasn't known.

I don't know anything about fish anatomy, but if the swim bladder is as tough as stomach lining, it can be surprisingly strong.


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## JohnnyAppleSnail (May 30, 2010)

If I were You I'd let nature take it's course,I wouldn't stress the Fish out anymore by massaging or pushing back in,that may just make it worse. Maybe if it had a Very Large Meal it would help in keeping it down?


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

I tried 'burping' him earlier & it didn't work. 

The tank has feeders in it, so the Gulper could eat if he wanted too. I think it highly unlikely that he would eat at this point in time though because he's too stressed.

The Gulper is hanging out at the water surface, which Gulpers never do ...not a good sign .


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

That sucks to hear Pamela. Really wish I could help out here. I had a feeling it wasn't over. Hoping for the best for the lil fella


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

Diztrbd1 said:


> That sucks to hear Pamela. Really wish I could help out here. I had a feeling it wasn't over. Hoping for the best for the lil fella


Thanks John!

The swim bladder is out again right now. I just don't know what I should do in this situation. Do I leave him alone & hope for the best? Or should I try shoving the bladder all the way back inside with an airline tube? If the bladder gets ripped it will be the kiss of death for the Gulper.


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I would feel the same way you do about doing that. might cause more harm than good.I wonder if posting this on  PlanetCatfish might help get some useful help. I'm not a member there myself but couldn't hurt to try it out


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

The swim bladder isn't going back in this time and the Gulper is stuck on the filter intake. I called the emergency # on a bottle of API medicine & they had no idea what I should do, they suggested a water change ...sigh. 

I'm going to give the Gulper a few more minutes to try to get it in himself, but if he doesn't I'm going to stick a tube in. He's very pale.


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Could it be parasites? Fish dont usually expell the swim bladder for no reason... I've never seen it in an aquarium, but when fishing and brought up too fast, it expands and is forced out. You said there are feeders in the tank, maybe they had worms or something and they are taking up too much space in the belly, and forcing the swim bladder out. Just a thought... Sorry to hear about your little guy, hope things turn out.

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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

Foxtail said:


> Could it be parasites? Fish dont usually expell the swim bladder for no reason... I've never seen it in an aquarium, but when fishing and brought up too fast, it expands and is forced out. You said there are feeders in the tank, maybe they had worms or something and they are taking up too much space in the belly, and forcing the swim bladder out. Just a thought... Sorry to hear about your little guy, hope things turn out.
> 
> Sent from my SGH-T959D using Tapatalk 2


The feeders came from a trusted source who had them for awhile & medicated them and none of the other Gulpers in the tank are having the same problem. I'm going to pull the rest of the feeders out of the tank tomorrow just to be safe though. I can't find anything online either about the swim bladder coming out in home aquaria. I could only find it about catfish caught fishing in deep waters.

The Gulper did get his swim bladder back in earlier (it was out for at least 40 minutes that time), but I think that he most likely isn't going to survive the night . His body is still all puffed up. He's been laying on his side on the bottom of the tank with his gills rapidly gasping in the same spot for almost 2 hours.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

You know what, I'm sincerely sorry, but if I was there I would put him\her down personally if you were in agreement, as quickly as I could. Not to say it's not recoverable, I just don't have a good feeling about this. I had to do this last week when my betta was barely swimming sideways, not even able to get a breath of air, just twitching, then nothing. I had to kill ("cull") him myself, and all I've been doing is starring at an empty 15 gallon every time I walk into my bedroom. I didn't go the clove oil, or freezer route, I did the most instant and humane thing I could think of. I don't regret it, I just wish it was different.

I'm not saying it's suffering unnecessarily, but if you feel it is, please get him peace.


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

effox said:


> You know what, I'm sincerely sorry, but if I was there I would put him\her down personally if you were in agreement, as quickly as I could. Not to say it's not recoverable, I just don't have a good feeling about this. I had to do this last week when my betta was barely swimming sideways, not even able to get a breath of air, just twitching, then nothing. I had to kill ("cull") him myself, and all I've been doing is starring at an empty 15 gallon every time I walk into my bedroom. I didn't go the clove oil, or freezer route, I did the most instant and humane thing I could think of. I don't regret it, I just wish it was different.
> 
> I'm not saying it's suffering unnecessarily, but if you feel it is, please get him peace.


When I woke up this morning the Gulper was still alive but in great distress. I knew instantly that I had to put him down. He passed on his own though in the couple of minutes that it took me to gather a bucket, towel, etc. I have culled other fish before and it is a very unpleasant thing to have to do, but I definitely agree that it's best to end their suffering. Gulpers are known for being tough fish though so that's why I was hoping this one would somehow pull through.

I'm sorry to hear about your Betta.

I took the feeder goldfish out of the tank just in case this issue had something to do with them. Now I have to figure out what to do with the feeders. I don't want to give them to somebody else & possible make their fish get sick. There's about 17 of them sitting in a 5 gallon bucket for now. If it was warmer weather I'd just through them in a 20+ gallon rubbermaid bin on my patio and use it as a make shift pond. If by chance anybody wants them (not to use as feeders), please pm me.


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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Sorry to hear Pamela, he sure was trying hard to keep been alive. Maybe search more about it, it has to b something about this out there somewhere.....


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Really sorry to hear that Pamela. I came on this thread hoping to hear he came around


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## djamm (Sep 25, 2010)

I too am sorry to hear of the demise of your Gulper! Sounds like he had a tough go the past day or so. I like the pond idea using a Rubbermaid container for the comets.


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Sorry to hear claudia. I was hoping for him. Who knows what it could have been. I guess you could take it to the van aquarium or get in contact with someone like a marine biologist who could figure out what happened. It could have just been a genetic problem eith that particular fish.

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## Claudia (Apr 21, 2010)

Foxtail said:


> Sorry to hear claudia.


Is not me lol Is Pamela


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## Pamela (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks everyone .
I didn't bother dissecting him and I already disposed of the body.


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## arakhavan (Nov 15, 2010)

Somehow it seems silly, but like any other pet you really do get attached to your fish! And its always so sad to lose one! Especially when its drawn out like this! U was also hoping it would pull through.


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Sorry, I referranced claudia, I meant pamela... My bad

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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

Sorry for your loss. He looked like a cool fish.


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