cowfish buoyancy issue

[otto13]

My cowfish seems to have injested some air from nipping at the surface for food. He started floating head angled down and it is getting gradually worse. I have found a bunch of articles that this is common for cowfish but none of them state how to fix it. He can right himself when he needs to and he is eating fine. In fact, he seems happy as a clam other than being angled down at a 45 degree angle.

 

[otto13]

well, it kept getting worse and worse until he was floating bottoms up.
I put him in a closed styrofoam container with a bubbler overnight and he was perfectly fine the next morning. I am just updating this post for future search engines.

 

[otto13]

Okay. The problem came back again and I think I know what it is.
If the water temp increases from the lights, the problem becomes worse. So I think that he did get some air in him and as the temp increases, the air expands, like a hot air balloon. I have him back in the styrofoam container in the coolest part of the house but I cant do this forever. Most links I have found for this say it is fatal. They get exhausted trying to right themselves all the time and just give up.
This is updated for future search engines.... I am not just talking to myself.

 

[otto13]

Last resort.
I am coming with a last resort plan here. I have tried holding him in the bottoms down position hoping that the air would bubble out his mouth. No luck. I am wondering if there is a way to keep him in this position for an extended amount of time. If I put him in a tube, he will go right to the surface and continue to injest air which is what got us here in the first place. I am thinking that I will have to sandwich him between two peices of styrofoam to keep him in the bottoms down position. This would leave both gills free on the left and right. He just wouldnt be able to swim.
Any thoughts before I do this in about an hour or two.
I wouldnt be thinking about any of this if it wasnt a life or death situation.

 

[squidd]

I'm going to throw this out for "discussion", contemplation...
I had a Long Horn Cow fish...In smaller tank (QT) was fine for some time...After being place in reef, >>>Higher flow<<< I believe he became "stressed" from fighting the movement and struggling to catch food...
I believe stress produces "hormones" and these hormones affect other bodily systems as well..
In particular, digestion, metabolism and osmoregulation....
I believe this lowered digestive functionality, causeing (or allowing) production of "Gas" in his digestive tract, upsetting his bouyency control and osmoregulative function
Hense the "floating fish" and eventual demise...

 

[tizzo]

I have never had a puffer or cow or anything like that but I am sitting here wondering if maybe you could take the fish to the vet and have the air bubble removed via a small syringe?? Some vets do fish, so I am curious...

 

[squidd]

One more observation here...
I don't think this is an air "bubble" that can be removed (like if the fish "farts" or "burps"), but more of a molecular gas "buildup" similar to the nitrogen that builds up in your blood stream when you have the bends..
Otto...as long as this is a "life or death" type situation, and some extream measure is needed ....and if it's not too late...
Rather than tie him to a board to help him "float" in the correct position...
My suggestion would be to place him in a hyposalinic state...
Reason being...
1.lowered salinity envirioment (hypo) in the 12 to 13 ppt range closely matches the fish's natural osmotic balance so rather than expend energy trying to regulate osmotic balance his body could use that energy to regulate blood gas'es
2. lower salinity is less dense and he will have less tendendy to "float" ..this is similar to the calming effect you found in the styrofoam cooler and lower temp...
HTH...??

 

[otto13]

I will try hyposalinity.
I have read multiple sites that claim this happens to some cowfish who surface feed too much. Normally they are down pretty deep in the ocean. I have tested the temperature theory and it turns out that he will float correctly at lower temps. Since my "hold bottom down" plan is a little drastic.... Hyposalinity here we come.
I will hold off on the syringe thing. WOW!
I have heard about other fish having this problem due to bacteria in their digestive tracts and I thought about that for a bit. However, this guy just loves going to the surface and trying to suck any moving particle into his mouth so I am going to stick with the irregular swim bladder/air bubble/whatever theory for right now.
Thanks for all the support guys.

 

[squidd]

Any updates...?
How goes the battle...?