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Fishontherun
Mon Aug 11, 2008, 02:57 AM
hi guys,
some of my discus sometime twitches their swim bladder vigourously ...
anyone know the reason ?

Merrilyn
Mon Aug 11, 2008, 07:04 AM
Hi fishontherun. I wonder if you're referring to the ventral fins. The long paired fins that hang underneath the body, just in front of the anal fin.

The swim bladder is a gas filled sack located within the body that the fish uses to regulate it's position in the water.

If it's the ventral fins that you mean, yes they do twitch them fairly often. That's pretty normal. They also use those fins to 'feel' their way along a branch or cone when they're spawning.

Twitching them 2 or three times a day is nothing to worry about, but if they do that in conjunction with flicking their body against solid objects in the tank, it could be a sign of body flukes, which should be treated with praziquantal.

Fishontherun
Tue Aug 12, 2008, 03:36 AM
thanks Merilyn for your correction.
I did a seach and what I was referring to is "pectoral fins" .. they would some time fold it and spin it around like Zoro :-)
no flashing against objects, vetral fins sometime twitches too , but I guess they were just trying to clean their back sides :-) ..