Swim bladder disorders cause significant welfare harm in companion fish, and appropriate husbandry prevents many cases while veterinary treatment helps others.
Swim bladder disorders cause chronic welfare harm: fish that cannot maintain neutral buoyancy expend constant effort fighting buoyancy or rest uncomfortably against tank surfaces unable to swim normally. The inability to swim freely and reach different water column depths affects every aspect of the fish behavioral repertoire. Most cases in companion goldfish result from preventable causes including overfeeding and low-fiber diets that cause constipation compressing the swim bladder. Dietary management through appropriate portion sizes and fiber-containing foods prevents the majority of nutritionally-driven cases. For fish with structural disorders from fancy breeding or bacterial infection, veterinary treatment is available from aquatic medicine practitioners in some locations.