Intractible Swim Bladder Problems!, All my oranda can eat without getting floaty is peas!?!?! Options

[MaryGold]

Hi, newbie forum member here with a question about swim bladder problems. Yes, I read the pinned discussion about SBD but I'm not sure it has been helpful in this case.

My smaller red oranda has had serious problems with his (or her!) swim bladder for about 2 years now. It's mind-boggling to me that he's been able to survive like this for so long, spending 90% of his time floating upside-down in a corner of my aquarium. The only thing that really helps is fasting or eating shelled peas. Within an hour or two of ingesting them, he is magically able to swim *mostly* normally. He still has to exert some effort to stay upright and below the surface, but at least he's able!

He's a very motivated and enthusiastic eater and will work his fanny off to get to any food I put in there. And as soon as he gets any other kind of food besides peas in his tummy, whether fresh fruit or veggies or commercially prepared goldfish food, he pops up to the top of the tank again and is stuck there until I feed peas again 1 - 3 days later.

The conundrum is that I can't just feed all my fish only peas all the time... They need variety, right?

My tank is a 56 gallon tank with two internal Whisper 40i filters and additional aeration via an air line and pump. I do water changes weekly, more often if I'm feeding a lot of fresh foods. The tank is currently probably overstocked with 3 other orandas and 2 black moors, but I'm pretty diligent about water changes. This problem started 2 years ago when I had a 55 gal long tank and only three other fish in it. The other fish are in excellent health -- very active, voracious appetites, and swimming normally.

I can't imagine he has much quality of life so I've considered euthanasia, but that idea is beyond distasteful to me. I'd really like to give him the best shot I can at living the best quality life possible with his condition. Is my only option going to be to move this guy into a tank by himself with green water? Is there anything else I can try that might help?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and ideas.

Best Regards,
MaryGold

This post has been edited by MaryGold: Wed, 09 Nov 2011 5:42 am