A 32-year-old man has created a ‘wheelchair’ to help his disabled goldfish swim.
Henry Kim is an aquarium enthusiast who keeps more than 20 goldfish in numerous tanks in his house in South Korea.
After many of his fish passed away from swim bladder disorder, a condition that causes them to sink to the bottom or float upside down, he decided to create a device which he calls a ‘wheelchair.’
He said that the device is the result of what he learned from different tutorials from the internet and research.
“Swim bladder disorder can be caused by many reasons such as overeating or unclean waters. I normally find it in fish that have been imported to Korea from Thailand or China.
“Fish with this issue only live a couple of months, but thanks to this device, one of my fish has lived to be five months old.
“My wheelchair helps them stay afloat and have a longer life.”
The swim bladder is a gas-filled sack that helps fish control their buoyancy. It is connected to the alimentary canal and esophagus. Owners usually feed their goldfish pellets. However, these snacks can cause them to become constipated, putting extra pressure on their bladder.
In addition, fish have to spend some time gulping their food down as pellets float at the top of the tank. Swallowing too much air causes their swim bladder to become inflated.
“I got some airline tubing that people usually use in their tank and just placed it around the goldfish,” Kim told Buzzfeed news.
“I added some valves to the bottom of it, which acted as a chair to prop him up.”
His tweet gained around 500 retweets and over 1,000 likes.
One person commented: “Amazingly good,” while another commented: “That Little one seems to be very happy.. Amazing!”
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