16 replies to this topic

[BrentE]

Hello, im still having problems with bloat. I think another fish (firefish peacock) has it, i've been feeding twice per day of what they can eat in 1min or so. In morning i feed pellets about 10 1mm pellets to 9 fish, and at night i feed spirulina/vege mix flake of what they can eat in 1min or so.

Could it be the tank has a parasite in it? Or can i be over feeding that much? My tank has 1 - 1500lph cannister external filter with UV light and 1 - 1200lph internal filter its 250Litres tank.

Thanks brent

[cooder]

I thought bloat (at least what ive read of it about tropheus) is caused by bad water quality and some fish are more prone to it than others, im not very sure though.

What fish first had it? what brand food are you giving them

What are your water parameters? nitrites, ammonia, nitrates, pH, kh, gh?

These should help others answer your question, but make sure you look it up on google aswell!

[JPM1976]

if u have problems with bloat best to feed the fish once a day 6 times a week only fish dont need to eat food everyday anyway.

[Noddy65]

"Bloat' is actually a generic term, a bit like having gastro in humans, its caused by lots of different hings.......potential causes are many and varied, some are 100% fatal and some can be treated...some are very very contageous and some are not....the difficulty is trying to get a diagnosis.
If your keen try and get the fish to a fish vet...theyll start with doing a fecal test under a microscope and maybe a fecal float looking for worms.....

If its was my fish i would isolate the fish, deworm the fish (its an easy treatment if they have a high gastrotract worm burden), Id do a fecal smear (I have access to a micrsocope though), I probably wouldnt feed the fish, as a last resort id treat blindly with some metronidazole but keeping in mind that metro works much better when eaten (and these guys are often not eating anyway) and that metronidazole only treats small percentage of diseases that can cause bloat.

Euthanasia of badly affected fish is also warranted 1)to end the suffering 2) to prevent the bug spreading to your other fish (but this may already have happened).

One of the potential causes is also potentially zoonotic so be a bit careful

Mike

[JPM1976]

You can also use CLOUT that is available online to buy.

[Noddy65]

JPM1976, on 08 March 2013 - 10:48 AM, said:

You can also use CLOUT that is available online to buy.

But dont get caught trying to import it from overseas....its illegal and youll get nabbed

Mike

ps...its a kinda funny drug..it contains malachite green (an antifungal that really only works on contact) an insecticide (again only works on contact) and a derivative of metronidazole (that has the same limitations as your bog standard metro)

[BrentE]

Thanks for info mike, this disease is a pain i tell ya... Problem is i have that much rock in tank i cannot catch the fish... I have some multi-purpose treatment but dont have any metronidazole.
Would this multi-purpose treatment be any good? It has machite green in it plus a few other ingredients, although i don't want to use it from turning silicone green.

Thanks brent

[Noddy65]

To be honest Malachite green is really only useful for fungal issues and usually only on the surface of the fish....itll do squat for 'bloat' as this is an internal issue (and it may turn your silicine a nice shade of green)...you could try the Multi Cure but I bet that if the fish gets better it was going to anyway.

You can try and get some metronidazole online...a few people take the risk and sell it illegally (theyll get nabbed one day)...this MAY help but again youll have trouble getting the drug to where its needed (inside the fish)

If you cant do the diagnostics then you could try all those things...theyre probably not going to hurt and its worth a try

[BrentE]

Thanks mate, i have never seen metronidazole sold in the local shops or do they call it something different? I'm pretty sure this fish is gone.. its got worse seems to hide most of the time and hang to bottom ill give him 2 days lol. After he's gone ill treat whole tank with metronidazole.

[daci]

hi BrentE,

As Noddy said bloat caused by 'lots of different things.' I hope it will work out and save your fish eventually!

If needed you can google this product below or you can buy it for your good LFS. It might not help to save your fish but it may who knows



and on the back of it with those active ingredients:

[BrentE]

Thanks mate ill look out for that product, i'm checking my local shop today for medications but i dout ill have any luck.

Cheers brent

[Buccal]

Get all the numbers of the veterinary clinics in your travel distance and call them all till one will let you have some metro.
It will come in a box in tablet form like panadol would.
Crush tablets into powder and dissolve into a cup of water then pour into tank. (2 tablets every second day with a 20% water change in between).
Most vets won't give the antibiotics without seeing the sick individual first to write a prescription.
Usually 1 out of 5 vets will sell you the box without the messing around.
If you can take a fish in for them to see visually, then no problem getting metro.
Feeding fish is a art.
Fish always readily consume,,, if they can't excrete enough before the next feed all the time,,, then their over filled intestines and entrails become infected, they very rarely recover.
It's not natural for fish to a mass of food at once,,,, intestines in them are not designed that way.
Under fed fish are so much healthier than over fed fish.

Edited by Buccal, 09 March 2013 - 09:40 AM.

[Sloory]

Buccal, on 09 March 2013 - 09:38 AM, said:

Feeding fish is a art.
Fish always readily consume,,, if they can't excrete enough before the next feed all the time,,, then their over filled intestines and entrails become infected, they very rarely recover.
It's not natural for fish to a mass of food at once,,,, intestines in them are not designed that way.
Under fed fish are so much healthier than over fed fish.

Well put I reckon.

Also good old Epsom salts are good for cleaning out the intestinal tract.

[BrentE]

Thanks alot for info mate, ill try the vets asap. How much food do you recomend to feed my fish? With flakes and pellets? I think i might try once a day for 30-seconds to 1 minute

Thanks brent

[Link2Hell]

metro is packaged under Flagyl and a script can be obtain from your
doctor if you know them well ...... it is used to treat Thrush