paulinnerwest Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 hi guys, this new forum is quite spiffy. I have 5 E yellows, a big male 13cm+, 3 7-8cm females and another that is around 12cm that I am unsure of the sex. two of the small girls and the 12cm one have fairly concave stomachs. They are otherwise fine, they are eating etc. I don't want them to take a mouthful in this condition cos they will surely perish? I am feeding: HBH graze flake food "super vege blend", HBH soft and moist spirulina pellets "breeding conditioner", dried brine shrimp, and I have thrown in the occasional crushed up high protien pellet. I also feed little bits of brocoli, califlower and I have put in some zuccini wieghed down with rocks. (come to think of it these little fellas eat better than me!!). what causes this and should i be worried? also the big male lab has never been observed to eat, I have had him for about 2 1/2 weeks, he never is interested in eating the food I add. all the other fish gather like starving dogs at the top of the tank, but this guy sticks to his cave.any help on both points very appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnightexpress Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 the first thing i would look at is your water condition1-are you doing water changes.every week I hope.2-how much water are you changing(not more than 20% I hope becaude of chlormine.3- are you feeding them to little.4- they may need de-worming.adnan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulinnerwest Posted November 26, 2003 Author Share Posted November 26, 2003 THANKS for the post, I think I am feeding them enough. I'm feeding 3 times a day for around 30 secs to a minute at a time.. I should have mentioned they came to me in this state. water conditions are fine, the other fish in the tank are doing great. I will consider worming them.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 Hi, Sounds to me like they need worming. Are they also 'caving in' around the head region? If they are eating and not gaining weight, it's usually a sign of worms - prob. tape worm.merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulinnerwest Posted November 26, 2003 Author Share Posted November 26, 2003 so how do I worm my fish? is there an over the counter fish wormer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnightexpress Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 go to your lfs they will have somthing.just follow the instructions.adnan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 All the food you mentioned my fish refuse to eat. Try some frozen brine shrimp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbits Posted November 26, 2003 Share Posted November 26, 2003 Hi,I have the same problem,I am using a product called worm rid.I am waiting to see how it goes.Will let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKBAR Posted November 27, 2003 Share Posted November 27, 2003 i have a fuellborni that has a concave stomach and has had it for about two months now she eats with all my fish but doesnt swim for very long she lays on the bottom of the tank sometimes and is always gasping her gills look a little irritated too could this be worms????? gill fluke???? i am stumped sorry to just butt in to your post but when i heard you mention having a concave stomach the fuellborni popped into my head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted November 27, 2003 Share Posted November 27, 2003 Hi, Sounds like it could be both. I'm not sure about using two products in conjuntio with each other - you may have to treat one then the other. Are any of the other fish showing similar signs? Is this fish newly acquired?merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbits Posted November 27, 2003 Share Posted November 27, 2003 Hi ,If it's gill fluke,I think it is. Use worm rid it cover a hole host of wormsincluding fluke,tape,and a couple others.Give it a go it will stop the worms from spreading also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKBAR Posted November 27, 2003 Share Posted November 27, 2003 had her for a whilelike this since the last time she had a mouthful and all the fry are perfectly healthy do i worm the entire tank or do i seperate her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtchye Posted November 27, 2003 Share Posted November 27, 2003 Hi guys,Gill fluke can often be a hidden infection in that the fish may show few symptoms and handle a few of the flukes just fine. If they do get a bit stressed though (eg with poor water conditions or maybe when they are holding a mouthful) they may not be able to cope as well and often show the symptoms you are describing.I find fish tend to want to eat, but then 'spit' out the food after. They get skinny, and most of the time (not always) 'flick' themselves against things.Praziquantel is the drug of choice and is the one used in many fluke and tapeworm meds. It is very safe and very effective. An older cure is formaldehyde in a variety of combinations but that is a much more dangerous med to use. Look for the med with praziquantel as the only ingredient. Some recommend dosing once first day, and then another dose 4-5 days later to take care of any flukes hatching out.If you have large volumes of water potassium permanganate can be a very cheap and useful tool against flukes as well as many external infections. Koi keepers use this extensively, but you need to keep the dose in the water between 2-8ppm and make sure that you have plenty of aeration. Good thing is that you can reverse permanganate immediately in the event of overdose or adverse reaction using peroxide. Anyway this is a more difficult treatment only practical if you have large volumes of water to treat. In addition this will kill your filter bacteria whereas praziquantel will not. Another possible internal infection is camallanus. Fish infected with these livebearing worms can sometimes show the worms sticking out of their anus like little red pin heads. Other times you may not be able to see the worms at all. You can treat camallanus easily with levamisole HCl 14g/l at 1ml/7l . Buy it from farm supply stores - just tell them you are after levamisole, pig and poultry wormer.. Hope that helps, praziquantel and levamisole are two very safe meds that are also very effective and specific, and will not harm your filtration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtchye Posted November 27, 2003 Share Posted November 27, 2003 Forgot to add, both flukes, tapeworms and especially camallanus are highly contagious so you would want to treat the whole tank (and probably most of your other tanks too)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnightexpress Posted November 27, 2003 Share Posted November 27, 2003 I've had great results using waterlife products.give them a go.plus they don't afect the bactria in your filter.adnan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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