# My Oscar needs some help guys..possible intestinal blockage.



## fishmaniac (Mar 15, 2005)

Ok...

To avoid too many questions and what not, I'll be as thorough as possible.

I have a 5 yr old Flowerhorn. Please overlook whatever personal views you have regarding hybrids/flowerhorns and help out a fellow fishkeeper and his beloved pet fish. (thank you in advance). His/her name is Oscar (lol). O is about 13" in length and is housed in a 60g tank. I do 70-90% water changes religiously every 3-4 weeks since I've had O. Housed alone. 2 canister filters. Moderately fed once a day (about 10 med hikari pellets quantity wise). I feed a variety of foods from Hikari cichlid gold, Kens color flakes (once in a while as it's messy)Wardley med pellets, culled convicts, shrimp chunks and bugs. O will eat just about any commercially produced fish food.

Well, I ran out of Hikari a couple weeks ago and ordered some HBH cichlid floaters along with several pounds of flake from Ken. I thought I'd try out something new and got them since I had to get the flakes anyway for my other fish and wanted to save on shipping. I didn't feel like paying full price locally for Hikari and wanted to wait until I needing something from bigals or drfs to save on shipping.

Well, I started giving O the HBH about 10 days ago. Perhaps I went overboard on the intro and gave O about 15 pcs which was devoured in seconds. The HBHCF are the largest pellet I have feed O so far. There are some smaller sized pellets mixed in but I gave mostly the larger ones. As usual, I heard O loudly crunching the pellets as they were consumed.

The next evening I noticed O's belly was still "full". Thinking I maybe just gave too much the day before, I gave O just 4 pcs. And the next day, same "full" look so only 3 pcs. And it's been 3 pcs daily for the next several days until a couple days ago I gave 10 pcs. O's belly is now a bit WIDER and it's disdended even further on O's right side! So I haven't fed anything the past 2 days and the belly is still disdended.

I 80% WC'd 11 days ago. I just did another 80% prior to coming here.

I don't think it's bloat as O's still very active, acts hungry and has been acting the way O always acts. Always moving looking for food and attention. Also none of his scales are flaring out. I've had a couple fish over the years die of bloat and O's not showing any such symptoms other than the tummy swell. Even then it's confined to O's belly region and doesn't look like the entire body's been blown up with air like previous bloat victims.

So I think the HBH has caused some sort of blockage. What can I do??? Is there such a thing as Exlax for fish?

I've also been feeding a 6" GT the HBH and he has no problems consuming the food. I've been feeding him about 3 large and 5 smaller pcs every day. Also this is NOT a knock on Ken as I've been using him for years. I only get Hikari and Tetra color bits from other vendors.

Please help out Oscar....  I'll try to get some pics but it's hard as O's always moving.


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## kmuda (Nov 27, 2009)

Exlax for fish is Epsom Salt. You can either perform an Epsom Salt dip, or dose the main tank. If dosing the main tank, the ratio is 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. It is also helpful (if the problem is really food induced blockage, to increase the temp to 82-85 degrees. But if the problem is bacterial (which it could be) increasing the temp can make it worse.

Green peas, with the hull removed, with a few crystals of Epsom Salt stuck in them, is also helpful, if your fish will eat them.

On a related note, your problem may not be simple food induced blockage. Your water change schedule for a 5 year old flowerhorn in a 60 gallon tank has not been adequate. To maintain nitrates at a sufficiently low level, you would have to be performing those 70%-80% water changes weekly. By performing them only every 3-4 weeks your nitrates are reaching very dangerous levels.

Excessive nitrates normally manifest themselves in illness within 3 to 5 years, which would be right on schedule. One of the ailments caused by excessive nitrate is kidney damage, which will appear as bloat.

So try the Epsom salt, pick up a nitrate test kit, and get very busy on water changes. There is a direct relationship between a fish's immune system and the concentration of nitrates. The goal is to maintain nitrates below 20ppm (studies have identified the physiological effects of nitrates can be detected in concentrations of 21ppm and these effects start to become significant above 40ppm). I would estimate your fish has been living in nitrates in excess of 120ppm.


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## fishmaniac (Mar 15, 2005)

Kmuda, thanks for stepping up and trying to help out.

I have tried the epsom salt (1 tbsp per 5gal) dosing a couple days ago (monday) and he's still in the same state. Before dosing with epsom, I tried feeding him peas since your reply last week. But each day I tried, he would just spit them out. I tried garlic, fish oils and shrimp with peas inserted in them but he just won't eat them. I also tried raising the temp a bit to around 84 degrees. Its normally around 80.

So basically, he's been w/o food for more than 16 days now (other than the 1/2 piece of shrimp). 

With regards to water changes, I am going to bump up the frequency to every 7 - 10 days. I should have done that last year when I noticed how much bigger he was getting. He's been alone in the 60g since he was about 4" long.

Anyway, I feel so helpless since everything I've been trying thus far hasn't worked.

On a side note, does anyone know how long magnesium sulfate stays in the water? Does it need to be WC'd out? In other words, if I'm dosing the tank, do I need to remove the epsom at a certain time?



















O's belly "sticks out" more on his right side vs the left. To the casual observer, it may look like he's just full. 
But bear in mind that normally his belly will sink in after 24 hrs of fasting...it's been 16 days. 









If anyone else has any suggestions of what's worked for you in the past, please help out Oscar!


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## kmuda (Nov 27, 2009)

At this point, I would surmise the problem is bacterial and not blockage. If he dies and you cut him open, you'll likely find a huge mass of green stuff that used to be a kidney. 

That said, I have seen Oscars recover from such symptoms. The recommendation would be SeaChem KanaPlex, but that can be hard to find. I can only find it online. A more expensive, and perhaps not as effective, option would be a Marcyn/Maracyn Two combination treatment. The Maracyn Medications are much easier to find.


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## jildongun (Jun 11, 2010)

I tried Epsom salt (1 tablespoon per 5gal) to a government few days ago (Monday) and he is always in the same state. Before the overdose of Epsom, I tried feeding him peas for your reply last week. But every day I tried, just spit it out.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

I would keep the Epsom salt in there, 1 tablespoon per five gallons and even tho he's not eating I still would not put any more food in there.

Sounds like a food blockage that has possibly become infected. Along with the Epsom salt you could try treating with an antibiotic. Kanamycin, Kanaplex, or the Maracyn/Maracyntwo combintation.

An abrupt change in diet can cause problems for fish. And most pellets are fairly dense so it may not seem like much but feeding 15 at once is alot. Any time a fish shows difficulty swimming after eating or has a bulge it's a good idea to either cut down-drastically on food for a day or two or even fast them for 24 hours.

The only way you can tell if your water changing schedule was working is to test the nitrate levels before a water change. If its above 20ppm then you know you've got to increase the amount or frequency of the water changes and additionally you may need to decrease how much you're feeding and./or make sure your tank is not overstocked. 70-90% every 3 weeks may have been enough for this one fish in a 60 gallon--no way of knowing without testing for nitrate. (I will say that its safer, for a number of reasons to do smaller, 30-40%, water changes weekly-)

Hang in there with O. He may very well pull through. Let us know.

Robin


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## lekshmy biju (Jun 23, 2010)

how is your O now, please reply
god bless


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