# A bloat treatment that actually works! Step by Step



## ApexPredator

Let me begin my saying that my Tropheus were in very bad shape. I was out of town on business when bloat hit my 16 Golden Kazumba's. Four days later, when I got back into town, I began treatment.

I wanted to share this with all of you because there is a ton of information on how to cure bloat out there and some of it works, some of it doesn't. By all rights my Tropheus should all be dead now as I started the treatment so late. Out of the 16 I only lost four. The remaining 12 are eating like pigs again.

*Day 1:* I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the 75gallon tank at 9AM. I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the tank again at 5PM.

*Day 2:* I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the tank at 9AM. At 4 PM I did a 50% water change. I put a little bit of Spirulina (Soaked in Metro) into the tank to see who would eat and who would not. 6 of the Tropheus ate. At 5 PM I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the tank again.

*Day 3:* I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the tank at 9AM. At 4 PM I did another 50% water change. I put a little bit of Spirulina (Soaked in Metro) into the tank to see who would eat and who would not. This time all but 2 ate. At 5 PM I treated the tank again with 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole.

*Day 4:* I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the tank at 9AM. At 4 PM I fed the fish again as in days 2 and 3. This time they all ate.

Bloat Cured!!!   

They have all been eating like pigs for 2 days now and I could not be happier.

I must stress that this worked well for me and may not work the same for you. I know the doses I used were higher than most other people recommend but I was starting 4 days late and the fish are showing no adverse signs from it. In fact, the Juli's I have in the tank with the Tropheus actually spawned while the Metro treatment was occurring. Go Figure.

I hope this will help any of you that are having bloat problems with your Tropheus.


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## FeatherfinFan

Sounds like you agressively handled the situation, keep us updated on their condition AP.


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## FeatherfinFan

I'm bumping this up for a refresh for those that missed it. According to my Metro dosage chart I'm only supposed to use 2 teaspoons for my 320 gallons of water (my system has two tanks and a sump w/ a net volume around 320 gallon after rocks & substrate are deducted). I'm a bit hesitant to add such a high dosage, but it may be a good idea for those that have new arrivals in bad shape. And again, thanks Apex for sharing what's worked for you in the past


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## misterted

I just put an order in for 200Gms of Metro.
They informed me of the same regiment that Alex used above with one difference, the dosage Alex used is pretty high. I was told to use 250mg (1.5 tsp) for a 125g and he's using that for a 75g.

They did say that the reason to treat twice a day is b/c Metro only stays active in the water for ~8hrs.

Ted.


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## ApexPredator

I fully admit that my dosage was very high but what did I have to lose? My Trophs had bloat so bad by the time I got back into town, I was positive they were going to die.

I still have these Trophs and they are all perfectly fine, no adverse effects to my knowledge. I just wanted to share what worked for me as the directions on the Metro jars, in my opinion, just wont work when used as directed.

Again, the key is, whatever dosage you use, to dose the tank 2 times per day.

Good luck all!


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## Dave

ApexPredator said:


> I fully admit that my dosage was very high but what did I have to lose? My Trophs had bloat so bad by the time I got back into town, I was positive they were going to die.


An excellent point.

Actually, I don't think this treatment was so extreme. My last use of metro lasted for at least a week with only 1.5 tsp each day in a 135 gallon tank. Everyone recovered, but it took that long before everyone would eat again. My cyprichromis and petricolas showed no ill effects. In fact, I had 3 cyps and 2 tropheus holding just a few days after I stopped the treatment. With the learning curve that I have gone through with bloat I would say that being aggressive with this disease is necessary. I only wish I had this information when I received a shipment that were in terrible shape.


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## FeatherfinFan

This is good info that should be accessible to the members at all times, I'll post it as a sticky. Treating twice daily really seems to make sense, and since Metro doesn't dye the water or have harsh effects to more sensitive fish, this seems like a great way to treat. Thanks for the info Apex, looks like you may really be on to a more reliable treatment regimen. Anyone else with success stories post them here


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## Jonas Ikola

I cured bloat in my Tropheus with an extreme cure of Nifurpirinol.

I took out all the fish (15 Tropheus duboisi maswa, 20 Tropheus moorii Kiku and 2 Eretmodus cyanostictus) and put them in an 20 litre bucket. It was pretty shallow but with an big watersurface so the aeration was at maximum. Three air-stones was put in the bucket and 8 litres of aquarium water. I poured down the dosage for 500litres of aquarium water and after about five minutes i put the fish in there. They were in the bucket for 30 miuntes while i changed all of the aquarium water.

New water was tapped into the aquarium and then the fish. I managed to stop bloat this time. *This dosage is only when you know you have no other choice.* I knew that if i hadn't done this the Tropheus would have been dead.

I think that Metrodinazole is a better way to treat bloat but this was my little bloat-adventure and how i fixed it. (All of the trophs except for three poor Tr. Kiku made it).


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## Guest

Hey, I think you Tropheus geeks need to get out a bit more often. 

Have any of you (including the mods here) seen this?
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... hp?t=24132

After reading that you might want to note that 1 teaspoon = 5 grams. 
A 'normal' dosage for a 75 gallon tank would = just under 2 grams. 
Also, another thing that has not been mentioned here is the need to perform water changes before each new batch of Met is added to the tank. (to remove any feces that are harbouring pathogens)

Met is sensitive to both temperature as well as light, so you will also want to keep the lights out during the entire treatment. The key is keeping the medication at near 100% strength, so in an aquarium setting the ideal situation would be to perform water changes & add fresh met every 6-8 hours, keep the tank lights off, and up the tank temp as high as is safely possible.

Hope that helps ......


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## FeatherfinFan

Hey, who you calling a geek???? LOL.

I remember seeing that thread when it was first posted and kind of forgot about it. Good info there, thanks for the refresh 



> Also, another thing that has not been mentioned here is the need to perform water changes before each new batch of Met is added to the tank. (to remove any feces that are harbouring pathogens)


Good point, I perform 30% changes prior to each dose, but I didn't add new doses so quickly. How much water do you change every 6-8 hours?
I believe Apex states he changed 50% once a day (between doses).


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## Guest

I would think anywhere from 25-50% would be fine. The point I was trying to make is that it no matter how much Met you put in your tank, after 8 hours it is no longer effective. You're better to use between 250-500 mg per 10 gallons (500 mg only in severe cases), and to keep dosing every 6-8 hours with fresh medication, than to use a large amount (such as posted above) and only dose twice a day. On the other hand, obviously a 3 times a day schedule isn't possible for everyone.


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## Cichlid-MAN77

When you treat for bloat do you do anything with the filters? I have an emperor 400 with carbon in it and I also have a AC 500 with carbon in it. Please help as I do not want to loose them!!


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## Guest

Take the carbon out, leave everything else as-is.


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## Cichlid-MAN77

Thank yo for answering my question. I have one other one that I forgot to ask. During my 50% water changes do I still add my amquel and novaqua like the directions state on the bottles. The anquel is amquel+. Thanks for you advice. I do not want to lose these.


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## FeatherfinFan

C-M, You should add your Amquel or similar de-chlor product every time you perform your changes, but adding Amquel & Novaqua isn't neccessary, just the Amquel (unless you've got some fish that have visible scratches or roughed-up areas).


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## Guest

FYI - Novaqua also detoxifies heavy metals, so if that's a concern in your area you might still want to use it along with the Amquel when performing your water changes.

http://aquascienceresearch.com/ProductInfo/Novaqua.htm


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## Cichlid-MAN77

Thanks everyone for your advice.  Now let me get to work on the tank and save them.


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## Cichlid-MAN77

I just added the second dose of metro. I raised the temp form 80 to 84. I have some movement among the tropheus but have one up near the top of the tank and one on the sand bottom not moving much. I still have not fed any. I feed OSI Spirulina and will mix it with metro. Do you just add metro to the food or do you soak the metro with the food and feed a sort of paste? How long do I keep the temp above 80? Thanks for your advice.


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## Guest

Everything you need to know about treating bloat can be found in this thread:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... hp?t=24132


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## doc35

In wich presentation do you use Metro??, do you use it in tablets and crush them or the IV form, ampulas and dilute it in the water?? can you tell me?? :?:


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## Guest

doc - in the US & Canada the easiest form to get is the dry powder form, but finely crushed tablets will also work. It's also sold/prescribed by vets & MD's under the name Flagyl.


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## Nigel

The best medication I have found for bloat is an antibiotic. The one I use is Kanaplex it is made by Seachem.

I dose the tank with the antibiotic and soak there food in 100% pure Metronidazole i use them together. I use both according to the direction's from Seachem. I have also found that Kanaplex help's with wasting disease in Rift Lake Cichlids.


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## 328iGuy

Would everyone recommend that I stock up on Metro as opposed to Clout before picking up my colony of 1.5" Tropheus Kasanga's this weekend?

Just going to head to the LFS and want to know what is better to have on hand?


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## FeatherfinFan

I'd try and locate Metro first, if not Clout is OK.


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## 328iGuy

I should recieve my order of Metro tomorrow, the same day I pick up my colony! 8)


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## Bananafishbones

Best place to buy Metronidazole powder in Canada or that will ship to Canada?


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## 328iGuy

Bananafishbones said:


> Best place to buy Metronidazole powder in Canada or that will ship to Canada?


I just recieved an order of it from http://www.mops.ca located out West. Good service.


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## Guest

Yep, Dan at Mops is a good guy to deal with. Also, check your LFS for Seachem Met, someone near by may carry it?


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## 328iGuy

RD said:


> Yep, Dan at Mops is a good guy to deal with. Also, check your LFS for Seachem Met, someone near by may carry it?


I recieved my order from Dan a couple weeks back. They are a bit pricey in comparison to Jehmco but didn't have much choice. Just found out now that Big Al's does sell it.

The stuff I got was also Seachem BTW from MOPS.ca.


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## baggagewoofer

i've been told to use a 250mg tablet per 10 gallons of aquarium water. that is a much higher dosage than any of you guys have mentioned. i got this info from a guy with over 300 tanks. seems to have absolutely no negative effects because i've done it twice on the same tank two days in a row just this week for a new shipment of wild tropheus ikola kaisers. what do you guys think


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## Guest

250 mg per 10 gallons is pretty much a standard dosage. Many have used much higher dosages with no apparent ill effects.


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## zoologyst

I got home from work this morning and found one of my ikolas dead :-? They looked great last night and all were eating(20 now 19 of them). I immediately did a 25% water change, removed carbon from the filters, bumped the temp from 80 to 82, turned out the lights, added 500mg. metro per 10g. and crossed my fingers  . I have a brand new batch of ndole bay babies that are precious to me, they all look great and are eating like little piggies, I think I will treat them also (different tank). I think 250mg. would do as a precaution (I know bloat isn't airborne, but I'm very paranoid at this point as I havent lost a fish like this in a long time). What do you guys think about the treatment for the ndole's?
any thoughts would be appreciated.


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## FeatherfinFan

If all your Ndoles are eating, than a metro flake would be preferred, and if your Ikolas are all eating same would apply to them too. But catching it early & treating aggressively is the key & it looks like you're right on top of things  Good Luck!


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## zoologyst

Thanks FFF, everyone is eating but 3 of the ikolas aren't right ( they have a little shimmy to them) I just did another water change and 3rd dose. Havent lost anyone else though.I decided to hold off on treating ndoles for now they really do seem fine. Will watch them closely however. Btw I posted a link on the photo forum of my ndole babies.( bad pics but I'm working on it).


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## tekjunky

Hello...i just received some metro from a company called fish zole. Heres what the label says

[u]Fish-Zole


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## Guest

It says "Not to be given to fish intended for food use."

= fish intended for human consumption

Unless you plan on eating your tropheus, you have nothing to worry about. :wink:


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## tekjunky

Tekjunky :idea: <------------ Feels like an ass...lol


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## Guest

No worries, better safe than sorry.


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## bchenderson

how is it that the two times my babies have ever had bloat the only thing *** done was i gave them epsom salt and the next day changed 80% of the water ( two table spoons per every 30 gls. ) tropheus moorii ilangi


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## lcosme

nm


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## lcosme

When during a metro tank treatment..

should you feed metro soaked food more? or less? or should the fish fast during this period?


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## PoohBear

Will metro affect the biological filter?


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## FeatherfinFan

> When during a metro tank treatment..
> 
> should you feed metro soaked food more? or less? or should the fish fast during this period?


Metro food is the most effiecient and effective way to get the meds into the fish, so if they do start eating the food they will have a much higher concentration of the med. If all the fish are refusing to eat or spitting out the food, just treat the water and try feeding the Metro food the next day in small quantities.


> Will metro affect the biological filter?


No, bacteria levels won't suffer dramatic decreases during Metro treatments.


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## wildcat_001_2k

Have you have any long term ill effects to your experimental treatment of Tropheus with high doses of Metronidazole two years ago? I will imagine NOT. The fact that the tropheus bred during the course of the treatment tells me that your high dose is well tolerated by that particular Tropheus variant that you treated. Have they bred since? I will just like to hear from you to confirm it. Also, what other variants of Tropheus have you teated in this manner. Have all variants you treated tolerated the treatment as well? Have they also bred after treatment? Let me hear from you. THANKS!!! :-?


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## CAMERON1

carbon will absorb the meds as well as the trace elements in your tank. the best water detoxifier to buy is pond prime. it's the same as regular prime, except it's more concentrated for the same price. i will say it a million times over as long as i am a member of this forum.........use R/O water and your fishkeeping will be so much easier.


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## ben_cichlid

During the treatment, how much should I feed the Tropheus ? Should I just feed a little bit of Metro-soaked flake only ? Would the other tropheus be OK if I cut back the feeding ?


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## FeatherfinFan

I'd continue feeding as normal (as long as most of the fish are eating well) but be SURE to do partial water changes prior to each Metro dose.


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## ApexPredator

I fed my guys enough to make sure if they were eating or not. You will have to judge how much that is. A normal feeding should suffice.


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## ben_cichlid

Right now I feed a bit of Metro soaked flake first and then regular flake. I am using dosage of a teaspoon for my 72 gal, treat twice a day, with 40-50% water change daily. Do you think I should increase the dosage to 1.5 tsp ? I already lost one and have 3 more not eating, I want to save these 3 badly  
I thought by feeding them Metro soaked flake for the first week would help them avoid bloat, but after 2 weeks, bloat is happenning for my colony...I was doing weekly water change of 50%, feeding Spirulina flake...


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## ApexPredator

Try the directions I listed in my initial post. That dosage worked well for me.


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## tanganyikanhunt

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... hp?t=24132

NO FOOD!


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## ApexPredator

tanganyikanhunt said:


> http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=24132
> 
> NO FOOD!


The link you provided is for a treatment with *clout*. This particular thread deals with *metro* treatments. I just wanted to point that out lest there be any confusion.

As stated before a small to normal feeding, between treatments, should suffice.


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## PoohBear

I was given some powdered metro, and was told the dose should be 1/4 tsp per 20 gallons. I also have some metro from Aquatrol in the form of capsules, and the package says there is 250 mg per capsule, and that 1 capsule per 10 gallons should be used, once a day. If I were to use the Aquatrol brand capsules, would I still need to does twice a day, when the package says to use it once a day?


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## Guest

thank you guys for the info!!!!!!!

Just had a nice bloat infection with my new colony of Duboisi. one was dead and one was blown up like a marble when I noticed it. another wan was swelled up a bit. after following this treatment with Metro, everyone is fine. even the one that was blown up is doing ok. the good thing is that I caught it early while everyone was eating and still doing well.

now they are all fine and everyone is eating and fighting and all that good stuff.

thanks!!!!!


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## FeatherfinFan

Glad to hear they responded well to the meds, good job getting it taken care of immediately.


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## ApexPredator

That is good news. I'm glad the info helped.


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## bulldog77

I was reading your post and I need help...I think that my duboisi has Bloat...When I first noticed I went online and started researching...I tested my water to sadly  find I hadn't kept up with my nitrates and they are sky high...I wasn't for sure what to do next....I started treating with Maracyn Plus...it was all I had and wanted to start a treatment right away...after reading some stuff online went to store to try and buy some metro...No one carried it...I did pick up some Amquel + to start lowering my nitrates...I ordered metro online through www.petsolutions.com ... It came yesterday...I treated right away...but container said to treat every two days...After reading the post I knew I couldn't wait that long...I've been doing water changes...And this morning...I did water change...added Metro...and removed the carbon filter...Its a 30 gallon tank...what should I do next??? :-?


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## bulldog77

Oh...I haven't fed this morning...should I feed?..should I add some metro with the flakes??


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## ApexPredator

Keep the treatment up. Treat every 8 hours with a 50% water change in between. After the evening treament put a small amout of food in the tank to see if they are eating. When they are eating and not spitting the food you have most likely beaten it. Be prepared to treat for a couple of days. Good luck.


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## BR1AN

FWIW, entirelypets.com has the best pricing on Metro (Fish Zole)...I just received my shipment today after ordering on Saturday.

http://store.yahoo.com/entirelypets/thlafipr.html

They even have an ebay store if you want to use Paypal:
http://search.stores.ebay.com/Entirely- ... 81QQsofpZ0

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping this will cure some of my juvi Tropheus...I've already lost 2 Duboisis and an Ikola to bloat.


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## Tim_in_NYC

My tank has bloat.

I came home last night and found one of my Ilangi dead and one trailing long thready feces.

Immediately did a 75% water change and hit it with 6 tabs of Clout (55 gallon). Dissolved the tabs in a quart bottle of tank water and dosed it in increments over a half hour period.

I am out of the house 12 hours a day, I can't do the every-8-hours Metro thing. Plus, I already got dead fish, I need to hit this thing hard before I lose them all.

Following this Clout procedure documented elsewhere in this thread:

Day 1: treat with Clout at full strength (1 tablet / 10 gallons)

Day 2: No water change. Treat again with Clout at half strength.

Day 3: Do nothing

Day 4: Do an 80% water change and treat with Clout at full strength

Day 5: Do nothing

Day 6: 80% water change. See if fish will eat. If they do, introduce carbon and 8 hours later Bio-Spira to restore biofilter.

Any feedback on this strategy? Please tell me.

Thanks-

-Tim


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## ben_cichlid

A friend of mine told me about how he went thru with a Clout treatment. For the first 3 days, he dosed the tank with full strength Clout (1 tablet/10 gal). Then if the fish have not started to eat on Day 4, he then do a WC (50%) and then treat with full dose of Clout for the next 2 days. If after Day 5 Bloat is not gone yet, he do WC and wait for a day or 2 before do another 5 day treatment...Hope this helps you Tim


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## Tim_in_NYC

Thanks Ben.

Added an additional 1/2 dose of clout last night, no water change. Today I'll do nothing. Tomorrow, huge water change and a full dose.

No additional deaths and the fish are active and showing great color this morning. Even the one who was showing thready feces seems OK at the moment. Knock on wood! Not counting my chickens yet, we're still not out of the woods... (hmm. that mixed metaphor actually works. :wink: )

Also, the blue staining is no where near what I've been lead to expect.

-T


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## Tim_in_NYC

So far so good.

Day 4 and only the one loss.

-T


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## y ddraig goch

How are they doing now Tim, the course must be complete?
Any idea what caused it? :-?


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## Tim_in_NYC

The course is complete.

Today is the 1 week mark, day 8.

No additional loss of life after the initial death. Even the one who was showing long stringy feces has lived.

Day 6 I did a 50% water change and loaded up my Emperor 400 with carbon to remove the Clout, and fed some NLS soaked in Metro. A few ate, most did not.

Last night I removed the carbon and put some grungy polyfloss from my shellie tank in the Emperor, with clean carbonless polyfloss cartriges behind, to help repair any damage to the biofilter. Fed 3 small sprinklings of NLS small fish formula, not soaked in Metro, over the course of an hour or so. Most ate. One or two refused/spit. The one who spit later ate. It seems like there is only one who is still not eating. Hopefully she'll come around.

This morning fed their normal 1/4 teaspoon of Cichlid Formula and Small Fish Formula mixed. They seemed OK.

What caused it? Anyone who has been reading my tank journal knows what caused it. I caused it because I'm an obsessive-compulsive tweaker who always has to push the envelope and learn the hard way.

I introduced live plants into the tank and it snowballed from there.

After the first few Anubias were introduced they developed BBA on their leaves. Bad. The whole plant was black. So i declared war on algae.

I used Algaefix. I bleach-dipped the Anubias (now 8 of them). I introduced emersed philodendron with roots in the tank and leaves on top to suck up nutrients ( incidentally, this was the tipping point, I got bloat right after I did this. My fish do NOT like stuff moving around at the top of/above the tank. Overhead motion makes them VERY nervous. I have a glass top, by the way.) I removed phosphates with Seachem Phosguard.

I used ferts for the plants; K, Fe and Flourish twice a week. I added plants, nothing too drastic, just one plant, or in the case of the Vals a small clump of 6 or so, once a week.

I rearranged the rockpiles. Rearranged the rockpiles again.

The sum total of all these additions and changes and activity and dosing did it.

I also found out from my son the neighbors kid was over recently intentionally scaring the fish, doing the "BOO!" thing, lunging at them with his hands. I could throttle the little cretin. That alone is anough to put them into bloat.

So let this be a lesson to all who come after. If you want to do live plants, just put some Anubias or whatever in there, a little at a time. Don't fertilize. If the plants get black algae, too freakin bad, if the plant dies it dies.

I was fortunate, I only lost 1 fish, but gained many gray hairs.

I love the look of the planted tank, and I hate the look of the BBA but doing what it takes to have one without the other in a Tropheus tank, it's really not worth the risk.

-T


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## y ddraig goch

Keep your chin up Tim, you've been an inspiration to [edit: me and] others here. I think my tropheus tank is going to be unplanted! :wink:


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## Tim_in_NYC

Thanks, G!

-T


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## Shawn M

Can someone refresh my memory on why the frequent water changes? My problem is that I just can't do 50% (125g) or more water changes a day as I don't have that kind of time in my day, nor the water unless I use straight untreated tap water. The tank also contains 5 Julies who are showing no signs of problem. 

Anybody else have this problem and found a way around it? I have already lost 7 fish out of 29, so it is only down hill from here.

Thanks!!


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## Tim_in_NYC

Do the Clout treatment detailed immediately above. You don't need to do as frequent water changes.

If you already have deaths, Clout right away, don't delay any further, you could lose them all.


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## Shawn M

Thanks Tim.

Let me see how it works.

I appreciate it!


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## Tim_in_NYC

Any progress Shawn?


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## Inifyg

These kinds of posts are good - I must say though, there is nothing written on stone here. I treated two Gobies with Clout but I did not follow that post with the five day procedure. Needless to say - they are alive  I also treated my Ikola Juvies with Clout when I saw there feces looking "a little stringy and white" and they are all eating like pigs. Actually, they never stopped eating  I think there are a lot of things that are unique to our own tanks and that you have to judge your fish on yor own. Anyways, good posting for us all - but there is probably a whole lot more for hobbyist to learn about Bloat.


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## Rob-Best

I have a 75 gallon tank myself, and i am planning on getting some metro to treat some bloat  is the 1.5 teaspoons of powder?

im just curious as to where everyone finds the "dosage" i dont want to over dose, but i dont want to under dose... could you provide some insight?

thanks alot if you can help

rob


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## Tim_in_NYC

Rob-Best said:


> I have a 75 gallon tank myself, and i am planning on getting some metro to treat some bloat  is the 1.5 teaspoons of powder?
> 
> im just curious as to where everyone finds the "dosage" i dont want to over dose, but i dont want to under dose... could you provide some insight?
> 
> thanks alot if you can help
> 
> rob


You pretty much can't overdose Metro.

-T


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## lou99

[edit] created a new post


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## y ddraig goch

In the BCA Cichlidae journal, Graham Smith suggests:-

Day 1:
Add metronizadole at the rate of 125mg per 8.5 Imperial gallons (36 litres)
Add nifurpirinol at the manufacturer's recommended dose
Add Pimafix or Sabbactisun
Days 2 and 3: as for day 1
Then 50% water change and repeat days 1, 2 and 3, then another 50% water change.

If the fish is eating you can try adding about 50mg of metro to some flake food, which is the best way for administering most medications.


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## lcosme

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW ... mdy00.aspx

Pond Clout
1 tablet treats 100gallons.


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## 24Tropheus

Metro or Clout best? Anyone with experience of both? Use one in some mild cases and the other if lossing fish/no cure yet?
how to/wether to treet new African wild caughts before any symptoms shown?


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## fishboy11

My malagarasi have bloat. I put 15 tablets in my 180g(it is more like 150g with all the rocks). I plan to do a 20% water change tomorrow and repeat this for 5 days at least. Are tablets as effective.


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## lou99

Metro or Clout best? Anyone with experience of both?

in my experience metro hasnt worked yet.. clout did..twice..


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## Guest

By following the treatment plan that Apex started this thread with I have treated bloat symptoms successfully on every occaision that I thought bloat was starting... 
It WORKS ...


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## 24Tropheus

My prob is I can not realy comment on this. My suplier is so good and the tanks large enough that I have not seen any bloat for the last 5 years. I used to get it regularly when I started with small tanks and found at least 50% survived if removed from agression.


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## Ting Fung

hi..i want to get it online...
Can show its picture ?
how much should i buy for the first time?


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## hanikai

aloha 

do you need to turn off any filters, or remove carbon media from them? (wont the filter just take out all the metro?)

thanks


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## ApexPredator

Remove all carbon from the filter. Otherwise you can leave your filter alone.


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## hanikai

ok, done.. thanks


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## godzilla

Just wanted to revive this thread and let the OP know I am currently on day 2 of my treatment and it looks like my demasoni are coming around. I had a few that were hiding/not eating and now only one is still showing signs. I still havent fed them but did a water change today and things are looking better.

Thanks for the great post!

Mike


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## MrLeadFoot

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in here.

I got my first Tropheus 7 months ago, some Ikolas and Duboisi's, and a Kaiser II. I q-tined them in my 29 gallon just to be safe before putting them in their designated 75 gallon home. Sure enough, two Duboisi's and the Kaiser II developed bloat rather quickly, and I was out of Metronidazole and no good LFSes near me had any. I thought for sure one of the Duboisi's and the Kaiser II was going to die if I didn't do something immediately, and I really thought they'd die anyway, so out of desperation, I went to PetsMart and bought some Jungle Parasite Clear, which includes Metro in its ingredients. I dosed according to the instructions and two days later the bloat was gone, and the sick fish were eating!

About a month later I got some Moliros, Red-spots and Sunspots. One of each soon came down with bloat. Figuring that the cheap Parasite Clear worked once and I might get lucky again, I dosed the affected fish. Two days later they were eating like Pirahnas.

When I finally moved them all into their 75gallon home, the Ikolas came down with bloat. Again, I treated with Parasite Clear, and again I experienced excellent results within two days.

No more spending the big buck on Metro again for me. Parasite Clear works wonders.


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## acargei

I was wondering how many days do you treat tropheuses with Metro if they are not eating?

10 days ago I noticed that one of my duboisi juvies was not eating, swimming alone, and the next morning it was swimming with white stringy feces. I removed it at once to a 5 gallon bucket. Since then, every morning I has been changing 100% of water and adding 150 or 200 mg of metronidazole to it. This procedure has been going on for 9 days. The problem is that although the fish looks ok, etc. it has not been eating anything since.

So I wonder if I should stop using Metro and just keep it the fish in the bucket waiting until it starts taking food, or if I should continue with Metro treatment?


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## geoff_tropheus

here it is.


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## flashg

ApexPredator said:


> Let me begin my saying that my Tropheus were in very bad shape. I was out of town on business when bloat hit my 16 Golden Kazumba's. Four days later, when I got back into town, I began treatment.
> 
> I wanted to share this with all of you because there is a ton of information on how to cure bloat out there and some of it works, some of it doesn't. By all rights my Tropheus should all be dead now as I started the treatment so late. Out of the 16 I only lost four. The remaining 12 are eating like pigs again.
> 
> *Day 1:* I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the 75gallon tank at 9AM. I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the tank again at 5PM.
> 
> *Day 2:* I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the tank at 9AM. At 4 PM I did a 50% water change. I put a little bit of Spirulina (Soaked in Metro) into the tank to see who would eat and who would not. 6 of the Tropheus ate. At 5 PM I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the tank again.
> 
> *Day 3:* I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the tank at 9AM. At 4 PM I did another 50% water change. I put a little bit of Spirulina (Soaked in Metro) into the tank to see who would eat and who would not. This time all but 2 ate. At 5 PM I treated the tank again with 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole.
> 
> *Day 4:* I put 1.5 teaspoons of Metronidazole in the tank at 9AM. At 4 PM I fed the fish again as in days 2 and 3. This time they all ate.
> 
> Bloat Cured!!!
> 
> They have all been eating like pigs for 2 days now and I could not be happier.
> 
> I must stress that this worked well for me and may not work the same for you. I know the doses I used were higher than most other people recommend but I was starting 4 days late and the fish are showing no adverse signs from it. In fact, the Juli's I have in the tank with the Tropheus actually spawned while the Metro treatment was occurring. Go Figure.
> 
> I hope this will help any of you that are having bloat problems with your Tropheus.


I have used a similar method minus the flake soaked in metro... AND it saved my former colony of Zongwe with minimal casualties...


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## flashg

Woops...  :lol:


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## BlackWaterMama

Hello All,

I know this is an old thread, but I found it by googling and I have to say, it is very encouraging.

I am currently battling bloat on two fronts, by that I mean in two 125's.  

One has a colony of 14 TB and 22 WC moops. The other has 22 WC Ilangi.

The moop tank has seen alot: to make along story short. I bought the TB colony at auction and they were breeding and doing fantastically. After a couple of months, I get the idea that I need to branch out and expand colony with some WC ones. So I bought 12 of them (4 trios). I QT'd them for a week and lost two to aggression and "wasting" in the very first couple of days. After 10 days, I combine the colony. They proceed to get a fungal infection which I successfully treat with triple sulfa. A couple of weeks go by and everyone is great: eating spawning, the whole nine. THEN I get an offer from my "dealer" to buy the rest of the WC moops from him for a great price. I go and get them. After a couple of days, i notice that A few of them still aren't eating, and a couple more days later, those same ones are on the ground. Then I notice that they're bloated. Per my "guy", I treat my 125 =100 gals after displacement, with 8 tabs of Clout. 24 hours later I redose with same amount with no water change. I cover the tank and only peek in once a day to see what I can see. I do a water change of 25% 24 hours later and drop some carbon into filter. They do ok. Some still weren't eating.
Today, about a week after water change and carbon, I notice another one with the bloated abdomen. At about 9 am, I treat with metro 250mg/10g tabs=10 tabs. I also put in 10 tabs of Furanase. After reading the thread, I added another dose of metro. (10:30p)

Let's visit tank #2:
I bought this colony of WC ilangi exactly a week ago today. I have the tank covered and fast them for the first 2 days. Once the lights are on, their color is specatcular but they are only mildly active. Some are doing that new tank "pacing" They are not eating. I didn't think to ask for some of the food they were eating at the seller's place. So I chalk it up to unfamiliar food. I feed small amounts daily. Three days ago, one is dead and I notice that some of the other fish have clear poop. Long, Elastic, slimey clear strands. I do a 25 % water change per my guy. Another web site offers the advice that there is almost a guaranteed mortality of a few WC Trophs whenever you bring in new ones... Anyway. Yesterday, I found another dead fish. Today, I see one is bloated. So I treat the same as above and repeat the same as above. The tank is covered. Someone told me that the poop I described is from them not eating. It didn't look like the classic bloat poop I saw in the moop tank.

I have tons of filtration, am religious about larg,weekly water changes and monitor parameters midway thru week. I don't overfeed and i only feed veggie and spirulina foods that have fish as ingredients further down the list of ingredients.

I am heartbroken!! I love these fish!! If any of you have words of wisdom or ideas, please let me know. I will keep you guys posted.

Interesting to note that the TB ones are like iron horses, hardy and resiliant. The WC ones are very fragile when subjected to the same stessors (new aquascaping, new tank mates, new tank)
that the TB ones don't even bat and eyelash at.

Jenney.


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## BlackWaterMama

One dead Ilangi yesterday, two bloated bellies today

No dead moops yesterday, two dead moops today.

No one is eating.

I'm treating twice daily (every 12 hours) with 10, 250mg tabs metro (100 gallons of water)
And every 24 with Furanase.

I'm going to do 25% water change today, and continue.

After recommended 5 days has gone by for metro, I'll do another wc and run carbon and hit the tanks with clout.

Nothing to lose now.


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## BlackWaterMama

It has been two days with no losses in either tank. 
The moops have recovered more quickly than the Ilangi.

On day 3 of twice daily dose of metro and once daily dose of furanase, with no repite from the deaths, I added clout to the cocktail. I added 8 tabs to the tanks (100 gallons actual water) once daily and furanase. I ran out of metro, and that's the only reason I didn't add it. After two days, the moops started eating. I will do a 50% wc on them tonight.

The Ilangi are on the mend, but I'm still treating tank with once daily dose of clout and furanse.

Here are two very informative links:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/ ... actera.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwfishmeds.htm

I will now have the following in my medicine cabinents: erythromycin, triple sulfa, tetracylcline, clout, metro, and furanase. And in enough supply to treat both of my 125 for 10 days.

Needless to say, I'm paranoid now.

Jenney.


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## chrisFewell

where can I buy metro? it looks like its actually used on people too??? does that mean it may be at walgreens? :lol:


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## Agridion

ApexPredator I have to thank you for your post because I have searched all over the web for a treatment that worked. Most treatments recommended CLOUT which can really affect the good bacteria in the tank as well as I have heard it can also adversely affect plecostomuses as well as some catfish.

I have a 55 gallon that I have had set up for 2 months with around 23 fish. Yes I know it is over stocked but I have plenty of filtration and I do +weekly water changes. As of now I have lost 3 Mbunas to bloat! About 2 1/2 weeks ago I realized on the 3rd fish I lost that it was bloat. He wasn't eating, was extremely bloated, white poop, and a red sore on his side. So I frantically searched the web for answers and solutions.

I purchased Metronidazole 500G and Praziquantel 10G from Jehmco online since they have extremely inexpensive pure medications. When I received the Metro the package recommended using Ã‚Â¼ Teaspoon for 40 gallons. So for about a week I used just over a Ã‚Â¼ teaspoon two times a day of Metro as well as feed the fish that were eating with Metro soaked NLS pellets, following up with a 25 Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 50% water change every day. At this point I had a yellow lab that was starting to hide and not eat with white poop as well as several other Mbunas that had white poop. This went on for about a week, and the yellow lab seemed to begin to eat and start to move around more. So I thought things were working well. Until one of the fish Ã¢â‚¬Å"my wife calls him PeachesÃ¢â‚¬Â


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## flyn dutchmn

Hey guys,

I just purchased my first group of tropheus a week ago, lost 2 already and 1 is currently not eating. The other remaining 10 are eating normally.

I'm in a tough situation as it's Monday and I won't be home till Friday. I will do a water change as soon as I get home, but don't have anyone to do any water changes before that.

My gf will treat them twice a day for me at 250 mg/125g with metronidazole, and feed them daily with a small amount of spirulina soaked in garlic guard. I have a scale so the treatment will be accurate.

Any reg flags going up? Did I miss anything?

I know I should do a water change everyday before the metro treatment, but think I"ll be alright as the medication only stays active in the water for 8 hours.


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## eeztropheus

IMO and experience you should not feed at all during the treatment of bloat. After the treatment is complete begin to feed very lightly and slowly build up to normal feedings over the course of two weeks.


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## flyn dutchmn

My 10 "Zongwe" in the 55 gallon are all eating, and are super active. I will continue to soak their food in garlic guard and feed them lightly over the next 2 weeks.

I have 1 still quarantined in a 20 gallon, but he's puzzling me. He is swimming around actively, and sifting through the sand but won't eat. I'm feeding him the same variety of food that the LFS fed(Xtreme cichlid pellets), but I'm soaking it in GG. I fed him one small pellet on Monday, and didn't feed him yesterday.

If he seemed inactive or weak I'd retreat him with metro, but in his condition I don't know if it will really help. I think I'll do a water change tonight and hope he eats.


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## lilscoots

This treatment worked for me in my 75gallon with 17 juvenile haps/peacocks. took 3 days like his, and continued to feed medicated food for another 3 days.


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## 24Tropheus

Just a note to BlackWaterMama./Jenney
Yep I feel for you.
Had very similar experiences mixing WC with healthy TB F1s. And even when kept alone.
Some batches just sale through quarentine, other batches you try and try and still lose fish.
I realy do not know why. I suspect its to do with how healthy they are before shipped and what they are exposed to in various dealers tanks on their way to us.
But it is hard to get details.

I would try a clout treatment. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... hp?t=24132
Sure its a catch all nasty med (that may even kill Paracyps etc) but it does seem to get more hardy larger stuff like Tropheus healthy than Metro etc.

All the best James


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