# Bloat?



## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

I think one of my mbuna has bloat Last night the fish did not come up to eat with the others and was just sitting on the bottom while all the madness of mbuna land went on without him. When I got home from work today he was breathing heavy and hiding. After catching him I noticed he had a long stringy feces hanging out of him. I put him in a 5g bucket with 1/4 tank water and 1/4 clean water treated with prime. Then I added 1/2 oz ebsom/aquarium salt mix. I threw in a few large stones from the main tank in hopes of beneficial bacteria. I also added a touch of melafix. Lastly, I added an airstone for circulation. Since he is not eating he will not produce much waste right, so I shouldn't need a filter right? I want to add metronitozole but thought that may be enough for him for one night and dose him in the bucket tomarrow morning? For the main tank (75g), I added 1 cup mixed ebsom/aquarium salt 30mL melafix and did a 50% WC with intense vaccume job. I also put my male kenyi in a breeder box (hard) in in tank isolation so he could not cause any problems for the others just in case. I wish I had another breeder box for the other males too Did I do the right thing so far?


----------



## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

Update:

The fish is still alive this morning  This is what I did so far. The water temp is getting cold so I added a heater and will slowly bring the temp back up to 78 today. I added some water to the bucket to make approximately 3 gallons of water and added the appropriate amount of salt. Next I added 30g of metronitozole. Before doing all this I evaluated the fish best I could from top down in bucket. Fish seemed to be breathing more slowly than yesterday but is still sitting still on the bottom of the bucket. When he sees my shadow he moves around the bottom of the bucket but does not come to the top. I think he is in slow motion because the water temp is so cool (72 F) I put his bucket in my shower stall last night (cats). It must be really cool in there compared to out here so the temp dropped  Working on that though. Update later after heat is on and temp at 78 F. Any suggestions welcome!!!!!

Also, kenyi looks okay in his box (wish I had a few more). I left the light off and have not fed this tank since Thursday night. I think I will do another big WC today and keep up the salt and melafix. Maybe I will release kenyi. (Kenyi was not causing problems that I could see but maybe was that I did not see so I put him in there just in case, he doesn't mind too much and has been in there before for other reasons :lol: , better safe than sorry. Plus this allows some of the smaller and less dominant fish a chance to obtain some territory since he claims a big chunk of the middle of the tank. Figured giving the females a break would do them good).


----------



## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

Still alive! I may be getting something better than a bucket for this guy later. Should I see if he will take food? Should I be changing his water or adding more prime to detox his waste(if any). I pulled the temp up to around 80. He likes the heat and stays near the heater now. How often should I dose the water with metro? I am using the 100mg per 10 gallons dose but the article does not say whether I can do a water change between doses and how long to wait before doing a water change after I have dosed!

I also released my kenyi, it took about ten seconds for him to reclaim his cave!


----------



## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

Another update:

Fishy is still trucken. Last night I bought a 55g hospital tank for fishy. I got it off of craigslist for 60$ and it came with a pennplax 700 and 24" light strip. Last night cleaned the whole thing out set it up and tested for leaks and made sure the filter worked. No leaks, working filter! Set the tank up this morning in my closet (no where else to put it  ) added 1/2 tbsp ebsom salt and 1/2 tbsp aquarium salt per 5g to the tank. Then I added 100mg per 10g (worked out to 550mg) metronidozole suspension, dosed the tank with melafix and prime, adjusted the temp to 79 degrees and added fishy. Now that I can actually see him he looks the same as he did a few days ago but then again I just moved him in there. I hope he recovers, I really am putting forth my best effort for this little guy! Anything else I can do?


----------



## twohuskies (Mar 1, 2008)

I'm dealing with a JD that is acting like your fish, unfortunately. I've tried everything with very little progress. She has started to eat, just a little, again. So, that's a tiny bit of progress, I guess.

Congrats on your CL find! I love buying used tanks on CL. Get great deals and they usually come with all kinds of neat stuff. :lol: Did want to caution you on the "newish" tank, though. Make sure you seed the filter with media from another tank. Or better yet, move a filter from an existing tank onto the new one. You may have done this, but didn't include it in your post. I just wouldn't want the tank to cycle and kill your fish after all you're doing to save him!

GL, and keep us posted.


----------



## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

Thanks, I did not cycle the tank. The fish is not eating and therefore is producing very little if any waste. There would be no food for the bacteria. In addition, I am adding meds to the tank and do not want to cause a massive bacteria die off due to meds and cause a spike this way. If and when he starts to eat I will seed the tank well. I did add a couple rocks from the main tank for the bacteria but I am sure they have died by now due to the lack of food  I wish my fishy would eat. I am glad your is getting better. I think I overfed my tank and this was the result. I have been feeding the main tank sparingly every other day since.


----------



## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

Update:

Fishy is still with us tonight. I just watched him for like 1/2 hour and honestly he looks no better. He just sits there on the bottom breathing heavy. Every once in a while he will move around a little at a time but doesn't come off the bottom. He makes it all the way around the 55g in about 5 min. His fins are NOT clamped and every now and then he shines his pretty coat. He seems to be in somewhat of a stupor though as he bumps into the sides of the tank and the bits of rock I put in when he is "maneuvering". Every few minutes he does something which looks like coughing or belching. He will be heaily breathing along then a pause then a quick deep exhale (I can see this because bits of sediment on the bare bottom tank move away from him in a cloud). A few times when he did this he moved himself upwards due to the force of the exhale. Not a lot but enough for me to notice. His eyes look fixed and uninterested also. I think I am supposed to do a 50% WC 2 days after dosing the tank with metro then add another dose. Is that right? If he is going to improve, how long will it take to start seeing improvement? I thought I would try and offer him a pellet again tomorrow. I offered yesterday and he said no so I removed it right away. I did not try today at all. If he would just eat I could medicate him better.


----------



## twohuskies (Mar 1, 2008)

I had the same problem with my JD. NOTHING seemed to help. I treated for bacteria, Jungle parasite clear, and finally clout. Honestly, I don't know that any of them really helped, but the clout seemed to be better than the rest. I think my JD ate a bristlenose pleco and likely has/had a blockage. I found "bits" of the BN and the skull. JD was the only fish big enough to eat the poor BN.

All totalled, I've had her in a hospital tank for at least 6 weeks. 

If you want to try the Clout treatment, follow the sticky in this forum. You do not feed at all during treatment, and I think that helped my JD. Like you, if she would have just eaten, I could have medicated the food.

I felt like you - every day she hung on was better than dying. She seems to be s-l-o-w-l-y coming around, but she's not 100% yet. I did see a glimpse of her former self yesterday - going after a pellet like she used to. Sooooo, I have hope, and you should too!

GL and keep us posted...


----------



## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

Thanks for the kind words of encouragement. My fish has not eaten in at least 5 days. I do not think I will offer him food today either because I can tell he will not accept it anyway. He looks about the same. What I did notice was that he passed a very small amount of more normal looking feces today. Not long and clear but small and with a larger diameter. It did not look perfectly normal but closer to it than before. How he could have that inside him after 5 days I do not know but hopefully that is a sign that his digestive system is still trying to work. Tomorrow I will do a 50% WC and add more metro. My other tank is starving(so they think). I have only been feeding them a small amount every other day since I removed the sick fish.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Did you test the bucket? Fish produce ammonia just by breathing I understand.


----------



## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

No, I did not test the water. He is in a 55g tank now by himself and he is only 3 inches long. I added prime when I put him in there yesterday and will dose the tank again tomorrow when I do the 50% WC. Does this sound sufficient? I do not think he can produce enough ammonia to make the 55g of water toxic. Can he?


----------



## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

Another update!

Fishy is feeling much better today    He is still staying to the bottom most of the time but is now actually swimming and has inspected the surface a few times. I also saw him yawn and his breathing is normal now too! I did the 50% WC and added all the stuff to the new water; salt, melafix, metronidozole, prime. I even saw him have a freight reaction to me bumping the glass while changing the water. Keep in mind that a few days ago I picked this fish up with my hand and he was in such a stupor he did not even know it! I am very impressed with his progress, I thought for sure he was a goner. I did not try to feed him today; felt better not press my luck so soon. He is not acting like a hungry fish yet so I will wait for him to let me know. Keep you posted! :fish: :dancing: :dancing: :dancing: :dancing: :fish:


----------



## twohuskies (Mar 1, 2008)

AWESOME NEWS!!! Sounds like he's coming around! :dancing: :dancing: :dancing: :dancing: :dancing: :dancing: :dancing: :dancing: :dancing:

You're doing great...keep us posted! :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: =D> =D> =D> =D>


----------



## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

He didn't make it  I am so sad it took me all day to post this update but thought I needed end my post so here it is  This morning I checked on him before I left and he looked okay. Breathing was normal and he was swimming a little. This evening when I got home he was gone. On his side. He was a lovely fish, I wish he would have made it. I tried so hard to save him and spent so much time sitting and watching his progress.


----------



## twohuskies (Mar 1, 2008)

OH! I am sooooooo sorry. You did absolutely everything you could, though. I see that happen often - they seem to rally, and then...gone.

I'm very, very sorry.


----------



## Mr. WOT (Dec 2, 2009)

God, I felt like I was gonna cry there for a second... I'm so sorry! You and that fishy really fought tho.


----------

