# Help Diagnosing a sick fish



## tmazz71 (Aug 3, 2011)

I have a Jewel Cichlid which has been becoming increasingly bloated in its midsection. It has become listless and basically just floats in one spot at the bottom or sometimes at the top behind the filter output. The fish still eats but does not have a normal appetite. Below are some pictures of the fish.

http://i.imgur.com/p3SJ8.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/WIRe1.jpg


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## Mjonesy88 (Apr 25, 2012)

Woah!


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## Nina_b (Jan 3, 2011)

whoah is right. 
You are going to have to give more information, such as water parameters, tank size and tank mates, as well as maintainance routine.

I think it might be well beyond the point where gentle help will do much, but I really am no expert, so gentle is all I dare recommend. My guess would be some kind of intestinal block - for which you can try epsom salts (check me, but 10 ml to the gallon is the dosage, added slowly over a couple of hours), or she's gravid and for some reason unable to lay the eggs (not much you can do  ), or this is some sort of internal growth (also, not much to do  ).

Could it be a parasitic infection - worms or such?

Does she poop?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Stop feeding and add epsom salt, 1 tablespoon per 5g, premix with tank water and add over a few hours time. Not much else you can do, looks like an internal blockage which the epsom may help to alleviate.


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## tmazz71 (Aug 3, 2011)

65 gallon tank, all water paramaters are within range for normal, there is also a lake malawi blue cichlid, a jack dempsey and a yellow lab as well as a pleco. I felt the fish and the bloated area feels very soft, almost like a slightly underfilled water balloon but I will definitely try the epsom salts, I assume it makes more sense to do in a small tank then to treat the whole 65 gallon tank with epsom salts?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

tmazz71 said:


> I assume it makes more sense to do in a small tank then to treat the whole 65 gallon tank with epsom salts?


Yep. Don't add it all at once however, take 4 or 5 hours to reach the final dosage.


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## tmazz71 (Aug 3, 2011)

I added the epsom salt over ~4 hours last night after setting up a hospital tank for the fish. At this point there is probably nothing to do but wait however is this a one time treatment or can i change out half the water and dose again after a period of time if the blockage still hasn't passed? Also if this is something that can be answered, about how long should I expect to wait before any results might appear?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Any water changes should have the same dosage of epsom salt in the replacement water, or add epsom while filling the tank after water removal.
I'd do 30-40% every other day.
Unfortunately a time frame for recovery is impossible. There's no guarantee that this will work at all I'm afraid.
Have you witnessed any bowel movements? Anything on the substrate?


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Forgot to ask if the filter on the hospital tank is cycled?
Also, if you have metronidazole on hand I'd add it to the treatment. 250mg metronidazole for every 10 gallons daily for 5-10 days with each dosage preceded by a 30-40% water change.


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## tmazz71 (Aug 3, 2011)

Gotcha so i should keep the salt % in the water the same despite any water changes but not add any more above the original T/ 5 gallon. Since he has been in the hospital tank I haven't seen a bowel movement but its only been ~24 hours since I finished treating with the salt. I do believe I have the metronidazole so I will definitely try that as well. While i didn't see an actual movement there is a small amount of something coming from the anus, it appears to be a small piece of something with what looks like red in the middle (possibly blood?). I will try to snap a picture of the area for reference. Also the hospital tank filter has not been cycled, this tank was only set up for this fish so it is an old hang on back filter with a filter pouch simply filled with carbon.


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## tmazz71 (Aug 3, 2011)

Here is the best picture I could get, unfortunately its only with my phone's camera but you can see the red dot I am talking about. Its about 1mm x 1mm

http://i.imgur.com/JIAxe.jpg


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

If you can, use some media from another filter in the HOB and remove the carbon pouch as it will filter out the metro.
If there's no bowel movement in the next 24 hours then it's likely an internal blockage. If that's the case, to my knowledge, there's not a whole lot you can do. Euthanasia may be a better alternative for the fish.


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