# early signs of bloat



## soutthie (Mar 15, 2010)

I'm not sure if I'm noticing some early signs of bloat or not. I've never encountered it before so I dont know. Some of my fish have been acting weird lately, hiding more than usual and not coming out to feed with the rest of the fish. Is hiding more a sign of bloat? I'm not sure if the fish poop is normal or not. I know that fish with bloat have stringy poop but I havent spent much time looking at fish poop so I dont know. Noone has the bloated belly look. Some fish (mostly the bigger ones) have the fuller well-fed looking belly while some others look more skinny with the bellies a little sunken in. One of the demasoni wont come out of its cave and just sits there breathing really fast. Could it be holding? My lights weren't working for several days and I only just got to fix them yesterday. Could a change in lighting patterns make fish act differently? The water chemistry is normal with nitrates 10-20 ppm and a planned water change in 2 days. Is something going on or am I being a paranoid, overprotective parent? If this is bloat then what do I do about it?


----------



## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

could be bloat, you need to see if their mouth is full from holding, if not i'd almost assume bloat if they are not eating, don't wait for a swollen belly

if your fish appear full, then you might be over feeding them


----------



## kabuto (Mar 9, 2007)

I say don't get over paranoid yet.
She could be holding. Get a real nice look at her.
You should familiar yourself with what a fish look like when holding. It is normally very obvious with a huge bulge beneath the jaw, and heavy breathing, and will always hide. Go look on youtube.

If there were major changes to the tank setup just within the last few days then give it 2 more days. I changed my lighting from 2x natural daylight to 1x day light 1x marine glo, and some of my fish really were spooked for 1~2 days.

If your fish is not holding, and still doesn't come up to feed in 1~2 days then you can start panicking then.


----------



## Afishionado (Jun 6, 2006)

Ime pronounced sunken bellies are a sign of internal parasites. The average new hobbyist has a tendency to overfeed rather than underfeed, so it's not usually due to underfeeding. I would treat the whole tank for internal parasites. There are some relatively inexensive meds containing Metronidazole available at most pet supply stores... treat exactly as per the directions.


----------



## kabuto (Mar 9, 2007)

don't get too hasty. I panicked myself a few times recently and have learned the lesson.
Fishes are not robots and have inconsistent behavior too. Although they normally have very consistent behavior (like when i use to spend only 30 mins watching them each day), but then the recent time i picked up this hobby again, i had ample time to observe their every lil move (up to 2~3 hours a day), and that is when i noticed they actually do act "strange" on a regular basis.

give it 1~2 days. due to your recent light changes.
Also, if there are any severely sunken belly, post some pics. the experts will be able to diagnose.

You might also wanna try soaking the pellets before feeding. I had 2 e. yellow which i thought were showing early sign of sunken belly, but ended up they just didn't like hard pellets. I now soak all my pellets for 10 mins before feeding them with the soggy food. The sunken bellied e. yellows are now putting on much size.


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The hiding and not eating eagerly are symptoms. Also the skinny bellies. You need to observe the poop, sorry. If it is thready and white then you have an intenstinal problem like bloat and a bloat treatment is likely to solve it.

Watch every fish every day to ensure first that they eat, and second observe the poop.


----------



## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

Is it spitting food?


----------



## cmcpart0422 (Oct 4, 2008)

Darkside said:


> Is it spitting food?


A good question. Did you notice anything odd before? Did the fish start out spitting food or did it go from eating and acting normal to not eating at all or was there an in between?

Also there are other signs do you see any bulging eyes, lethargic behavior, or protruding anus?

Before you start treating your tank make sure your fish is not holding, if the fish is young and has not been spawning long it could be a small batch so make sure to give her a good look over.


----------



## kabuto (Mar 9, 2007)

cmcpart0422 said:


> Darkside said:
> 
> 
> > Is it spitting food?
> ...


I think i went through a bunch on unnecessary stress due to lack of experience and putting a string of symptoms together and jumping to conclusion.

I had yellow labs who were shy, and then spitting food, (anyone will tell me its a BAD SIGN), and then some had stringy poo (another BAD SIGN), and then one had protruding anus (TRIPLE BAD!). I immediately started treatment on all of my e. yellows.

The only confirmed legitimate illness was one with a sunken belly. Only one. but it triggered conclusion of widespread disease because i see all of those symptoms above due to over-observation of the fish.

My fishes are still doing all of that, except that I know what they are doing now.
- The fish spitting food is because she didn't like my hard 1mm pellets, (they were fed NLS grow from the breeder, and she just never got the hang of swallong a 1mm hard pellet). So now i soak them.
- The stringy poo comes out occasionally before the main brown bulk of poo. My fishes have been v. healthy for 2 weeks now, and sometimes still give out white poo for no reason. Water in tip top condition.
- The protruding anus,... which made me flip into panic/medication mode ended up being an inexperienced female laying eggs and swallowing it herself, also making her belly bloated from eggs (both in stomach and ready to lay).
- The shyness was due to new environment (i had them for less than 2 weeks)

It MIGHT be early sign of bloat or sunken belly, but keep in mind there are other possibilities as well before jumping to the conclusion that you have to isolate and treat.


----------

