# help africans w/ curved in stomach parasite



## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

I am so upset.
I have had a 55 gallon african cichlid tank set up with sand and ocean rocks set up now for 7 or 8 years and everything has been perfect except 1 outbreak about 7 years ago of a little ick.
(but not a bad one)
Now recently I have noticed 4 i my african cichlids having this problem (curved in stomaches)
This is so devistating!
Yesterday I put the 4 cichlids in a hospital tank with some jungle parasite medicine and today I added a little maracyn,and to be safe I put 2 jungle parasite tabs in my 55 gallon as well.
Is there a way to tell if the hospitalized cichlids are getting better?
I assume this must be a desease that spreads? because 2 of my fish have stomachs badly sunk in l,and 1 has a slightly sunk in stomach and the other looks like its just starting to sink in.
I love my cichlids and hate to see this happen! The one with the very slightly sunken stomach also had some puffy "pop eye" but that has gone away.
My water conditions have been perfect for the past 7 years and my fish do breed quite often,in fact one has fry in her mouth right now.
I never had plants in my tank until about 5 months ago i put a money wort plant and a bamboo plant in and have since taken them out.
I wonder if it came from the plants?
But My BIGGEST question is is this shrunken stomach parasite spreadable?
Also I have had an auatic turtle in w/ my cichlids for 6 years now and they live in perfect harmony together, but he does eat the cichlids stool sometimes,I hope this parasite wont effect my turtle too.
Help! plz


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

also ever since I set my 55 gallon tank up years ago I have been using 2 auqaclear 300 filters (now called aqua clear 70)
All this time I have been using the sponge and the carbon inserts.
I just noticed aqua clear makes a 3rd insert, the biomax insert.
Since some of my cichlids have the curved in stomach I just added a biomax insert in one of my auqa clear filters.
Is this a good or bad idea?
What do you guys think of the aquaclear biomax insert?
Sorry to be asking so many questions but I need some of your insights.
Thanks!


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## bones06 (Sep 26, 2007)

First I would not be mixing the Maracyn and the parasite tabs, as the parasite tabs have a mild antibiotic in them. Not sure if they are compatible. Second when dosing the parasite tabs you need to use 1 tablet for every gallon of water the tank can hold. So for the 55g you should use 5-6 of the tabs everytime you dose it. I've had the exact problem that you describe and it was a combination of bloat and I believe something else. I have had great success with the parasite tabs alone, and other times with a Maracyn/maracyn 2 combination for 10 days straight. You need to re-post this in the illness section below and you are sure to get some more help there.


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

oops thanks i put it in illness.
I have the sick ones in a hospital tank,
If the parasite tabs work how long till their bellies should look normal again?
also do you think I should put 5 tabs in my 55 gallon with the rest of the fish to be safe?
Or do you think it could kill or harm my cichlids.
Thanks so much!


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## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

the only way to control intestinal parasites is to treat against them. the same concern, that sends new puppies and kittens to the vet's table for deworming, should be included with your quarantine considerations for all incoming pets. fish included. and if you have a 'poop eater' in house, then treatment needs to be scheduled on a regular basis, to avoid constant reinfections.
sunken belly is considered a secondary affliction, following more subtle, internal deficiencies of development often gone undetected. parasites can cause this. swelling, such as pop eye, is another indicator, that your fish are not totally well. turtles, are a common source of bacteria/parasitic infections intolerable to fish, and often prove to be a poor tank mate for them.


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

I have the visably sick fish in a hospital tank with jungle parasite tab.
For the fish in my 55 gal tank.
I am wondering if pimafix, melafix, or jungle tabs,maracyn or what would be the best bet?
I assume there must be some parasites left behind in the 55 gallon tank?


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## gmaschke (Aug 23, 2008)

I am no expert on anything fish except eating them (not africans  ) but I know pics will probably be of assistance for those more experienced to help you adequately.

Did you remove the carbon?


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

ok I just put the hospitalized cichlids back in the 55 and added 5 and a half jungle parasite tablets.
Cause I noticed another cichlids eye was puffy.
I hope this works.
If you have used jungle parasite tabs before and are reading this.
I would be greatfull to hear how they worked for you for pop eye and curved bellies.
Thanks.
Also should I run my aquaclear filters with just the sponge and no carbon.
Or should I just shut the filter down for a day??


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

I am a hardcore Vegan so I am an expert on NOT eating fish.
:fish:


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

The symptoms you describe can be due to poor water conditions, bacterial infections or parasites.

Before starting any treatment test the water and then do a partial water change of 40% using a good quality declorinator. Siphon the gravel. REMOVE carbon from the filter but don't remove the fuzzy media as this is what holds your beneficial bacteria. Depending on what sort of filter you have you may need to cut open the filter cartridge and shake the carbon out.

JPC: Make sure you are following the package directions! One tab for every ten gallons of water--repeat after a 25% water change and 48 hours. Considering the symptoms you've describe JPC is a good choice. After the fish have had three full treatments wait a week and if they don't show improvement then we'll look into trying something else.

Don't turn your filters off--EVER!  
Fit in as many partial water changes as possible working around your medication schedule. Make sure you're using a good quality declorinator.

Robin

And I'm sorry, I don't know how your turtle will do with the JPC med or if he's at risk for whatever the fish have. How big and what species of turtle? He doesn't try to eat the fish?


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

thanks for the help robin.
I have pretty much done exactly what you described so far i completed my 1st dose yesterday of jungle.
I use 2 auqaclear 300 filters.
I did throw away a sponge in one and put a new one in and cleaned the other one on the same day foolishly prior to all this so it sounds like maybe my ben bacteria is gone?
I do have green algae on my rocks and I use live sand instead of gravel.
Hopefully that algae houses some ben bac.
But if I did remove my ben bacteria do you think it would cause the 3cichlids to have sunken bellies?

My cichlids are constantly breeding so there could be some inbreeding going on in my tank.
I wonder if inbreeding could contribute to some of theese symptoms?
Thanks for the help.
O yes and the turtle eats a vegetarian diet, he does not harm the fish at all, but he does eat their poop.
Sorry to ask so many questions at once but
Are you saying I should never clean out my sponge media section of my filters? Or just clean them one at a time? And I recently picked up a 3rd media section for my auqaclears called biomax,it looks like little pieces of porceline in a net. do you think it would be good to add those after med treatment is done?


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

btw if the site admin wants to remove this post I have moved it to the correct location under illness.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

> I did throw away a sponge in one and put a new one in and cleaned the other one on the same day foolishly prior to all this so it sounds like maybe my ben bacteria is gone?


You seldom need to totally replace those sponges. Rinse them out in a bucket of tank water--or a bucket of declorinated water. If they become heavily gunked up then you can run them under a strong faucet but if it's chlorinated water then this will destroy all beneficial bacteria in the sponge so don't do that kind of cleaning on all your sponges at once. Leave 3-4 weeks between heavy cleaning of filters.



> But if I did remove my ben bacteria do you think it would cause the 3cichlids to have sunken bellies?


No.

The gravel and decorations and even the water house some beneficial bacteria but not as much as your filters do and not enough to keep the tank cycled all by themselves. The beneficial bacteria need oxygen to be able to process the ammonia properly so water needs to be constantly running past/through them.

Robin


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

Thanks for the help.
I have all natural stuff in my tank sand and bigger rocks for them,as for now I am running the filters with no carbon inserts and I added an aqua clear amonia remover insert in 1 of the filters just to be safe.
They will be do for there next dose of jungle tomorrow.
I also went and got them some jungle parasite medicated mini pelet food that I am going to feed them for a while.
Time will tell.
Btw do you know anything about the aquaclear biobag insert that sits as a 3rd insert above the carbon it is supposed to hold ben bac.
I am wondering when this is done if I should add that on top of the big sponge and the carbon bag?
Thanks again.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Your duplicate post in the GA forum has been combined with this one.


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## bones06 (Sep 26, 2007)

bluemoori said:


> Thanks for the help.
> I have all natural stuff in my tank sand and bigger rocks for them,as for now I am running the filters with no carbon inserts and I added an aqua clear amonia remover insert in 1 of the filters just to be safe.
> They will be do for there next dose of jungle tomorrow.
> I also went and got them some jungle parasite medicated mini pelet food that I am going to feed them for a while.
> ...


You can add the biomax insert now, the jungle tabs are very mild and never harmed my beneficial bacteria. Adding the inserts now will help add area for the new bacteria to start colonizing, so I say put them in. Like Robin said *do not use any carbon *until any and all medicine treatments are done.


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## knotty dreadlocks (Oct 31, 2008)

can you post a pic of what the fish looks like. i think one fo my rustys may have this but im not too sure


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

here are some that are look affected
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Now here she is telling my male dolphin "this is my resting/recovering spot!Get out!"
So she does have energy.

Are yours still active?


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

I am not sure if she is affected because she has been holding baby cichlids in her mouth and has not eaten a bite of food in over a month,but she does this all the time when mouth brooding,I never thought to look at her belly the last time.
So I hope after she releases her fry that she gets her tummy back



And then some cichlids including all my blue dolphins look to be in great health, So I hope the medicine doesn't affect them negativley.

I just administered 5.5 more jungle tabs today I am going to give them a med break and see how they do.
They do look to be slightly gaining there bellies back and no more puffy eyes and just an occasional scratching up against rocks now.
I hope they are getting better!


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## knotty dreadlocks (Oct 31, 2008)

my rusty does look like that with a sunken belly. it eats alot but doesnt gain the weight its very active as well. its also losing its fins as well. i just put it in a hospital tank but should i add jungle parasite tabs in the main tank as well. all other fish look very healthy with 1 yellow lab holding


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

My fish seem to be doing better,I hospitalized the sick ones with meds then put them back in with everyone and added jungle tabs to the main tank 2 and a half times,but my other cichlids were showing some signs of sickness.
I really don't know what to say about your tank if it looks healthy maybe leave it alone for now.
My new batch of babies are acting fine and I dosed the tank with jungle while they were in the mother's mouth.
If it were me I would maybe wait on the main tank unless your cichlids are showing signs of parasites or scratching up against stuff a lot.


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## knotty dreadlocks (Oct 31, 2008)

bluemoori said:


> My fish seem to be doing better,I hospitalized the sick ones with meds then put them back in with everyone and added jungle tabs to the main tank 2 and a half times,but my other cichlids were showing some signs of sickness.
> I really don't know what to say about your tank if it looks healthy maybe leave it alone for now.
> My new batch of babies are acting fine and I dosed the tank with jungle while they were in the mother's mouth.
> If it were me I would maybe wait on the main tank unless your cichlids are showing signs of parasites or scratching up against stuff a lot.


its been about 4 days since i put my rusty in the hospital tank and its getting alot better. stomach is almost back to normal. i think i want to do another day of meds to make sure things are good. as far as my main tank everything looks normal to me.


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## bluemoori (Feb 7, 2009)

cool. I hope everything works out for you.


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