# majorly swollen anus



## tarralb

One of my female cichlids has a MAJORLY swollen anal region. It is huge. Along with that, her stomach is huge. None of my other cichlids are ever fat except her. She obviously eats a ton, and gets fat, and now I'm assuming she is constipated. Should I use epsom salt? She is still eating. If so, how much per gallon? Any other suggestions? Thank you.


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## cichlidaholic

She may be egg bound or there may be some sort of intestinal blockage.

I would add epsom salt at 1 cup per 100G - you'll want to dissolve it in tank water first.


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## tarralb

OK, thank you. This is prob. a dumb question, but my real large cichlids are not eating enough...their bellies are sunk, and smaller ones, such as her, are really fat because they eat too much. Is there anything I can do about this?


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## cichlidaholic

Is this the tank listed in your signature?

If so, it's got to be a high stress situation. These aren't pairing fish, they are harem breeders, meaning one male of a species needs multiple females. You've got alot of zebra types, and tons of crossbreeding potential, just in case you're interested in breeding at all. (I'd be really worried about that Tropheus in this tank, too!)

Also, trying to keep singles and groups doesn't work out well. If the singles are males, they will also gang up on females that are ready to spawn, stressing them out even more.

Stress can do some really crazy things to a tank, including cause disease and illness.

The symptoms you are describing sound suspiciously like bloat - not eating and sunken bellies. Stress is probably the number one cause of this disease.

You can use either of the bloat treatments listed below in the links, but until you straighten out the stocking, it is probably going to be one problem after another with health issues.


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## tarralb

They are all eating, it's just that the big ones require more food than the smaller ones(obviously) and aren't getting enough as opposed to the smaller ones. So the smaller ones get fat, and the bigger ones don't gain enough weight. If I put more food in to feed the bigger ones, the small ones will just get fatter.

I do not breed them, if they breed, they hold and spit the babies out in the main tank and none survive. The only ones that really ever breed are my yellow labs, which is constantly, and my 2 jalo/red zebra hybrid females. They breed with the jalo/red zebra hybrid male. One of those females is the one that is super fat and the one I wrote the post about.

Surprisingly, I have finally established a pretty calm tank, in cichlid terms. None of them are ever beat up looking, none of them are ever sick. I constantly check for signs of stress and disease and they all seem to get along rather well. My Tropheus actually doesn't pay any attention to the other fish at all, and they ignore him as well. I was worried initially, but I have had him for about a year and a half and things are still great with him.

I would love to tweek my groupings of fish, but they have done so well for such a long time that I am afraid to mess around with it. I have done this before and it's been a disaster, and this is the first time that I have had a grouping not kill each other. I have had this exact group for well over a year and they have been doing great(except I added 1 male and 2 female Labeotropheus trewavasae Mpanga reds about 4 months ago but so far so good).

I think with having some that are 5" and some that are 2-3" it is hard to keep the 5" fed enough without having the smaller ones not fed too much, and that is the problem I am experiencing. That female looks like she is going to explode, but she is active and eating just fine.


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## cichlidaholic

There are always piggy eaters in a tank, but none of them should have sunken bellies.

None should be eating enough to look as if they are going to explode, unless you are overfeeding. So, you see, this doesn't really make sense in relation to the ones with sunken bellies. You've got some health issues going on in the tank, and the entire tank probably needs to be treated for bloat. A sunken belly is as much of an indicator of internal parasites as a bloated belly is.

Usually if a set up (stock list) is going to blow up on you, it takes anywhere from 1-2 years. You're right in that time frame. Whether you believe they are stressed or not, I can tell you from your stock list that once they are all fully mature, the tank will be like a time bomb.

I think this is the beginning of your stress related health problems.

But, it doesn't sound like I can convince you, so I will just recommend that you treat the entire tank with one of the links below for bloat. :wink:


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## tarralb

I appreciate your help. I looked the fish over again just now, and 3 of the largest ones have the sunken bellies, one of which has had internal parasites in the past and I thought they went away but prob. not. The only really fat on in the tank is the one with the swollen anus. Should I be treating for internal parasites then? I noticed one of the larger ones starting to poop and it looked white. If so, I read the jungle tabs work well, but what about feeding the food for internal parasites in addition to that? Can I do both, or should I only use one? Thank you.


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## cichlidaholic

You can do both. If you don't feed medicated food, then don't feed at all during treatment.

With the JPC, you will need to do at least 3 treatments, spaced 48 hours apart, with a 25% water change prior to the 2nd and 3rd treatment. You may need to do more than 3 to resolve it completely. Do a good sized water change and substrate vacuuming prior to starting the meds.


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