# Moorii Sick, Bloat?



## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

I have a Moorii cichlid that has quit eating. I also noticed a stringy white stool (2 days ago), so I have a sinking suspicion it is bloat. He's on day 3 of not eating. Other than not eating, he seems OK (swimming around, fins look good, etc.).

The tank is a 90 gal, 48" drilled all male Hap/Peacock setup. All of the fish are juveniles just starting to color up.

*Fish List:*
Hap Moorii
OB Peacock
Sunshine Peacock
Electric Blue Hap
German Red
Lemon Jake
Ngara Flametail
Red Empress
Red Top Lwanda
Yellow Blaze
Bi-Color Peacock
Taiwan Reef
Mloto Undu
2 x Sydontis Catfish
4x Bosemani Rainbows

The fish all get along OK. Normal territorial chasing, but nothing over the top from what I have observed. The Moorii especially just kind of does his own thing and doesn't get picked on/chased too much.

The tank has been cycled for about a 6-8 weeks now.

*Water parameters:* 
Temperature: 80 degrees 
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
pH: 8.0
GH: high/off the chart from API kit (16 drops)
KH: 161.1 
Nitrate: around 10 PPM

I feed the fish a varied diet of NLS pellets, Spirulina flakes, Omega One Cichlid Flakes, and the occasional frozen cube.

Maintenance consists of weekly 20% WC with a monthly cleaning/50% change. I always use Prime with water changes.

Do you think this is Bloat? Right now the Moorii is the only fish showing symptoms. All of the others are eating and acting normal. Unfortunately, I don't have a quarantine tank at my disposal. I have ordered 10mg of Metroplex from Amazon and it will be here by Friday. Other than dosing with the Metroplex, how do you recommend I proceed? Given my very hard water, is it safe to add Epsom Salts as mentioned in the Bloat article from this site? I'd love to save the Moorii, of course, but also want to make sure the rest of the fish remain healthy. Thank you in advance for any help/advice you may be able to offer.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

I'd mix up 250mg of metronidazole and 1 teaspoon of epsom salt dissolved in about two teaspoons of tank water or garlic guard preferred with 4 tablespoons of the NLS pellets and begin feeding asap, also add 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of epsom salt directly to the aquarium.


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

Thank you. Will do. The Moorii isn't eating, should I be treating the tank water as well? Also, will the Epsom Salts send my GH even further through the roof? Does that matter? Really appreciate the advice.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Worst case scenario you'll have to use a syringe to force feed him meds. But yes treat the water. Is he showing any interest in food at all?


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

No interest. He swims up to it, and then swims away. This is 3 straight feedings like that. Tried multiple types of food. Was a pretty good eater beforehand.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Sometimes that garlic guard will get them interested but no guarantees


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I've never used Epsom salt though many have with success. But the metronidazole in the water will help as well. I mix metro, food and tank water to moisten in a little cup and dump the whole mess in the tank. Some eat...some just inhale.


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

Thank you. Do you mix the whole tank dose in with the food and tank water, or dose the tank, and then also put some with the food?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

caldwelldaniel26 said:


> I'd mix up 250mg of metronidazole and 1 teaspoon of epsom salt dissolved in about two teaspoons of tank water or garlic guard preferred with 4 tablespoons of the NLS pellets and begin feeding asap, also add 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of epsom salt directly to the aquarium.


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

Thanks to you both. I'll keep you updated on the progress.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Okay please do


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

Here's the latest: I've put the medicine into the tank, and also mixed it with some food/epsom salts as discussed. The Moorii died overnight, unfortunately, and now I have 2 other fish looking bad. The flametail for sure has the issue as he isn't eating and had the white, stringy poop yesterday. The yellow blaze is still eating, but just doesn't look well. Hopefully the medicine works in time to save them and their tank mates. I've gone a little light with the epsom salt, since the tank already has Seachem Cichlid Lake Salt in it, which contains magnesium.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Sorry about the fish, bloat can act very quickly once you start to see symptoms. Just for future reference, you can make cichlid salt with calcium carbonate, epsom salt and a little kosher salt for a lot cheaper.


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

Thank you for the tip. I will try that next time rather than buying the Seachem stuff.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

All I do is get a five gallon bucket and fill it halfway to experiment with how much of each ingredient it takes to achieve the desired water parameters.


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

That's a great idea. I will do that for sure. I suspect that I won't need much of the epsom salt or calcium carbonate since my tap water is already really hard. I wish the KH was a little higher, but it's in the acceptable range. pH out of the tap is around 8.0 as well.

Back to the patients, is there anything else I can do other than continue dosing/feeding with the metronidazole? I still have 2 fish who aren't eating, and some of the fish who are still eating have had the stringy poops.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

If your tap is already that good, I wouldn't worry about adding anything. I've heard of giving clout baths but that stuff is like pulling out the nuclear arsenal. I don't recommend using it in the main tank, it will destroy the bacterial colony. I've always had luck with epsom salt. You have to add enough to the water even if it makes the hardness go through the roof...


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

Thank you. I'll load up on the epsom salt after work. I fear the two current non-eaters may be a lost cause, but I'm hoping to limit the damage there.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Alright man, best of luck. I'd continue the metronidazole as well.


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

Will do. I dosed again yesterday, will do the epsom salt plus the medicine soaked food today, and then dose again tomorrow.


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

One more question: Is it OK to do PWCs during this whole process as long as I replace the epsom salts?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Of course, I encourage you to keep the water as clean as possible during any treatment.


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

Just an update: the flametail and the yellow blaze are still hanging in there. Both are starting to show some interest in food. The yellow blaze is very skinny, and I keep seeing him eat/spit out/eat again. Hopefully he is getting some of the medicated food into his belly. The flametail looks much better. He is swimming around, and trying to eat as well. The rest of the fish seem fine. Hopefully these 2 guys pull through.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Thanks for the update, hopefully they pull through successfully


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

The fish are still alive and are now eating well. The blaze still looks very skinny and hangs around the bottom a bit, but he is markedly better than he was. The flametail seems fine now. At this point, do you guys think it's OK to stop the metro? It's been a couple of weeks. All of the other fish seem fine. I have 1 pack left. I was going to use it and stop. At that point, I'd like to do a large water change. When I do, is it OK to skip the epsom salts? Thanks again for all of your good advice.


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## morrismorris (Mar 21, 2017)

Any chance you can get the skinny guy in a smaller hospital tank? I recently had the same issue; the fish would grab the food then spit out and do that repeatedly but if another fish were close by, would take the pellet. I moved it to a small 10 gallon for a week until it was taking food and eating without spitting out, moved back to the main and all is well. Just a suggestion from similar experience.


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

Thank you. I do not have access room (our wife's permission) for another tank right now. He isn't spitting the food out anymore. He is keeping it down. He is just skinny either from when he wasn't eating, or from something else.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

I'd stick with the epsom salt for a little while longer until everyone is back to 100% but if you've been feeding metro for 14 days then it would be best to stop now


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## briang8r (Jun 14, 2017)

Thanks. I've also been treating the tank water with the metro. I'll cut it off and keep the same level of epsom salt for the time being. Thank you.


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