# Bloat Prevention Advice



## intohealth (Jun 23, 2008)

I've learned my lesson the hard way a few times, causing bloat in my fish. I've finally figured it all out, and it makes perfect sense. Of course, bloat can be caused by a few things, but I'm going to address diet. If you want healthy fish that don't get bloat, stick to flake food and very small pellets. I've lost fish to bloat on three occasions, shortly after giving them a food that I rarely give them. First time was brine shrimp, second time was mysis shrimp, and third time was romaine lettuce and zucchini. None of these foods exist in Malawi, so it's not natural or healthy for your fish to eat them. They don't pass through the digestive system as they should, so the fish gets blocked up and bloated quickly, then dies. There is nothing you can do but watch them die, unless by some miracle they are able to pass the food before they blow up. These fish should never have a big abdomen. I'm watching a juvenile Red Top Lawanda hiding out in the back of the tank, with his sides bulging out, and just hoping he does not die from the romaine and zucchini he ate two days ago. I hope this information helps someone avoid the mistakes I have made.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

I've not had constipation (which is what he sounds like you may be facing). I've read that Epson salts in the water and peas have a laxative effect. You might try putting him in a separate tank and trying that. If it were me, I'd also have pulled him out and put him in a hospital tank and treated for bloat, if that's what I thought it was. I personally don't leave dying fish in the main tank, for several reasons.


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

Many times fish get bloat from eating too much period. I wouldn't blame all of those foods.
I feed all of those things to my fish and they don't get bloat.

If you want to address diet you need to address feeding amounts and how often to feed first.
When a fish gets bloat I assume it was over fed or fed something they could not digest. 
Brine shrimp, mysis shrimp, romaine lettuce and zucchini can all be digested fairly easily.

Epsom salt does serve as a laxative but I think it might be too late for your sick fish.
Put it in a hospital tank so it is stress free and treat with clout.
That is the only thing that has ever worked for me. Oh yeah, keep the water very clean.

Intohealth, I admire your attempt to help others in avoiding this dreadful disease.
I just don't think it was the food but more the amount.
I would also make sure water quality and stress factors were addressed.

If you would like to tell us more about the tank I think we can pin down the exact cause of the illness. There are some very knoweledgable members and moderators here that have extensive experience with bloat.


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## chapman76 (Jun 30, 2004)

I agree with smellsfishy1 here. I highly doubt if it was the foods. None of what we feed our fish is from Lake Malawi.

Pellet size has nothing to do with bloat either. Flake food is highly wasteful and IMO leads to lower water quality due to all food that gets sucked up into the filters and just congeals(sp) on the filter pads. That lower water quality would have more to do with causing bloat that any of the foods you mentioned.


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## khaki (Jan 12, 2008)

IMO*, African cichlids should NOT be fed FROZEN food at all. OR anything with high protein.*


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## chapman76 (Jun 30, 2004)

khaki said:


> IMO*, African cichlids should NOT be fed FROZEN food at all. OR anything with high protein.*


I disagree with that statement a lot. My tangs thrive on mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, and baby brine. For mbuna, I agree. I would never feed frozen to them. I do feed frozen to some of my haps, but it's not a regular occurace.


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## smellsfishy1 (May 29, 2008)

The type of fish need to be considered before making assumptions. 
As for protein content, if it is within reason I don't see that being an issue especially if it is from a seafood source as opposed to mammalian or inappropriate protein source.

Actually there really isn't a problem with feeding frozen foods as long as the food is appropriate for the fish. Chapman gives a good example of his haps.

A fish getting bloat is a serious and stubborn blockage.
If the food can be digested and processed easily, bloat is not likely to occur in relation to food.


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## khaki (Jan 12, 2008)

oops. *When i said African Cichlids i personally meant Mbuna*


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## intohealth (Jun 23, 2008)

This is my personal experience. Each time "bloat" has happened, it's been when I've introduced one of these foods. I don't come close to overfeeding, and my nitrate is at 10ppm. Perhaps when they have a chunk of foreign veggies that they can freely eat, that could allow overfeeding. I just wanted to offer a possible solution for one cause of "bloat." There is unlikely any benefit from feeding these foods that the fish would never encounter in the wild.


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## why_spyder (Mar 2, 2006)

intohealth said:


> There is unlikely any benefit from feeding these foods that the fish would never encounter in the wild.


Well, unless you are going to setup a huge biotope system with plankton and other microorganisms from the lake - I would stick to a good quality pellet/flake food. :lol:


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## Terrence23 (Oct 2, 2008)

There's a lot of information on bloat in the library section here. From what I've read, it isn't caused by food blocking up in the fish's system but an internal organism found normally in their intestines that multiplies out of control due to stress or fatty food. The volume of these parasites is what causes the blockage.

Food like brine shrimp and bloodworms are particularly bad for Mbuna if fed more than sparingly due to the fat content. I've had cases of bloat in my main tank when and I was only feeding NLS and spirulina flake. Stress from aggression was probably the culprit in my case and it might be what's causing the bloat in your fish. I've fed veggies like tomato, zucchini and peas to mine and even the sensitive Mbuna like Demasoni were fine after gorging themselves on it.

I was able to cure a couple of cases by of bloat by isolating the sick fish in a quarantine tank and treating with Clout. It's harsh medicine but I can tell it worked because the fish would poop out clumps of whitish dead parasites(kinda gross) and recover its appetite and activity a couple days later. I'm not sure you can cure a fish that has the bloated, ballooned up appearance. I think by then it's too late according to what the articles here say.


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## Denny (Sep 27, 2008)

Read up on furanace. Very effective in curring bloat. Isolate the fish in Q TANK. The furanace will turn the tank water yellowish-green. This is normal. Don't overfeed your fish. Left over food turning bad and then eaten by your fish is the main cause of bloat. Keep them slightly hungry. M. size good quality pellet food seems to be the best size. Pellets will swell within once eaten. Brine shrimp and blood worms often go bad very quickly often leading to bloat.. I feed mine as a treat live grass shrimp which seems to keep their aggrestion and attention from each other, as well as, giving them exercise in chase and catch.


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## doza42 (Feb 21, 2008)

I feed my Mbuna seaweed used in sushi rolls. But I do think they need a little bit of protein (especially the larger ones), so i supplement their diets with frozen brineshrimp with spiralina twice a week (like someone else said it helps limit aggression). My main staple is seaweed though. It is important to feed them as they eat in the wild, which is in small quantities sporadically during the day (hard to do if you work 12 hours a day). It is very hard to mimic their exact diets in the wild, trial and error using what we have, teaching us the most. I have yet to lose a fish to bloat with the routine I use. I try to stay away from pellets that are high in protein and that have fish meal as the first ingredient. But pellets I think are more convenient sometimes so I keep HBH supersoft spirulina pellets handy. Those are the only pellets I feel comfortable enough to use.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

NLS 100% of the time works for me, and prompt removal of any fish being stressed (chased day-in and day-out, hiding at surface, etc.) by the others before it can develop bloat. I'm a firm believer that bloat is stress related as opposed to food related (but bad food choices can contribute to stress).

Spirulina itself is very high in protein. NLS is just right, LOL.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

This entire discussion is pointless without knowing the species and dietary needs of the fish involved. 

While I do believe that an abrupt change in food can cause digestive problems, I don't believe the food will actually cause bloat per se. The digestive problems might lead to bloat, but unless the food is totally inappropriate for the fish you are keeping, it's not what is causing your problems.

IMO, your safest bet with the health of your fish is to stick to one good quality food, and forget all the "supplements". This way, hobbyist don't wind up trying to figure out which food is causing their problems, as you are right now. The extras that you are feeding are more for your benefit than the benefit of the fish.

Stress also plays a huge part in any illnesses we deal with in our tanks. It's so easy to stock these fish inappropriately, which will in turn increase the stress levels in the tank. Stress weakens the immune system of the fish, leaving them wide open to a myriad of health issues. It just so happens that the most common stress induced illness with Malawi cichlids happens to be bloat.

Water quality can also be a stressor in a tank, so anytime you have recurrent problems, you need to take a look at your tank maintenance habits, as well as the amount of filtration and oxygen supply you have to the tank.

There are too many contributing factors to problems like this to blame it on food.

Have you treated the main tank every time you've dealt with bloat, or did you just treat the obviously affected fish?

Did you do alot of water changes in an effort to remove any potentially infected feces?

What treatment regimen did you use each time?

How far apart were the cases of bloat that you encountered?

Bloat can spread so slowly through a tank that we often consider each incident as being new, when in fact the fish has been infected since the last infestation. I've seen fish linger as long as 6 weeks with bloat. If the tank is relatively new, then it is likely that you never cured the initial bloat in your tank to start with. It is not uncommon to have to treat more than one round of treatment.


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

Nice post *cichlidaholic*, always the voice of reason. :wink:


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Hoosier Tank said:


> Nice post *cichlidaholic*, always the voice of reason. :wink:


I'm afraid my husband would beg to differ... :lol:

Hey, maybe I should show him this post???


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## Denny (Sep 27, 2008)

Read up on furanace. Very effective in curring bloat. Isolate the fish in Q TANK. The furanace will turn the tank water yellowish-green. This is normal. Don't overfeed your fish. Left over food turning bad and then eaten by your fish is the main cause of bloat. Keep them slightly hungry


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