# Difference between heavy breathing and holding eggs



## cosmiccow (Jun 10, 2007)

I have a female Salousi that I'm not sure if she is holding eggs or breathing hard from stress. 
I can't get a good view to see if her buccal cavity is full.

I've read in the forums that a sick or stressed fish can look as to have labored breathing. Does that resemble tumbling eggs in her mouth?

Thanks,
Tony


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Tumbling eggs looks more like chewing gum. They don't really open their mouths much.

If you can post a pic, we can probably tell you if she's holding.

Is the fish in question behaving oddly otherwise?

Kim


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## cosmiccow (Jun 10, 2007)

Here is a photo of her. I will try to snap a better shot asap.

It does look like she is chewing gum. She is staying hidden behind a cave in the upper part of the tank. She does come out and swims around a bit, then the male chases her back in the cave. She is showing vertical barring which makes me think she is stressed. Over all, she does'nt look terrible, but the younger females I have look great in comparison.


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## cosmiccow (Jun 10, 2007)

Here is a photo of her. I will try to snap a better shot asap.

It does look like she is chewing gum. She is staying hidden behind a cave in the upper part of the tank. She does come out and swims around a bit, then the male chases her back in the cave. She is showing vertical barring which makes me think she is stressed. Over all, she does'nt look terrible, but the younger females I have look great in comparison.


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## lovemycichlids805 (Apr 11, 2008)

Doesn't look like she is holding to me, personally. Looks like labored breathing to me. Sorry


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## cosmiccow (Jun 10, 2007)

Here are two more photos.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I don't think she's holding.

Have you lost any other fish recently?

Are they all eating and behaving normally otherwise?

Any white stringy feces?

How are the others doing?

Kim


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## cosmiccow (Jun 10, 2007)

Thanks for the replies!
All the other fish look fine. Water parameters are fine also.

She is hanging out at the bottom of the tank this morning.

I just caught her and put her in a hospital tank. Treated with Clout. I'm not feeling to optimistic; I hope she pulls through.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

If it is bloat, you'll need to treat the main tank, as well.

You can do so with medicated antiparasitic food, if they are all eating.

You will also want to squeeze in extra water changes and substrate vacuumings to remove infected feces.

Kim


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## cosmiccow (Jun 10, 2007)

Well she did not make it...I'm really not sure what it was that did her in.

For the rest of the fish, I performed a water change with vacuum and fed the fish antiparisitic food. They all fed and I will keep up this rountine for three days.

The long story here is that I got two of these fish via the mail about 10 days ago. The problem is they spent four days in the mail and most likely were very stressed. One of them died a few days later and this one was hanging in and I thought she might make it. I'm not sure if was bloat? I do not have much experience with this disease. The first one that died did have a bloated look to her. This one did not look bloated. ???????

Regarding "white stringy poop". Is this always a sign of bloat? It seems I've seen this every once in awhile with my fish and nothing comes of it. I'm kind of nervous treating with clout. Twice that I've used it, it seems to be the nail in the coffin. How hard is stuff on healthy fish?

The lesson here is that I'm going to quarantine my new arrivals from now on!

Thanks,
Tony


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

4 days is a pretty long shipping time. I would definitely ask for a refund, unless you wanted them to be shipped that way. If they weren't packed properly and fasted before shipping, that can also present problems. I don't order fish via mail for these reasons.

This is why it's a good idea to have a QT set up...Your other fish don't get exposed to anything the new fish might bring in, and the new fish don't have to deal with the stress of being shipped and the aggression and territorial issues that can arise with the introduction to an established tank.

I would go ahead and feed the antiparasitic food for a week, just to be certain, but odds are the deaths were caused by poor shipping.

Fish don't always look bloated with bloat...They can also become emaciated. Most dead fish appear bloated.

White feces isn't usually a problem unless it's accompanied by other bloat like symptoms.

Kim


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