# Malawi Bloat! I suspect my fish have it.



## Kevin007 (Jul 20, 2008)

My fish's stomach is starting to look ..bigger. I have been feeding them a bit more because one is extremely skinny.

Anyway, their main diet is OmegaOne Cichlid flakes, its the only thing they eat. I don't think it is malawi bloat because I've had them since October on the same diet and there have only been one death due to bullying.

I have always noticed that on some days, some have white stringy poo, on other days, the same fish could have brown poop. I see alot of red/brown poop on the sand though, so I don't know what is going on.

They still eat like pigs and swim crazily near the surface when I am watching them so no loss of appetite.

But their stomach is clearly getting bigger, possible due to the fact that I am feeding more? I'll fast them for one day.

Maybe some are about to lay eggs? Only one female spawned for me so far, maybe the others are about to? Especially since I fattened them up?


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## Kevin007 (Jul 20, 2008)

here is an example, if this is bloat, this is one of the very first stages


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## letstalkfish (Dec 25, 2008)

either its bloat or a female about to drop eggs. you could always use epsom salt as it will help release some pressure.


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## Kevin007 (Jul 20, 2008)

letstalkfish said:


> either its bloat or a female about to drop eggs. you could always use epsom salt as it will help release some pressure.


I really don't want to add anything until it is absolutely necessary. That is a dominant male, unlikely to lay eggs.

Are you 100% sure that is bloat?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If you have white stringy poo and you feed only brown food, I'd watch that individual fish to be sure it's eating. To diagnose the white stringy poo you watch each fish until you see it hanging from the fish.

If you know it is your dominant male that has the white stringy poo, it should be easy to see if he is eating. I'd probably put him in the hospital tank until I was sure.


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## StngStr (Mar 1, 2006)

skip 2 or 3 days feeding and see if they thin up. I suspect over feeding.


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## Kevin007 (Jul 20, 2008)

I hope it is over feeding.

I havn't had the time to look at individual fishes until it is pooping, but I have seen some that have white stringy poo and brown poo on another day.

I am worried that my smallest cichlid will starve to death, he is VERY skinny, all the other mbunas have been eating his flakes too.

Which is kind of ironic, some over fed and some underfed.

Thanks for the help.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The thing about the stringy poo is that it clings throughout the day. So you don't have to watch "until" it poops...check check for long trailing threads as you watch each fish at feeding time to ensure it is eating.


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## knotty dreadlocks (Oct 31, 2008)

what if their stomachs are only bigger towards the rear. would that be a sign of bloat


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Bloat does not always cause "bloating". IME, this only happened once. Sometimes the fish becomes emaciated instead. IME the telling symptoms are: white thready poop and not eating.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

My main concern would the the overly skinny fish that got you started overfeeding in the first place. :thumb:

Has this fish gained any weight?

Honestly, the ones in the pic just look like they are overfed, but the skinny one might have internal parasites or skinny/wasting disease. Fish can linger for months with this.

So, rather than overfeeding all of them, you probably should have just removed the skinny one and treated him/her.

Overfeeding can be a contributor to bloat, as well.

The main symptoms you are looking for with bloat are white stringy feces (not always indicative of bloat - only when combined with other symptoms), reclusive behaviour, spitting or refusing food, and sometimes they appear stressed (clamped fins, loss of colour) but not always.

Epsom salt will serve as a laxative and help repair the damage you've done with overfeeding, and I would strongly recommend adding it at 1 cup per 100G.


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## Kevin007 (Jul 20, 2008)

Yay, im liking the responses!

Everything is perfectly normal, its just the bloated stomach and the occasional white stringy poo, but the same fish can have normal poop a few days later.

As for the overly skinny one, I tried to scoop him out, but hes incredibly smart so I can't do anything about it. He has a concave stomach, but so did my female when she was holding, shes fine now.

He was so weak at one point that he hid towards the top of the tank with nipped fins, since then I made sure he had his food everyday. Hes looking a little bit better, not a big difference, i noticed this last week.


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## Kevin007 (Jul 20, 2008)

yay i went to check the fish and none of them have any signs of bloat.

The only problem is that one yellow lab with the concave stomach.


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## Kevin007 (Jul 20, 2008)

Is it ok to start feeding them tonight? I don't want to starve them too bad. Especially the one with the concave stomach.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I would pull the one with the concave stomach and treat. If the others have fattened up, he should have as well. He can have internal parasites, even though it has been awhile since you got him. They can live for months in that condition.

I would put him in a hospital tank and follow one of the bloat treatment options in the link below. If you don't see any improvements then, you may be dealing with wasting disease or fish tuberculosis.

For the main tank, I'd feed them a medicated antiparasitic food, just to make sure they haven't caught anything from the one. Jungle makes one, you'll need to feed only that food, and soak it in tank water for 20 minutes before feeding...

I don't think you're dealing with an epidemic here, but I do think you've got some problems with that one fish that may manifest in your other fish later if you don't take action. (The other fish might already be infected, sometimes it takes weeks to show symptoms.)


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## Kevin007 (Jul 20, 2008)

cichlidaholic said:


> I would pull the one with the concave stomach and treat. If the others have fattened up, he should have as well. He can have internal parasites, even though it has been awhile since you got him. They can live for months in that condition.
> 
> I would put him in a hospital tank and follow one of the bloat treatment options in the link below. If you don't see any improvements then, you may be dealing with wasting disease or fish tuberculosis.
> 
> ...


That sounds very scary, I normally don't want to put extra chemicals in my tank though, I'll have to seriously consider it.

Thanks for the reply.


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## Kevin007 (Jul 20, 2008)

I scooped him out to a breeding net, I'll give him one more week to fatten up, it he doesn't then I'll take the next step.


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## Kevin007 (Jul 20, 2008)

The yellow lab is clearly starting to fatten up.

I noticed one of my perfectly healthy looking rusty with stringy poo.

In general, stringy poo alone is not an indication of a disease, correct?


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