Bloat Treatment

[rinmouse]

Hello All,

I have a 55g with 12 demasoni(there used to be 14) 6 long pelvic mdoka and 1 msobo deep(there used to be 7) Levels are 0, 0, and 10nitrate. They had been the tank(which was established already)about 2 weeks before symptoms started. A few weeks ago, the msobo started being reclusive, not eating, white stringy poo. Though I've had fish for years, I've never had africans, and new nothing about bloat. Though advice, I've been treating for bloat with Jungle Parasite clear and API general cure(I bought the petstore out of the one so had to go to the other) I've been treating as per the directions(almost-I've been using 6 tablets for the 55, it's one for every 10 gallons) and then waiting a day, doing a 30% water change, then treating again. I've now treated 5-6 times... I can't remember how many... and though I've only had one more death, some of the fish still have some white stringy poo. I've been keeping the tank lights off. What should I do?

[kay-bee]

I recall your problem with the msobo's but this is the first time I've heard about the white stringy waste your fish have been producing (was this symptom evident with the msobo's as well?). That's a clear sign of the malawi bloat. That's one ailment which should be treated as soon as it becomes evident due to its lethality.

What foods are your fish on and what is the protein content percentage of it? Inappropriate diet is one of the main causes of the malawi bloat.

Can you list the ingredients of both of those meds? (and were you advised to use both of them concurrently?).

Metronidazole is an effective med to treat the bloat (most effective if it's mixed with food and ingested). I've heard that Clout is also very effective, but also a harsher med.

If you were using carbon in your filtration prior to the meds, you have removed the carbon since the treatments began, correct?

[rinmouse]

As for using both the meds, I'm not using them at the same time exactly. I used all the jungle stuff the pet store had. Since they were still symptomatic, I decided to keep treating, and the API general cure has similar ingredients. The white poo was not evident until I only had the one msobo left.... who is still hanging on, but also STILL has white poo. The ingredients on the Jungle Parasite clear are praziquantel, diflubenzuron, metronidazole and acrifavine. The ingredients on the API general cure are metronidazole and I think praziquantel-I no longer have the box. The fish are fed mega one super veggie pellets-protein 33%, nutrifin max spirulina sticks 36% and sometimes nutrafin max spirulina algae flake 44%. I also have a medicated food that has metronidazole in it, but none of them will eat it.

Why is it called bloat anyway... certainly none of them look bloated...

[rinmouse]

oh, and yes, I removed the carbon as soon as I started treatments.

[Barbie]

Stop feeding the other foods and feed the metro food mixed 50/50 and crushed up with their veggie flake. If they haven't eaten in three or four days, then start with the other foods again. I usually feed sparingly when I'm treating for bloat because you're basically adding more rubble behind a blockage and it can cause more harm than good. With fish that have a very long digestive tract like these, a rapid change in foods, along with any stress factor is hard for them to deal with. Basically they're like horses. You don't just switch them from grass hay to alfalfa without causing some serious issues and potentially dying. They just can't adjust how they digest things fast enough to compensate. Usually, as the blockage kills off enough tissue, internal organ failure causes retention of fluids and the fish bloat.

Stringy feces can be a sign of a few things, IME. I would stop the other treatments, do a couple 30% water changes, feed the metro food, and purchase more straight metro. Then I would treat the tank with 400mg/10 gallons (the bottle says less) for 5 days, with a 50% water change before each treatment. I saved 18 Livua Tropheus that way once when I didn't realize they'd figured out how to attack the pot for the catfish enough to blow out the sinking wafers that were WAY too high in protein for them.

Barbie

[rinmouse]

I can't purchase straight metro. I went to all the pet stores in the city I am in. A few didn't have anything for treating internal parasites at all. So I have what I have.

[Barbie]

Check with your local vets. Order it online. It IS available.

Barbie