I have a discus that appears to be constipated. It is my fault, as I fed too much dry food that must have expanded in his belly. He is not eating, and was hiding. I hadn't seen him excrete any feces in a few days and I am pretty sure that constipation is the cause. I have tried dosing several times with epsom salt (2 tablespoons/10 gal), and that doesn't seem to have any affect. I did put a few drops of medicinal parafin oil into his mouth and watched him swallow some of it. He did excrete a little bit after that, but not much and is still really bloated. Any suggestions? I haven't fed him in a couple days, and doesn't seem to be interested in food, so I don't know if he would even try to eat a pea or other food soaked in parafin oil. I might be able to take some thawed frozen bloodworms, soak them, and feed them to him with a dropper to see if he will swallow it. I have him in a tank by himself, so please give me some ideas for treatment. So far, nothing seems to fix the problem! Thanks.
constipation treatment?
- Thread starter jjohns
- Start date
Try some frozen daphnia--most fish really go for it, and it has laxative properties as well. Good luck. . . . otherwise, I'd wait another couple of days before feeding, then try again. :dive2:
I regularly have some blanched cucumber or zucchini on a skewer in the tank for my fishies. They love it and are serious poopers all the time (I think veggies work for fish like they do for humans!). In fact that makes me ask the dumb question about the "poop trail". Seems like when I first got my tank, for about the first 9 months or so, their poop was always little short pieces that came out and "broke off" quickly. Now they often have a "trail" almost as long as their body (and sometimes even longer). Is this a sign of something bad? Anyway, I highly recommend blanching veggies for them (in fact they even have had blanched carrot pieces as well and liked them). Any thoughts on the poopy issue? Didn't mean to thread hijack - please forgive me!
Shelling a pea and feeding the inside to a fish will generally help clear out it's digestive tract.
Try soaking the insides of the pea in garlic - it is an appetite stimulant. I'd say the vegetable matter is the way to go...you want to stay away from harder to digest protein food like bloodworms.
webcricket, please give the "how to" for soaking a pea in garlic. What kind (powder mixed with water...?), how much, how long, and would it just be easier to inject it with a needle (like for allergies... very small needle) and leave the outside intact? Mine eventually will eat the outside (most of the time). Do tell...
I crush a clove of fresh garlic, add just a bit of water, and zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Then I soak whatever food I'm using for 5 to 10 minutes. Injecting it isn't necessary - it's not so much the garlic you want them to eat - it really is just the flavor needing to be absorbed in the food.
I've heard of people using garlic oil as well, but not the powder. Perhaps someone else can comment as to whether that works. I imagine as long as it has no salt or other additives, the powder would be fine dissolved in some hot water.
The also make some garlic based appetite products for fish that I have seen at the pet store.
I've heard of people using garlic oil as well, but not the powder. Perhaps someone else can comment as to whether that works. I imagine as long as it has no salt or other additives, the powder would be fine dissolved in some hot water.
The also make some garlic based appetite products for fish that I have seen at the pet store.
I think I will have to try soaking the insides of a pea in garlic and feeding that. I have a bottle of garlic extreme that I got at a pet store, so I will soak a pea in that. Can you use canned peas or do they have to be frozen? Does it make a difference?
If the discus is not eating, garlic treated peas wont help much. I would suggest you up the dose of Epsom to at least 3 tablespoons/10 gals. I was advised recently to go even higher when treating a discus I thought would die for sure. I upped the dose to 3.5 tablespoons (less than the advised amount) combined with a round of EM. He is now in a recovery tank and has resumed eating.