constipation treatment?

[jjohns]

How high of a dose of epsom salt were you advised to go? I am curious to hear how high of a dose of epsom is suppose to still be "safe"? Did your discus look like his belly was almost ready to burst?

My discus' belly is really big and I was figuring he is goner for sure. He is still pretty active and when I net him, he still puts up a good fight. So, that is a really good sign and another reason I don't think it is dropsy or any other disease. He does not have the pinecone look either. He still swims around the tank quite a bit more than most sick fish would, but his belly just looks like it is going to pop. I sure wish I could relieve the pressure for him. I might try soaking a pea and mushing it up some in garlic and putting a few drops of it into his mouth with a dropper. I have be able to get him to swallow some things that way. Otherwise, I don't think he will pick at or try to eat a pea on his own. That is why I was putting some castor oil in his mouth with a dropper to try to treat that way. And, I will do that in conjuction with the epsom salt treatment at ~3.5 tablespoons/gallon.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I had a slightly different problem- my fish had not started to waste or bloat too much. Rather he stopped eating and pooping, then went nose down and stayed near the bottom and finally he pancaked on the the bottom. His color faded and then he went dark and I came within a heartbeat of putting him down. I moved him to a 10 gal and raised the temp and he recovered somewhat- ie unpancaked and back to being nose down. I was advised by a discus breeder to put him into a 10 gal tank, crank the temp ghigher and add 1/4 cup of epsom and treat with antibiotics. I knew he had a swim bladder problem but wasnt sure of the cause.

I started with less than 1/4 cup and never actually got that high, however I did get to 3.5 tablespoons.

 

[jjohns]

Thanks for your help. I will do the epsom salt again in the higher dose and try the pea soaked in garlic and see what happens. I am pretty skeptical that anything will work, but don't have any other choice.

 

[saganco]

On the other "end" of the constipation problem - does it mean anything when their "poop trail" is really long? Or different colors? Is there a good internet guide to all this? Sometimes stringy, sometimes thick and almost hard looking? What a "crappy" post I'm putting out here, sorry folks!!

 

[Dkarc]

On the other "end" of the constipation problem - does it mean anything when their "poop trail" is really long? Or different colors? Is there a good internet guide to all this? Sometimes stringy, sometimes thick and almost hard looking? What a "crappy" post I'm putting out here, sorry folks!!

If its white/transluscent in color then something is not right. It is either 1 of 3 things. Intestinal Flagellates, Intestinal worms, or Internal bacterial infection. Hard to tell what it is unless a better description is given....

-Ryan