Dying Albino Socolofi

So I have another sick socolofi. I would not have even mentioned at all (as everyone says it is just nature) but this fish has some different symptoms & does not look as bad as the last one. He has no appetite, swollen belly & and his teeth are brown (none of the others seem to have brown teeth but they don't stay still long enough for me to notice either). He is also by far the biggest socolofi I have!

I have moved him to the QT. From my research online it sounds like bloat. I am going shopping now anyways so while I wait for a response I am going to pick up some Metronidazole & Epson salt just in case you guys agree, if not it is always good to have anyways! :)

100_1392.JPG 100_1393.JPG
 
Totally agree with Boona and your prognosis..

Quick medication, water change and diet change should bring it back around and you were right to place it in the QT.. wow you are having some luck there i hope all goes well for you and the fishes..
 
Thanks M. Boona & Pitbull!
Well not one of my local stores had it in stock so I am ordering it online. But both of my LFS did not recommend meds unless completely necessary but did recommend using cichlid salt, especially since I have a water softener. They also said that African cicihlids are known to scratch/flash but I don't know about that one.

So for now I have added a 1/2 dose of cichlid salt and some Epsom salt & I will see how things go.

Pitbull you mentioned changing the diet, what should I change? I am only feeding what has already been recommended to me. :(

myswtsins said:
I feed them twice a day slowly over about 45 - 60 second period. They get NLS every evening except Sunday when they fast.

A.M. Foods
Sunday - Fast
Monday - Ocean Nutrition Veggie Flake
Tuesday - ON Veggie Flake (1/2) & algae wafers
Wednesday - Veggies (cucumbers, carrots or lettuce)
Thursday - ON Veggie Flake
Friday - ON Veggie Flake (1/2) & algae wafers
Saturday - Hikari Bio-Pure Spirulina Brine shrimp
Click to expand...

At least I got to go to the fish store and see have beautiful my fish are in comparison! (the ones that are surviving anyways!) :)

*EDIT* I forgot to ask if anyone recommends a certain salt or liquid in particular? and the salt should not hurt my plants right?
 
Some plants will be fine but some do not tolerate salt, so it will be a hit and miss situation.. Yeah i just remembered that your feeding almost a spirulina diet, that is worrisome what do you think the percentage is from protein from your feedings..

As for salt i use regular table salt non iodized from grocery store at 1TBL spoon per 5gal but i have never used Epsom salts and i hear that Epsom salt is more for hardness issues in all..

Your pet shop is correct never medicate unless completely necessary i didn't get into it on the info because it can be a touchy situation type feeling with hobbyists..

The whole medicate or not to medicate is for hobbyist that don't have a clue what is wrong with their fish and they throw in a medication soup mix which will equal out bad for the fishes..

So at this point it may be Bloat or some type of Intestinal Parasite that may be the culprit try the salt route with frequent water changes and see if any progress on health is restored to the fish.. If not you may have to medicate..
 
Pittbull said:
Some plants will be fine but some do not tolerate salt, so it will be a hit and miss situation.. Yeah i just remembered that your feeding almost a spirulina diet, that is worrisome what do you think the percentage is from protein from your feedings..
Click to expand...
Huh? The only thing that is high in spirulina is the 1 cube of brine shrimp a week, which I was told was good for them to have 1 meal of spirulina a week. (My rustys get most of that anyways, certainly not the albinos getting a surplus of it) All the foods are under 35% protein except the spirulina brine shrimp.

Pittbull said:
As for salt i use regular table salt non iodized from grocery store at 1TBL spoon per 5gal but i have never used Epsom salts and i hear that Epsom salt is more for hardness issues in all..
Click to expand...
I am using the epsom salt in the QT as a laxitive for the bloated guy.

Pittbull said:
Your pet shop is correct never medicate unless completely necessary i didn't get into it on the info because it can be a touchy situation type feeling with hobbyists..

The whole medicate or not to medicate is for hobbyist that don't have a clue what is wrong with their fish and they throw in a medication soup mix which will equal out bad for the fishes..

So at this point it may be Bloat or some type of Intestinal Parasite that may be the culprit try the salt route with frequent water changes and see if any progress on health is restored to the fish.. If not you may have to medicate..
Click to expand...
I have always been one to try to avoid medicating but like you said sometimes you have no choice. Although from my understanding if it is bloat, it is already too late for meds even.
Dumb question. Why should I add the table salt? :) I have had aquarium salt in the tank & now I am using the cichlid salt, is there any further reason to be adding salt?
 
Isn't all of these foods high in spirulina or kelp.. or are you feeding something different at different times..

A.M. Foods
Sunday - Fast
Monday - Ocean Nutrition Veggie Flake
Tuesday - ON Veggie Flake (1/2) & algae wafers
Wednesday - Veggies (cucumbers, carrots or lettuce)
Thursday - ON Veggie Flake
Friday - ON Veggie Flake (1/2) & algae wafers
Saturday - Hikari Bio-Pure Spirulina Brine shrimp


Salt is a remedy for the ease of breathing gill function along with a stress reducer and will step up the healing process, well that's what i have heard, that aquarium and cichlid salt is just salt now the cichlid salt will have a little more trace elements just for cichlids but basically the same..
 
I had no idea they were all high in spirulina! :eek: Kelp is also an issue? Kelp is the 8th ingredient in the ON Veggie flake & spirulina is the 17th. Being that low on the list and with a protein count of 35% I would not have though it was high in spirulina. The ON Veggie flake is specially designed for herbivore African cichlids too. The algae wafers have no spirulina or kelp & of course the veggies do not as well. Spirulina is the 8th ingredient in the NLS (which they get every evening).

I really thought I had a good feeding list, seeing as how it was approved so many times. :( I certainly never heard that kelp is also a problem.
 
Sorry to hijack but I had no idea spirulina was an issue.

I feed my fish veggie flakes in the morning then african cichlid pellets in the evening. They fast on Friday and get fresh veggies on Saturday before the water change on Sunday. For a while I was only feeding the pellets which have have a protein count of 45%. I've never had any issues. Doesn't NLS also have a high protein percent? The whole malawi bloat thing has always confused me anyway :( myswtsins I'm sorry for all the rotten luck you are having lately! You really are doing everything right I have no idea why this is happening.
 
Feel free to hijack my threads at anytime! :) We are all here to learn. Thanks blue2fyre.
From what I understood NLS is fine & as long as other foods are kept under 36% protein (some even say 38%) they should also be fine. Everything pitbull is telling me now though is news to me.

So the little guy passed away a few minutes ago. Unlike any of the others when he died he went belly up but still on the bottom of the tank, the others were on the bottom but sideways. So I did an "autopsy" (to the best of my ability) in hopes of finding an answer. I found nothing. When I cut open his belly there was a definite air/gas escaping but nothing looked particularly irritated, infested or bloated even. There was some slight discoloration on his scales behind his left pectoral fin.

Now of course I don't really know what I am looking at but my guess is that everything looked healthy, I have seen the inside of sport fish so I have some small idea what the insides should look like.

Is there anything in particular I should take a look at before he is laid to rest? I do not want to lose anymore fish, especially my biggest ones. :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom