bloated male cacatuoide

[wrm130]

His belly is quite swollen.  Scales appear to be slightly raised.  I assume this is my fault.  Probably overfed the tank trying to get food to a thin female.  Today is wednesday and I first noticed his condition monday.

I managed to get him to eat a bit of veggie flake the other day...Dont know if that was a good idea or not?  He wouldnt touch a blanched shelled pea today.

At a friends advice I am planning on trying epsom salts tomorrow in a separate tank.

The current tank tests 0,0,0 ph7.4 kh:4 The tank is VERY planted and well established.

Food was NLS small cichlid pellets and/or omega one cichlid pellets.

Fishkopp? Help!!!

This is my favorite fish and I'd hate to lose him due to my mess up.

[Shawn84]

I had that happen to my Triple Red. I added a separate breeder container the one that sit outside your tank. All i did was cut back on his feeding. He was fine after that. Let nature take its course

[angelcraze]

I managed to get him to eat a bit of veggie flake the other day...Dont know if that was a good idea or not?  He wouldnt touch a blanched shelled pea today.

Sorry, I think the pea should be de-shelled.

"The simple anatomy of a green pea is an outer shell, and two small buds inside. The laxative, and the nutritious part of the pea is in the small buds."

To add, when I had a problem like this, fish with a very bloated abdomen, he would not eat the peas either. I did the same thing as Shawn84, I kept the fish in a separate tank and didn't feed at all for about 3 days.  When I started feeding again, I fed only veggie flakes, sparingly, squished into a pellet, like he was used to eating and hand-fed it to him.  I also used Epsom salts in the tank, 1/8 tsp to 5 gallons.  This tank had plants in it and it had no adverse effects on the plants I found.  I left him in this way for months, and his condition slowly improved until this day, he is back in a community tank and breeding as normal.

This fish was absolutely, without a doubt constipated, since he ate a huge bunch of white worms. (the glutton) I wish you all the best, but I do have a question for other members, as to whether anyone tried Epsom salts before for bloated fish, and what was the outcome, particularly if it's safe for plants or inverts.

Good luck wrm130

[wrm130]

 

The epsom salts did not work.  And leaving him be certainly wasnt helping.

The poor guy passed away satuday morning.

Thanks for all for checkin in

[wrm130]

And about two weeks ago, same tank, the same thing started happening to a female agassizi.  she passed as well.  The male is out of the tank and doing ok....

And now....in ANOTHER tank....A Female cacatuoide is starting to bloat.  What is going on here???  Feedings have been greatly reduced...

An added piece of info, there were 4 sae in the tank where this all started....they were in there much much longer than any of the fish that are exhibiting issues now, yet the sae never had any issues.

I've added epsom salts to the tank and actually got the female to eat a pea:)....But my luck hasnt been good.  Help or suggestions appreciated!

[Montrealguy]

Kidney failure brought on by bacterial infections.

What is your water like? What is the hardness?

How often do you change water and how much?

What could be a serious stress on the fish?

Kidney failure is the bane of Apistogramma keepers, and is common when things aren't right in the tank. Usually, it is the result of either dirty water (mulm collected, not enough water changing).

[wrm130]

Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate: 0
kh: 5 (usually its 4)
20% every 5-6 days
temp: 76-77

Serious cause of stress...I moved the pair...then this started...makes sense...BUT I've moved her before.  Always with slow acclimation.  There is nobody else in the tank other than 2 amano shrimp.  Lots of plants and a few clay pots.

[angelcraze]

Kidney failure brought on by possibly a few different reasons, bacterial or protozoan.  If your water conditions and parameters are in check, it could be damage to internal organs cause by an internal parasite, they can even be species specific.