Malawi Bloat Disease...

[Bruce Moore]

I have a Red Zebra that seems to be suffering from bloat. I placed him 2
weeks ago into my 10 gal. "hospital" tank and began a long phase of
treatments.

Here's what I tried after contacting fish dealers and reading on the web...

First - Maracyn 2 and Maracyn for 5 days.

Second - CLOUT for 2 days.

Third - Metronidazole (250MG) for 3 days

Fourth - Back to the First treatment.

I have run out of ideas.... he eats VERY little if at all, he stays mostly
on the bottom, sometimes on a 45 degree angle. He occasionally swims up and
about but not for long. His body seems swollen, and there's some bulging
right on his belly, beneath his gill area. He had some redness near his
gills and on top of his head, which seem to be almost gone.

I have kept the water at 82-84 degrees, with Cichlid Salt and Epsom Salt
added. I have done numerous partial and complete water changes, especially
between medications. I don't know what else to do... it's heartbreaking,
but I refuse to "flush" a living fish....

Bruce-NJ

P.S. I've had Cichlids for about 1 year.... I lost a few to cotton mouth a
few months ago, and I saved one other (blue melachronomus) that had pop-eye
and cotton mouth.

I appreciate any time you can take with your suggestions...

[The Madd Hatter]

You're doing something right if he's lived long enough for you to do all
this. Bloat is usually pretty fatal once the signs are readily recognizable.
Keep up the daily water changes and especially the epson salt. Make sure you
don't have any carbon in the filter to absorb the medication. Beyond that,
there isn't much you can do. It all depends on how far gone the fish is, and
how much damage has been done internally. Oh, keep lighting to a minimum
too.
"Bruce Moore" > wrote in message
...
> I have a Red Zebra that seems to be suffering from bloat. I placed him 2
> weeks ago into my 10 gal. "hospital" tank and began a long phase of
> treatments.
>
> Here's what I tried after contacting fish dealers and reading on the
web...
>
> First - Maracyn 2 and Maracyn for 5 days.
>
> Second - CLOUT for 2 days.
>
> Third - Metronidazole (250MG) for 3 days
>
> Fourth - Back to the First treatment.
>
> I have run out of ideas.... he eats VERY little if at all, he stays mostly
> on the bottom, sometimes on a 45 degree angle. He occasionally swims up
and
> about but not for long. His body seems swollen, and there's some bulging
> right on his belly, beneath his gill area. He had some redness near his
> gills and on top of his head, which seem to be almost gone.
>
> I have kept the water at 82-84 degrees, with Cichlid Salt and Epsom Salt
> added. I have done numerous partial and complete water changes,
especially
> between medications. I don't know what else to do... it's heartbreaking,
> but I refuse to "flush" a living fish....
>
> Bruce-NJ
>
> P.S. I've had Cichlids for about 1 year.... I lost a few to cotton mouth
a
> few months ago, and I saved one other (blue melachronomus) that had
pop-eye
> and cotton mouth.
>
> I appreciate any time you can take with your suggestions...
>
>

[Rick]

"Bruce Moore" > wrote in message
...
> I have a Red Zebra that seems to be suffering from bloat. I placed him 2
> weeks ago into my 10 gal. "hospital" tank and began a long phase of
> treatments.
>
> Here's what I tried after contacting fish dealers and reading on the
web...
>
> First - Maracyn 2 and Maracyn for 5 days.
>
> Second - CLOUT for 2 days.
>
> Third - Metronidazole (250MG) for 3 days
>
> Fourth - Back to the First treatment.
>
> I have run out of ideas.... he eats VERY little if at all, he stays mostly
> on the bottom, sometimes on a 45 degree angle. He occasionally swims up
and
> about but not for long. His body seems swollen, and there's some bulging
> right on his belly, beneath his gill area. He had some redness near his
> gills and on top of his head, which seem to be almost gone.
>
> I have kept the water at 82-84 degrees, with Cichlid Salt and Epsom Salt
> added. I have done numerous partial and complete water changes,
especially
> between medications. I don't know what else to do... it's heartbreaking,
> but I refuse to "flush" a living fish....
>
> Bruce-NJ
>
> P.S. I've had Cichlids for about 1 year.... I lost a few to cotton mouth
a
> few months ago, and I saved one other (blue melachronomus) that had
pop-eye
> and cotton mouth.
>
> I appreciate any time you can take with your suggestions...
>
>

Malawi bloat (bacterial disease - gram negative)
DISEASE Causal pathogen(s) not certain - possibly multiple fungal/bacterial
or viral infection. It could be due to a metabolic or nutritional disorder.
SYMPTOMS Fish's body bloats out (as though full of roe) and, viewed from
above, scales stand away from body producing a pineapple-like appearance -
most common in Carp family and Anabantids. Long, pale faecal casts. Ulcers
on body, pale gills and a "pop eye" appearance are also common.
TREATMENT As soon as abdominal swelling is noted, isolate the fish and treat
with a broad spectrum antibiotic. Early treatment is essential. You could
use oxytetracycline (20-100 mg/ liter; five days bath, may need repeating),
tetracycline hydrochloride (40-100 mg/ liter; five days bath, may need
repeating) or minocycline hydrochloride. For minocycline we recommend
250mg/10 gallons of water. On day 2 change all the water and add the
medicine again at the same dose for another 2 days. Increase aeration during
treatment. Do not use minocycline a third time in a raw. Caution:
tetracyclines are photo sensitive - turn lights off during treatment -
better still cover the whole tank with a blanket. If the fish is still
eating, soak the food in a concentrated solution of the antibiotic before
feeding.
PREVENTION Avoid overfeeding or feeding the wrong kind of food (e.g.
vegetable matters to carnivores).

Hope this helps.

Rick

U¿ytkownik "Bruce Moore" > napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci
...
> I have a Red Zebra that seems to be suffering from bloat. I placed him 2
> weeks ago into my 10 gal. "hospital" tank and began a long phase of
> treatments.
>
> Here's what I tried after contacting fish dealers and reading on the
web...
>
> First - Maracyn 2 and Maracyn for 5 days.
>
> Second - CLOUT for 2 days.
>
> Third - Metronidazole (250MG) for 3 days
>
> Fourth - Back to the First treatment.
>
> I have run out of ideas.... he eats VERY little if at all, he stays mostly
> on the bottom, sometimes on a 45 degree angle. He occasionally swims up
and
> about but not for long. His body seems swollen, and there's some bulging
> right on his belly, beneath his gill area. He had some redness near his
> gills and on top of his head, which seem to be almost gone.
>
> I have kept the water at 82-84 degrees, with Cichlid Salt and Epsom Salt
> added. I have done numerous partial and complete water changes,
especially
> between medications. I don't know what else to do... it's heartbreaking,
> but I refuse to "flush" a living fish....
>
> Bruce-NJ
>
> P.S. I've had Cichlids for about 1 year.... I lost a few to cotton mouth
a
> few months ago, and I saved one other (blue melachronomus) that had
pop-eye
> and cotton mouth.
>
> I appreciate any time you can take with your suggestions...

I Poland we cure bloat as follows:
Day 1st: 25% water change, Metronidazole 3,6 g/100 litres + Sera's Bactopur
Direct (Nifurpirinole) 3 g/100 litres
Day 3rd: Metronidazole 1,8 g/100 litres + Sera's Bactopur Direct
(Nifurpirinole) 1,5 g/100 litres
At the end of 4th day 25% of water change and add carbon to the filters. If
fish is alright you finish at this point, if not after 4 days of break you
repeat the treatment.
I have run this with bloated tropheus duboisi and bemba with no losts.
Kuba
When sending e-mail change "_" into "-" in e-mail address

[[email protected]]

On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 02:51:03 GMT, "Bruce Moore"
> wrote:

>I have a Red Zebra that seems to be suffering from bloat. I placed him 2
>weeks ago into my 10 gal. "hospital" tank and began a long phase of
>treatments.
>

When I was into Rift Lake cichlids in a big way (50 tanks) I had to
cure bloat on a quite a few occasions. Usually it was with just
imported wild fish that were too expensive to use guesswork trying to
find a cure. After consulting the local vet we came up with a method
that became 100% successful. It was by injecting a wide spectrum
antibiotic into the fishes abdominal cavity. We used the tiny needles
that are produced for diabetic use. The injection site was about an
inch forward of the anal opening slightly to one side. The needle
needs to be inserted towards the head end under a scale. Don't try to
push a needle through a scale. This method saves a lot of money
because only a minute amount of antibiotic is needed. It also avoids
the problems associated with discarding gallons of treated water. We
don't want any antibiotic residue in the drains. It is illegal to dump
antibiotics down the drain in many countries. It was a long time ago
and I can't remember the name of the antibiotic. Any good book on fish
diseases will have details of suitable antibiotics and methods of
injection. As I said before once mastered it is 100% successful.


Steve
--
EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.
Build networks from numeric, text and image files.
http://www.easynn.com

[The Madd Hatter]

You have a steadier hand then I do! Holding a slippery fish in one hand and
a syringe inthe other!
I'd probably stab the poor thing through the eye!

> wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 02:51:03 GMT, "Bruce Moore"
> > wrote:
>
> >I have a Red Zebra that seems to be suffering from bloat. I placed him 2
> >weeks ago into my 10 gal. "hospital" tank and began a long phase of
> >treatments.
> >
>
> When I was into Rift Lake cichlids in a big way (50 tanks) I had to
> cure bloat on a quite a few occasions. Usually it was with just
> imported wild fish that were too expensive to use guesswork trying to
> find a cure. After consulting the local vet we came up with a method
> that became 100% successful. It was by injecting a wide spectrum
> antibiotic into the fishes abdominal cavity. We used the tiny needles
> that are produced for diabetic use. The injection site was about an
> inch forward of the anal opening slightly to one side. The needle
> needs to be inserted towards the head end under a scale. Don't try to
> push a needle through a scale. This method saves a lot of money
> because only a minute amount of antibiotic is needed. It also avoids
> the problems associated with discarding gallons of treated water. We
> don't want any antibiotic residue in the drains. It is illegal to dump
> antibiotics down the drain in many countries. It was a long time ago
> and I can't remember the name of the antibiotic. Any good book on fish
> diseases will have details of suitable antibiotics and methods of
> injection. As I said before once mastered it is 100% successful.
>
>
> Steve
> --
> EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.
> Build networks from numeric, text and image files.
> http://www.easynn.com

[[email protected]]

On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 15:43:45 GMT, "The Madd Hatter"
> wrote:

>You have a steadier hand then I do! Holding a slippery fish in one hand and
>a syringe inthe other!
>I'd probably stab the poor thing through the eye!
>

It was not that difficult and fortunately did not need to be done very
often. The fish were held lightly up-side-down in a soft wet cotton
net so they didn't struggle much. I never needed to inject any very
big Cichlids. The biggest were a pair of unknown wild Haplochromis
that developed bloat within a few days of arriving from Malawi. I made
a holding block for them. It was wet foam rubber with a 'V' shaped cut
out that they could "rest" in. They looked quite comfortable :)


Steve
--
EasyNN-plus. The easy way to build neural networks.
Build networks from numeric, text and image files.
http://www.easynn.com