socolofi has a hole in the stomache

[gigafish]

Hi, my socolofi has 2 holes in the stomache area. It apeared to had malawi bloat in the beginning. so I separated from the crowd and kept it by itself in a bucket and a corner plastic filter. It didn't eat for a few days and I treated the socolofi with parasite guard. About 5 days later it began to eat. So I kept it there for another week( water changes were made everyday with water from the main tank 50-75 percent). Then I placed it back to the main tank only to find out it has 2 holes in the stomache area. So I took her back out( the male was flirting with her). Now she is in the bucket again. How long will it take for the holes to heal and what else should I do to help her get better. She has an appetite, but is she still infected? How and when will I know?
any help will be greatly appreciated!!:razz:

[jonah]

If she's got open wounds I'd start treating with Mela-fix right away.

[gigafish]

I have that. Is she still infected though? Should I do 100% water change first and start with mela-fix?

[aharris]

I had a fish do that. I treated with MelaFix, the hole closed over. I was really worried that she'd be a goner, but you can hardly even see the scar anymore. And, it was a BIG hole clear down to her gut. That was several months ago, and I havent' seen any signs of further trouble. Incidentally, mine also started with a case of bloat. I'm not sure, but I don't think that the hole is infectious in any way; rather it seems a side effect of the bloat because I only noticed mine getting holes afte rthe bloat seemed to be subsiding.

[merlyn2221]

What may have happened, and I have only seen this on VERY FEW fish in my 25+ years in keeping fish, is that the parasite ate through the lining of the intestinal wall.

This may be treatable with Melafix, as it is excellent stuff, but I would definately keep the fish isolated until the wounds completely heal, otherwise there may be problems. If parasites are still active you will know again by the fish not eating and acting listlessly.

[gigafish]

I started the melafix today. Yes I also see the guts and I thought she was a goner too. So I take it that she is lucky that it ate through the sides of her stomache than her intestines. How long would the healing process take for this situation? Thanks for the help. I'll let you know when she's all healed.:rofl:

[aharris]

Actually, I had two fish that had holes in them, but at different times and for different reasons.

The first was a textilus (exasperatus) who got injured when she was caught at the LFS. I think that her swim bladder ruptured because by evening of the first day she had an enormous hol ein her side and couldn't float in the water. She laid on the ground unless she swam. She never lost her appetite even though you could see half-eaten food coming out her side. It was nasty and I almost sacrificed her except that she was eating. She healed over in time but never got any good condition so I'm assuming that the internal injuries she sustained stunted her.

The other fish that I mentioned before regained its appetite just after the bloat reduced and just before the hole appeared in it. It kept eating all through having the gaping hole. It still eats well and shows no sign of any listlessness so I still don't know exactly what caused it.

In terms of healing, it took on teh order of weeks to months for things to close up. Fortunately, the second fish shows alomst no scar and seems to have resumed growing quite nicely. Hopefully, that means it wasn't seriously impaired and permanently damaged by its experience.

And I do feed garlic as precaution against internal parasites along with everything else.

[gigafish]

So did you keep that 2nd sick one by itself for that long, or did you put it back in the main tank? I use seachem garlic brand and mix it with veggie flakes and feed them almost everyday. Sometimes I feed them fresh chopped garlic too. peas 2-3 times a week with chopped carrots. They loved the shelled peas, but not much into the carrots. I also used liquid vitamins to soak the veggie tablets and feed them and also I just squirk directly into the tank.
I remove her today to a 1 Gal critter tank so I can see how well she's healing. The holes are some what closed up, but not fully. She ate normal in there too. She seems to like it better here then in the bucket.
I think the reason why she had bloat in the first place was that my wife fed them pellets(alot I think) when I was at work. I caught her one day and so I ask her. She said she feeds them pellets once in a while. I was more happy then sad, because she cared for them. So I just told her to feed them veggie flakes if she still wants to, when I'm not home.
So do you think it is safe to return her to the tank in about 2 weeks. This whole process has been over a month I think.
I just fed her srictly veggie flakes so far. Should I feed her something else?

[aharris]

If the fish acts normally, I don't know how worried about internal parasites I'd be, and you said you also feed garlic.

(Keep in mind I go this advice from discus folks, so it may not strictly work against internals. I figure if it works for those delicate discus it should work for tough-as-nails Africans.)

Still, I'd keep her isolated until her wounds are completely gone. It sure would suck to have her survive the initial crisis only to die of some secondary infection because she wasn't quite ready for the main tank.

[gigafish]

I think garlic is universal. It doesn't matter if it's fish or mammal and also reptile. It just keeps the bug off. So now I just wait and hope.
I have three other socolofi in the main tank(75g). Should I redo the rock work and see what happens?

[aharris]

If you're talking about reintroduction, if you think there'll be a problem, rearrange and reintroduce her after you've turned out the lights at night.

[gigafish]

Yep!! OK then, that's what I'll do. Thanks again for all the info and help!!!! I'll let you know what's going on.

[gigafish]

She's all healed up. She's still has a little scar and her right ventral fin is paralyzed, unfortunately. otherwise she is in great health. eating like a pig as usual. She wasn't treated too badly by the other socolofi. Thanks for all the help and reminding me that I have melafix:rolleyes: :rolleyes: .

[aharris]

Glad to hear it.