Convict cichlid swim bladder/intestinal blockage

[pup73]

hi,

i have a 4+ year old male convict. he's in a 75 gallon tank with one other male of the same age, and 5 smaller younger females.

more than a week ago, i noticed that he started having a problem with bouyancy. he floats with his tail towards the sky. at worst, he is almost vertical. he can still swim upright.

no other signs of disease. scales look ok, fins look ok. i have been treating with flagyl for one week. i just started melafix and pimafix two days ago. bumped up the water temp to about 82. i've been doing 5 gallon water changes daily for the past week. also added some sea salt and some epson salt.

now, i will admit i have NOT isolated him yet. i've been treating the entire tank. i did starve the tank for 2-3 days initially. since then i've been only feeding forzen brine shrimp which has been soaked in flagyl. the sick male has been eating the food. yesterday i noticed a little but of white stringy feces from him.

but his swimming has not improved at all. what else can i do? i do have a hospital tank set up and ready to go. any treatments that i'm missing? i admit i have not tested the water recently, but i am religious with water and filter changes.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

-c

[Glaive]

Clean water, maybe Jungle parasite tabs and possibly Epsom salts (1 tablespoon/5 gallons).

[baytherman]

Sounds like he has Hex disease. Bumping the temp up was a good idea as well as Epsom salt treatment. Flagyl is a good anti-biotic for use in this illness. You could bump the temp up to 85 or 86 to aid in this process. I would have isolated him to start treatment and of course stop the spreading of the illness. If you can I would still do that. Melafix and Pimafix really aren't needed, or at least not yet. Doing larger water changes will also benefit all your fish. When treating for Hex it is advisable to double the first dose or 2 of metronidazole (Flagyl) followed by a 50% water change before the next dose. A 30 - 50% water change is advisable there after before each dosage for at least 10-14 days after the start of treatment. The cause of this illness is usually poor water quality or to much of a swing in temp or Ph on a continued basis. Not saying this is what caused your problems here but it may be a good place to start. If you are using carbon, discard it. Many people feel as do many experts that carbon can contribute to the cause of this illness, especially if it is not changed out after its usefulness has expired. I hope this helps as this is what I would do in this situation. Do keep us posted and good luck!

[pup73]

thanks for the info. i do realize that i should have isolated him from the beginning. i have a hospital tank set up and ready to go. hopefully it's not too late. he is eating as of now, and is still pretty feisty (still being territorial and trying to court some of the females), but he is definitely still sick.

i wasn't aware that carbon can lead to hexamita; i have carbon in all four of my tanks...hmm. do many people here run filters without carbon, on a regular basis?

again, thanks for the info...keep the suggestions coming

-c

[baytherman]

Most people here don't use carbon at all, other than to remove meds from the tank when finished with treatment. It is an added expense you can do without and replace with extra bacteria holding things like ceramic rings, sponges or poly batting. There are those that swear by it and others that swear at it. Your choice there I guess. Just make sure you change it out every few weeks if you continue using it and remember to remove it when treating with meds. Your problem may or may not have been caused by carbon though. Could be water conditions as well as from the fish infected wanting to constantly breed or the other fish in the tank constantly breeding. That will believe it or not, will take it's toll on the immune system as well. Just something else to consider. Again, keep us posted.

[pup73]

well, i just isolated the sick convict into a hospital tank. i dosed with jungle clear, added a bit of sea salt and epsom salt. temp is up to 84. also have an airstone for oxygenation and a baby fluval with no carbon, but some phosphorus and ammonia absorbent.

my guess is it could have been a combination of factors; maybe i let the water quality slip, diet became unvaried, AND he is constantly either lightly sparring with the other male, OR breeding with one of the females. it all can add up to stress on the fish.

i'll let you know how the treatment goes!

-c