bloated firefish

[GoldeneyeRet]

My firefish has been with me for two years. It never hides. Several days ago it started hiding. I could see it in its usual cave so I just targeted the cave with a baster of food when I fed.

Today I lifted up his rock and he came out. I fed right away and he ate but not with the same enthusiasm as normal. I noticed that his tail has lost some muscle mass and his stomach is huge and bloated. He stayed out about a half hour before retreating to his cave again. This is not normal as he is always out and about. None of his tank mates were bullying or threatening him in any way. All other fish and inverts appear very normal.

All fish have been treated with Formalin bath, TTM and PraziPro. All livestock has been in the tank over a year. I did suddenly lose a Lubbocks wrasse that appeared and acted healthy about 6-8 weeks ago. I also lost a one spot foxface about a month ago. The Foxface was new. It was tiny and razor thin. It went through TTM, Prazi and the formalin dips. It never ate really well and 2 weeks after TTM I could see it was losing weight and not eating well. It was in a LFS with no copper for at least three weeks so I thought I would be safe to add it to the DT. It died a few days later.

That's the history, the question is what should I do with the firefish? I may have a chance at catching it in its cave. I am hoping I didn't introduce something to my DT with the foxface.

Thanks for the help

 

[jsker]

The fish could be constipated, and need some probioatic food to get it going again. Sound crazy, but I have read this before.

 

[Humblefish]

Conventional answer is your firefish might be constipated, have a gas bubble in its swim bladder or some sort of growth/infection in the stomach/intestines.

Unconventional answer is formalin is a known carcinogen, and there is some anecdotal evidence to suggest some fish treated with it don't live much more than 2 years. So, it could be a tumor.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

assuming the conventional , what would you recommend I do for treatment?

 

[Humblefish]

assuming the conventional , what would you recommend I do for treatment?

You could try food soaking kanamycin (ex. Kanaplex) to treat a possible infection and also induce diarrhea (a known side effect.)

Also use Seachem Focus to bind the antibiotic to the food.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

should I attempt to remove to a QT or use in DT?

Thanks also for all the timely advice, I appreciate it

 

[Humblefish]

should I attempt to remove to a QT or use in DT?

Thanks also for all the timely advice, I appreciate it

So long as you use Focus to prevent leaching, you can feed right in the DT. You can also food soak Metroplex to treat for the possibility of internal parasites. Kanaplex in the morning, Metroplex for the evening feeding.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Thanks for the help I will give it a try

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

The firefish is now in a QT and being treated with kannaplex and metroplex. It is still bloated, not eating and still hiding. I don't see a change since adding the metroplex but its only been a few days.

Anything else I can try? Can I, or should I, I dose Prazipro as well? I know its safe with the metronidazole but with the kanamycin in there I am not sure.

I looked back at my records and this fish was not given any formalin dip. It received TTM, prazipro and erythromycin (for a scrape I saw after TTM) before going into my display in June of 2014.

I know its just a red firefish but I would still like to save it so any further advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You

 

[Humblefish]

@GoldeneyeRet Sounds like you are doing all you can. Dosing Prazipro with other meds can sometimes lead to bacterial blooms, so I wouldn't do that.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Thanks for the advice, looks like I will just have to ride it out and see of he can pull through.

Should I be worried about my Display? No other fish show any issues so I don't want to overreact but should I dose kanaplex/metro via food as you described above?

Thanks for all the help !

 

[Humblefish]

@GoldeneyeRet Keep an eye on your other fishes' poop. Gross I know. So long as you don't see white stringy poop, you are fine.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Will do and thanks for all your help!

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Update:
Yesterday he was the same, hiding, laying on the bottom and not eating. It has been so hard to see him this way. Tiny with tail and head that looks as if its wasting away and a HUGE bloated belly that weighed him down. Poor thing looked like a Northland fire ball jig if you know what that is!

Today I woke up as I have every day for the last week expecting an expired fish. Surprise! belly is way, way smaller, fish is more active(not normal yet) and he was eager to eat. I guess the meds kicked in or he passed a big load!

I am hopeful for the first time in many days. Thanks for the help!

 

[stevo01]

Phew! Glad there is improvement there. Do you think the QT and meds were the fix or was he just plugged up?

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I think the meds that helped but who knows. His whole abdomen area was so swollen I cant imagine it was just a blockage. It has also been about two weeks. I would think that a severe blockage would have killed it by now if that were the case. I really have no idea though. I also have no idea if he will recover, just see some hope finally.

I am glad I was prepared with a hospital tank and meds on hand. I am grateful for the help of Humblefish and the whole community of R2R.

Now if I can just keep him eating and get him some strength back he may have a chance.

 

[Humblefish]

Diarrhea is a known side effect of kanamycin (Kanaplex) so that might have helped if he's constipated. Or if the bloated belly was due to an internal infection or infestation of worms, Kanaplex + Metroplex would help with that.

What we really need here is a fishy X-ray machine.