Male Mandarin Bloated Stomach

[austinrazer]

I have had a male mandarin for a few months now. He was doing great and constantly foraging for food. Plenty of pods in the tank and I have dosed phyto regulary and seeded the tank with pods multiple times. He has also been eating frozen mysis regulary as well. For the last week my mandarin has not been foraging at all and has been bouncing back and forth between a few spots in the tank. Sitting still and breathing. I noticed that his stomach is starting to look slightly bloated. Has anyone experienced this before or know what it could possibly be? Thanks. Pictures were the best I could get.

 

[exnisstech]

I can't view the video. Posting to YouTube and copy and paste the link here works best. Also fish medics are most likely going to need the fish under white lights.

 

[MnFish1]

I can't see the picture/video either.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have had a male mandarin for a few months now. He was doing great and constantly foraging for food. Plenty of pods in the tank and I have dosed phyto regulary and seeded the tank with pods multiple times. He has also been eating frozen mysis regulary as well. For the last week my mandarin has not been foraging at all and has been bouncing back and forth between a few spots in the tank. Sitting still and breathing. I noticed that his stomach is starting to look slightly bloated. Has anyone experienced this before or know what it could possibly be? Thanks. Pictures were the best I could get.

Fish looks fine and is breathing well. They should be plump but not like a lawnmower blenny as an example. This is a fish that will peck all day and fill itself quickly

 

[austinrazer]

Fish looks fine and is breathing well. They should be plump but not like a lawnmower blenny as an example. This is a fish that will peck all day and fill itself quickly

My concern is that he has not foraged for an entire week. Is that normal behavior? He was pecking all day for months and his behavior has suddenly drastically changed.

 

[austinrazer]

I can't view the video. Posting to YouTube and copy and paste the link here works best. Also fish medics are most likely going to need the fish under white lights.

 

[austinrazer]

I can't see the picture/video either.

Here is a video with the white lights.https://youtube.com/shorts/-ufHzoME6Jk?si=4a7a5SF6whKJD3RO

 

[austinrazer]

 

[smitten with ocean life]

id have you ask @Paul B but i know hes pretty busy with life right now.....

 

[exnisstech]

#fishmedic

EDIT Sorry medics I didn't see vetteguys response above before I tagged you.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have had a male mandarin for a few months now. He was doing great and constantly foraging for food. Plenty of pods in the tank and I have dosed phyto regulary and seeded the tank with pods multiple times. He has also been eating frozen mysis regulary as well. For the last week my mandarin has not been foraging at all and has been bouncing back and forth between a few spots in the tank. Sitting still and breathing. I noticed that his stomach is starting to look slightly bloated. Has anyone experienced this before or know what it could possibly be? Thanks. Pictures were the best I could get.

To clarify - it isn't eating mysis now either?

Swollen abdomen in a fish that's not eating is not a good sign. sometimes, its from a blockage, but mandarin is unlikely to try and swallow anything that would cause that. Egg binding can also cause this, but not in a male fish of course. Ascites, fluid build up due to kidney or liver damage is another possibility. Nematode worms would be a rare possibility.

Trouble is, I don't have a ready treatment for you to try, sorry.

 

[austinrazer]

To clarify - it isn't eating mysis now either?

Swollen abdomen in a fish that's not eating is not a good sign. sometimes, its from a blockage, but mandarin is unlikely to try and swallow anything that would cause that. Egg binding can also cause this, but not in a male fish of course. Ascites, fluid build up due to kidney or liver damage is another possibility. Nematode worms would be a rare possibility.

Trouble is, I don't have a ready treatment for you to try, sorry.

I have not seen him directly eat the mysis since this behavior started but I think i saw him “chewing” in the way that he does after eating mysis. The mysis shrimp he eats are quite big compared to his tiny mouth and he takes bites out of them. You don’t think that could have caused some sort of blockage do you?

 

[Freenow54]

I have had a male mandarin for a few months now. He was doing great and constantly foraging for food. Plenty of pods in the tank and I have dosed phyto regulary and seeded the tank with pods multiple times. He has also been eating frozen mysis regulary as well. For the last week my mandarin has not been foraging at all and has been bouncing back and forth between a few spots in the tank. Sitting still and breathing. I noticed that his stomach is starting to look slightly bloated. Has anyone experienced this before or know what it could possibly be? Thanks. Pictures were the best I could get.

I had a totally unrelated experience with fresh water chiclids but cure may work. The chyclids cannot digest meat and get bloat. Maybe try the same medication for infection ie antibiotics maybe help it to poop?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I have not seen him directly eat the mysis since this behavior started but I think i saw him “chewing” in the way that he does after eating mysis. The mysis shrimp he eats are quite big compared to his tiny mouth and he takes bites out of them. You don’t think that could have caused some sort of blockage do you?

Sorry, I don't know if mysids can form a blockage in these fish....

 

[austinrazer]

His stomach is getting more bloated. Im going to try to put him in a hospital tank. Any idea what kind of treatments I should try?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

His stomach is getting more bloated. Im going to try to put him in a hospital tank. Any idea what kind of treatments I should try?

No, I don't have any ready treatment - you'll hear to add epsom salts to the tank, but that is for freshwater fish, seawater already has high amounts of magnesium sulfate in it. You'll also hear people say "feed them peas", but that's a treatment for fancy goldfish.

 

[Freenow54]

This is for Malawi bloat do research Metronidazole or Clout

His stomach is getting more bloated. Im going to try to put him in a hospital tank. Any idea what kind of treatments I should try?

 

[Paul B]

That fish (from the blurry videos) seems normal. Colors seem fine and he seems to be breathing normally. Not skinny either. I can't really see the fish from here but if he does have some sort of blockage I doubt there is anything you could do. I would just leave him alone and hope for the best.

I realize that isn't advice but medications usually do more harm than help especially if you can't diagnose anything.