PBT bloated

[DrayB]

Hi all.



this week has been probably the worst week of the year so far, and it looks like it's going to get a bit worse.

my boy was in hospital for a few nights this week so i haven't been home much and then i was really ill, so only the bare minimum was done to the tank this week.



today however whilst walking past i noticed out the corner of my eye that my pbt was just hovering in one spot, but i didn't stop to take a better look.....(busy tilling kitchen before new baby arrives)

but after a few minutes i thought id have another glance at the tank just to check, and he was still in the same spot just hovering.



now that I've had a better look I'm really concerned about him, his abdomen looks really swollen (ball like) and he is looking sluggish and not taking in food. he is going for the food just not eating.



over the week my fish have only missed two feeds and i'm sure he didn't look like this yesterday.

his colouring is fine...no ws....no other marks...eye's look fine, and he usually eats like a pig.



i feed a mixture of brine...mysis...nori...algae flakes (for tangs) and grazing blocks (maybe twice a week for about 6-7 hours before the block falls apart)



any suggestions?







thanks

 

[sc50964]

Check water parameters!

 

[DrayB]

what would i be looking for specifically ?

 

[sc50964]

Ph and ammonia

 

[DrayB]

could you elaborate on why ph and ammonia would cause my pbt to bloat?
I don't mean to seem ungrateful for the reply or the attempt to help but i don't see the correlation between my problem and those parameters.

on doing a bit of reading i'm leaning towards either blocked bowels due to insufficient feeding of suitable foods for a tang ( algae based foods "greens" ) or a blockage created by parasites.
adding to this.....as he has been in my dt for a good few months now, and no other fish is showing the same signs, i'm leaning more towards a blockage through incorrect feeding/ insufficient greens.

 

[sc50964]

It's a process of elimination that I do for all my fish that show signs of problems over the past 10 years. Before treating the fish with meds, it's important to first make sure that your water parameters are good. Having low ph can weaken their immune system. If so, you will want to fix that before you apply the right meds. Ammonia poisoning is usually the biggest and easiest culprit to cause fish listless when the tank is lacking maintenance. It's also very deadly so I want to rule that out before anything. In any case, if both parameters are clear, I think he has worms based on the following reference.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/disease/common.php

You mentioned that you fed nori n grazing blocks so I don't think diet was the cause of bloating.

 

[DrayB]

thanks SC
ph running at 8 and ammonia 0.
ill have a quick read of the topic you posted

 

[DrayB]

i think I'm gonna say its constipated, as although i do feed nori sheets and grazing pellets i probably don't feed nearly enough "green" for the tangs, this will now change.
thanks for the reply SC

 

[sc50964]

Here is another reference that I use

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/Diseases.htm

Go all the way to the bottom and it lists a table which will allow you to quickly looks up symptoms and treatment.

Good luck.

 

[sc50964]

There used to a salt water only reference, call chuckaddition or something like that, and it's now removed for some reason.

Constipation..., maybe. I've had tangs over the past ten years and bloating and being lethargic are usually associated with internal worm infestation. Unless you have treated it with meds during qt, it's more likely that it has worms than being constipated due to lack of greens.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Humblefish]

First off, sorry to hear of all the troubles. If your PBT is constipated then the best thing to do is to start feeding her peeled boiled peas. The fiber contain therein will help push things out. I had a PBT that would get bloated after eating red nori: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/feeding-red-nori.182964/

You can also dose Epsom salt (1 tablespoon per 5 gals) to help relieve constipation.

 

[DrayB]

would it hurt if i did a two prong treatment? dose meds and high fibre foods? ( sounds like a rhetorical question now that i've asked it lol ) what meds do you prescribe ? diluted in water type? or coat food type?
my lfs (uk) has suggested something that has the word fluke in it as far as i remember, and is supposed to treat internal parasites as well as external, comes in powder form and is super strong (so he said )

ill start on the pea's asap, i take it my yellow would benefit from these as well?

 

[sc50964]

PraziPro plus an extra air source.

 

[Humblefish]

would it hurt if i did a two prong treatment? dose meds and high fibre foods? ( sounds like a rhetorical question now that i've asked it lol ) what meds do you prescribe ? diluted in water type? or coat food type?
my lfs (uk) has suggested something that has the word fluke in it as far as i remember, and is supposed to treat internal parasites as well as external, comes in powder form and is super strong (so he said )

ill start on the pea's asap, i take it my yellow would benefit from these as well?

You can dose Epsom salt and feed peas simultaneously. The only med I know of which might provide relief is Kanamycin (ex. Seachem Kanaplex), only because it lists diarrhea as a possible side effect. However, to make Kanamycin "reef safe" you would need to soak it in the fish's food and then use a binder (ex. Seachem Focus) to prevent it from leaching out into the water column. Otherwise, it needs to be dosed directly in a QT.

Bloated stomach is not a symptom of gill flukes or intestinal worms. The latter actually makes the tummy look skinny/pinched.

Other than constipation, the only other possibility I can think of based on your description is that your fish has a swim bladder disorder. How long have you had this PBT? Post a pic of her swollen abdomen if you can.

 

[omykiss001]

would it hurt if i did a two prong treatment? dose meds and high fibre foods? ( sounds like a rhetorical question now that i've asked it lol ) what meds do you prescribe ? diluted in water type? or coat food type?
my lfs (uk) has suggested something that has the word fluke in it as far as i remember, and is supposed to treat internal parasites as well as external, comes in powder form and is super strong (so he said )

ill start on the pea's asap, i take it my yellow would benefit from these as well?

Flukes are a type of worm. Have you noticed normal green/brown bowel movements or white and stringy. I'd go down the constipation route unless there is some evidence it really is worms. Prazi is pretty benign I've yet to see a fish that even reacts to it being there, unless of course they are infested with gill flukes then the parzi killing them can be harmful to the fish. Wouldn't hurt I suppose, but I wait and observe to see is the fish having bowel movements and if so what color texture are they. I would follow humblefish's advice with the boiled peas and maybe the epsom salt first.

 

[DrayB]

 

[DrayB]

thoughts?

 

[DrayB]

@Humblefish

 

[Humblefish]

The good news is I think that bulge is too close to the front to be the fish's swim bladder.

But when my PBT was constipated, it was still further back than that. So I'm not 100% sure this is just constipation. Do you ever notice your PBT eating sand/substrate?

 

[DrayB]

can't say i have noticed it doing that, it does look to be "waddling" as it swims now, if that makes sense.
lights are now off for the night so will just have to wait till morning to see how he is fingers crossed. i did notice whilst watching the tank that my valentini puffer had a poo and it didn't look right, it looked to be a really long thread of slime with little bits in it, yellow in colour, so now I'm not sure what to do?