bloated/constipated bristlenose

[jimbooo]

I have a 5 inch bristlenose in my 50G cube (2x2x2) i bought him second hand with the tank about a month ago along with two silver dollars and a pair of clown loaches.

i never get to see the BN as i have planted the tank and have a big lump of bogwood hence he's always hiding.

lastnight with my moonlights on i got the first look at him whilst sucking the glass.

he looks like he's swallowed a golf ball (no exageration at all i'm afraid!!) and his vent is bloated out, kind of like a marbel is stuck in there.

my first guess is he's severely constipated, really does not look good.

has anyone come across this before, i have no idea what to do to help him.
i've attached a pic, not the best as i needed the flash. you can see the vent (red in the pic, not in real life plus the swolen belly.)

please help if you can
Thanks

 

[Rodders]

Not really much help, but my mate had a red phantom tetra, I think thats the name, anyway he swelled up lots with air all of a sudden once from being perfectly fine but unfortunately popped after a while. It didnt seem to cause him any distress, he still ate, swam arround etc...

Sorry cant be more helpful.

 

[cometcattle]

I've always heard people say to feed frozen (thawed) peas, with the skin removed, to constipated fish.

 

[Bloo]

Gosh Jimboo which I can help, but almost looks like it "could" be a tumor ?
Though it could also be some serious constipation which can be nasty I'm afraid

I'm sorry but there's nothing I can really advise

Have you tried actually picking the fish up (out of the water) and giving it a much closer look ? That might give you some more clues as to what it is you're dealing with.

 

[jimbooo]

thanks for the advice, i have used the pea method on danio's before. that worked fine as they eat anything that moves on the surface. short of dumping in 50 peas at midnight i dont know how to get him to eat them.

he's been in the same tank for 3 years but up until a month ago nothing in it but 3 pieces of slate and one plant (windelov), no bogwood or anything. all the fish were fed flake only so i dont think he'll know he can eat peas.

the silver dollars have not eaten any plant matter at all, not touched lettuce, cucumber, veggie flakes or anything.

all they will eat is some budjet flake that came with the tank and i've managed to get some tetraprima down them. they wont touch anything else.

i'm a bit stumped as to what to do.

anything else work apart from peas?

 

[The-Wolf]

lots of live blood worm will act as a laxative as will lots of live tubifex
I'm sorry I can't help more than that
I hope that all goes well jimboo, please keep us updated.

 

[jimbooo]

bloozoo2: thanks for the tip. to be honest i dont know how to pick him up without hurting myself. when you get close he flairs these spiney fan like things from his cheeks, they look huge and pretty nasty.

i feel a bit stupid asking this but can they hurt you, it sure looks like they can.

Wolf: thanks for the tip, will frozen bloodworm work? i cant get live around here.

 

[Bloo]

OK, well you have a choice. Either just catch the fish and put in a small clear glass dish so that you can hold against the light for some close-up examination - or to try and catch the fish and examine in your hand.

The way I've picked them up before for any closer examinations are like this :

Have a large clear dish or quarantine tank with some tank (or prepared) water ready.
Catch fish in a large plastic cup - this is probably easiest. Take across to dish and lower into the water without yet releasing fish. Gently turn cup over and let the fish slide into your cupped hand. I've never had a fish that seriously struggled in my hand it was then fairly easy to raise my hand from the water and then gently turn it over to examine.

If you don't have a cup, use a net - however I know this is tricky as they can often "clamp down" on the net and wont let go. Then take net over to dish and turn net over very gently into a cupped hand. Your fish is small enough it seems. The fish might take a little while to "let go" of the net but if you just relax and wait a moment it will. Examine fish.

I would say you can easily take a good 30 seconds to examine the fish (out of the water) without seriously stressing it. I've not yet had a catfish that jumped around like a maniac in my hand or caused any injuries. Obviously I'm talking of fish less than 6" here and can't vouch for larger fish handling.

 

[jimbooo]

okay i may give it a try but to be honest i can see him very clearly at night with my moonlights on (when he's stuck to the glass). when i took that pic i could see him perfectly it's just the blue moonlight does not transfer onto pics very well.

 

[Bloo]

Ah well if you could see him very clearly and he often sits on the glass so that you can monitor him that's ok

 

[smithrc]

not looking good from that piccy - It looks likean internal infextion to me...

You could try isolating and treating.

Oh and your fears are quite well founded - I ended up with a nasty stab to the hand when our 8" common was moved - he flared and swished side to side with his fins out abd managed to pin my hand between his tal and sharp front fins.

With bristle noses they are just prickley though and will get very stuck in a net with its flaring so avoid that.

Good luck.

 

[jimbooo]

i'm afraid to say i got home from work yesterday to a rather unhappy plec.

dead as a doornail. i wish i had noticed earlier and i may have been able to save him, when i fished him out and took a closer look it does look like some kind of internal worms/parasite.

the new gold BN in there is showing signs of swelling to the belly now.

okay, meds needed - any recommendations before i go to the LFS

little guy

 

[Bloo]

Oh dear Jimboo internal parasites are very bad news unfortunately. We (in the UK) don't have the medicated food and meds they sell over in the US to treat these things. I think something like Sterazin might help but not quite sure
The thing to watch out for is the colour of their poo - white is not good....

Fingers crossed though

 

[jimbooo]

ok i'll keep a close eye on the poo and take a look at sterazin in the LFS.

thanks for all your help