mbuna with a sunken belly

[helptoall]

Hi, about 2 mounth ago we've noticed her belly being sunken. about 3 weeks ago we changed her food {she was eating meaty ciclids food and now shes eating vegy mbuna food based on algea} and try a treatment with praziquantel.so far no improvment. she is active and feeding, her colors are bit faded but other then that she dosnet show any other symptoms, her poop seems fins as well, short and the color of the food. She is in a 500 L tank alone, temp is 26,WC are 25% every week with air pump and an external filter
im very worried and wanted to ask for advice how to treat her.
thank you

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

Ok, so she's swimming fine, she's eating fine and pooping fine. Her only symptom is a sunken belly (which I can't see in the pictures, but maybe I've looked at too many Gourami fish many of which are quite thin). Based on this one symptom - which may or may not be significant - why do you think she is ill? Has her behavior changed at all? It sounds like the sunken belly issue occurred before you changed her diet but I'm guessing her current diet is lower calorie than her old diet - so you may want to feed brine shrimp and other meats. The only thing I can think of is the PH since they need a alkaline ph (7.8 to 8.6). Supposedly you can mix the substrate with argonite crystals to keep the PH in check. They also prefer a darker substrate for less glare in the tank, as well as lower lighting than some other fish. Just some ideas based on what I read up about this interesting and lovely fish. That's quite a large tank for just a single fish but based on the one symptom I'm not sure she's sick, she just may not be eating enough which is why she might need higher calorie foods. Perhaps some more cichlid experts can come along and have better advice. I only have one cichlid and she's quite plump and quite large but she eats everything in sight too. Maybe she needs some buddies? From what I've seen competition seems to make fish eat more. On the other hand, if she really has an illness now is not the time to get more like her.

 

[Colin_T]

How often are you feeding the fish?
Make sure you feed them 3-5 times a day to help them get enough nutrients while they are being treated.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each week to keep the water clean.

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Intestinal Worms like tapeworm and threadworms cause the fish to lose weight, continue eating and swimming normally, do a stringy white poop. Fish can do this for months and not be too badly affected. In some cases, fish with bad worm infestation will actually gain weight and get fat and look like a pregnant guppy. This is due to the huge number of worms inside the fish.

You can use Praziquantel to treat tapeworm and gill flukes. And Levamisole to treat thread/ round worms. If you can't find these medications, look for Flubendazole.

Remove carbon from filters before treatment and increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise oxygen levels in the water.

You treat the fish once a week for 4 weeks. The first treatment will kill any worms in the fish. The second, third and forth treatments kill any baby worms that hatch from eggs inside the fish's digestive tract.

Treat every fish tank in the house at the same time.

You do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean 24-48 hours after treatment. Clean the filter 24 hours after treatment too.

Do not use the 2 medications together. If you want to treat both medications in a short space of time, use Praziquantel on day one. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on day 2 & 3. Treat the tank with Levamisole on day 4 and do a 75% water change and gravel clean on day 5, 6 & 7 and then start with Praziquantel again on day 8.

The water changes will remove most of the medication so you don't overdose the fish the next time you treat them. The gravel cleaning will suck out any worms and eggs that have been expelled by the fish. Repeating the treatment for 3-4 doses at weekly intervals will kill any worms that hatch from eggs. At the end of the treatment you will have healthier fish.

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To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.