Please Help!

[sXeLifer]

My sailfin has been bloated for the best part of a week now, I haven't fed him/her in around 5 days and have been treating him/her with meds. He/she just looks to be getting bigger and bigger, I've never had a fish that didn't get better after about a week and he/she just seems to be getting worse. He/she is my favourite fish I have as I am a massive fan of plec's. This afternoon he/she swam to the top in behind a filter and I took some pic's - see link's. He/she has marks now where his/her skin is stretching and I am certain that it cant be comfortable for him/her. At one point he/she was unable to swim properly or stay low to the ground but in the past day or two we have made a small amount of progress and he/she can sit on the bottom without anchoring to something using the mouth. I need help urgently as I hate seeing any of my fish in distress and ill no matter wether they're big or small.

I know all this he/she stuff is annoying to read through but I'm no expert in plecs so I havent ascertained the sex of it yet and I dont know if males or females can have different diseases, infections etc. It is just to stress to you that it can be either male or female at this stage.

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Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

Dan

 

[SandraNewbie]

I've seen common plecs get bloated similar to this when they didn't get enough fibre. Do you have bogwood in teh tank? What do you feed your sailfin?

All I can recommend from experience is offer him/her some courgette(zuchini) or cucumber. (Peas are better if you thaw and shell frozen ones. but sometimes the other tankmates get to them first)

Have you seen him/her poop recently?

 

[sXeLifer]

I've seen common plecs get bloated similar to this when they didn't get enough fibre. Do you have bogwood in teh tank? What do you feed your sailfin?

All I can recommend from experience is offer him/her some courgette(zuchini) or cucumber. (Peas are better if you thaw and shell frozen ones. but sometimes the other tankmates get to them first)

Have you seen him/her poop recently?

Hi, I haven't seen it take a poo recently but when I fed it an algae wafer the other day he/she seemed to be bigger the next day, so that might be a good shout actually. I'll try some peas and cucumber, see if that helps. I do have several big bits of bogwood but I never really see him munching it, I also have a clown plec that is getting on fine, hope this helps. Thanks.

 

[sXeLifer]

Posting to bump up and update for some more help, fed my pleco some cucumber last night and he did have a long stringy poop so, I left it overnight for him to chew on. The problem now is that he ate some of it, not as much as you would think but some of it at least, but his sides are literally starting to split open and you can see white underneath his skin, I really can't stand the idea of him dying so any help is much appreciated!

Dan

 

[SandraNewbie]

I've racked mine and my LFS's brains on this and I can't think of naything other than constipation. Sorry I can't be more help. How's the little guy now?

 

[Flute]

Have you tried fasting for several days? And then feed cooked and de-shelled peas? (Sorry if you already have and I've missed it in your posts)
If it looks as though his sides are literally splitting then I'd be concerned about any secondary infections and what not. How often do you do water changes? I'd do a daily 15-20% change for about a week, just to help him along.

The other thing is, if it's a female, could "she" be egg bound? Hopefully someone else can come up with some ideas to help you and your plec out!

 

[WILDER]

Poor thing.

Epson salt baths. This sometimes helps to draw the fluids out.
Isolate the sick fish and use an internal bacteria med.

Are scales sticking out.
Is the tummy hard, or soft like filled with fluid.
Is the anus enlarged, or red and inflamed.
Any tumours, lumps beneath the skin. In the tummy area.
Have you seen any bubbles coming from the anus.
Any red streaking on body, or fins.
Are the eyes bulging, sticking out.
Any redness to the eyes, or pools of blood.

 

[ztar]

yea epsom salts are really good for constipation (if this is indeed the problem)

I have a very greedy little discus who got bloated after eating all the other fishes food and started floating. bathed in epsom salts for a short period (i forget how long was recomended) and she was right as rain the next morning. The beauty of epsom salts is that you can purchase some from most chemists and they work relatively fast.

 

[WILDER]

How is the fish?