Treating Bloat with Clout. Is quarantine necessary?

[Poekin]

OK, i now have a seeded sponge filter and a 10 gallon tank. The tank has an air stone in it and a little jager heater. The poor little guy is in there and i put a tablespoon of epson salt in.

Any further suggestions will be great. Should i try clout? Raise the temperature? I am going to try to get him to eat again soon after he calms down a bit.

 

[Marius]

are you sure you don't have another tank available as a hospital tank? setting up a brand new tank for it would require cycling, and you don't want to subject an already ill fish to an uncycled small tank.

Thats the problem i am running into. I am in an apartment and only have my 1 75 gallon tank

You don't need to cycle the second tank. Buy a 10 gal, and fill it up with water from the main tank. You can use a sponge filter.

Bloat treatment, stop feeding, 7 days of meds and salt.

Salt is a tonic, as well as laxative.
Meds ..well, meds kill bugs

1st day meds (indicated dosage) and salt 1tbsp/10gal
2nd day, nothing
3rd day, 50% water change, meds and salt
4th day, nothing
5th day 50% water change, meds and salt
6th day nothing,
7th day 50% water change, meds and salt ...you can start feeding a little.

 

[Poekin]

Thanks for the treatment plan

Can you recommend a good medicine?

 

[Marius]

Thanks for the treatment plan

Can you recommend a good medicine?

Metronidazole based meds are good to treat bloat.

I used metro (tabs or powder) 1x250mg tab/10gal. If you get powder, use the recommended dosage.

Clout is also a metro based medication.

Start the treatment though, the faster you start it the higher the chances he's going to make it.

 

[Poekin]

Ill grab some meds on the way home today.

 

[Poekin]

Update on the little guy:

He is in a 10 gallon tank and swimming around still. I dropped about 3 pellets of NLS Thera+A into the tank just to see if he would eat them... and he actually did! I am, however, afraid to feed him anymore because his little stomach is so bloated... what say you, MFK? Should i wait for his beer gut to go away before putting anymore food in the tank?

Right now the tank has 1 tbsp of epsom salt in it and a 250mg pack of API Metro. I am going to wait to get home today and maybe make a small water change.

Any suggestions on anything at this point would be nice. I am really hoping to keep this guy alive.

 

[Marius]

Update on the little guy:

He is in a 10 gallon tank and swimming around still. I dropped about 3 pellets of NLS Thera+A into the tank just to see if he would eat them... and he actually did! I am, however, afraid to feed him anymore because his little stomach is so bloated... what say you, MFK? Should i wait for his beer gut to go away before putting anymore food in the tank?

Right now the tank has 1 tbsp of epsom salt in it and a 250mg pack of API Metro. I am going to wait to get home today and maybe make a small water change.

Any suggestions on anything at this point would be nice. I am really hoping to keep this guy alive.

Buddy, are you kidding me?!? His entire digestive track is rotting because of food blockage and bacteria. I said NO FOOD!!!! That's one of the first rules of treating bloat. No food, no lights (less stress for the fish) medication, salt and water changes.

Come on... follow the 7days plan I gave you already.

 

[Poekin]

Yeah, i am going to stick to the plan very closely from here on out. I feel really bad for the guy because since i started the treatment he is already more active. He swims up to me when i come to the glass just like he used to, so i decided to throw 3 test pellets in (and they are the small NLS pellets anyway) just to see what would happen.

Hopefully him eating those 3 tiny pellets isn't a catastrophe.

 

[duanes]

You should also think about the cause of the bloat. Tropheus do better in species tanks of colonies of 8 or more of the same species, and the bloat may be caused by stress from non-idyllic conditions.

 

[Marius]

Yeah, i am going to stick to the plan very closely from here on out. I feel really bad for the guy because since i started the treatment he is already more active. He swims up to me when i come to the glass just like he used to, so i decided to throw 3 test pellets in (and they are the small NLS pellets anyway) just to see what would happen.

Hopefully him eating those 3 tiny pellets isn't a catastrophe.

It's a good sign he's active, but stick to the program. Concentrate on the first steps for now. After 4-5 days if the swelling goes down and he's really active you can soak a few pellets for him with metro and feed him, but I'd rather you do the treatment thoroughly.

You should also think about the cause of the bloat. Tropheus do better in species tanks of colonies of 8 or more of the same species, and the bloat may be caused by stress from non-idyllic conditions.

My guess is that he got bloat from overeating. He's the only Tropheus in a Tanganyikan community tank and he probably eats more than he should since they are so fast at the dinner table. That's one major reason why I think Tropheus should not be kept in "community" tanks, but I won't derail more on the subject.