4-5 year old Flowerhorn sick

[Hmontoya93]

I have had this golden base for about 4 years, water always good nitrates always on the lower end.
lately he isn’t doing well stomach os kind of bloated, and getting pale.
added some epsom salt and waiting to see if he gets better, anything else I can do or is it just his time. I thought they lived longer but have seen some post say they don’t usually make it past 5

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[anzo1993]

I have had this golden base for about 4 years, water always good nitrates always on the lower end.
lately he isn’t doing well stomach os kind of bloated, and getting pale.
added some epsom salt and waiting to see if he gets better, anything else I can do or is it just his time. I thought they lived longer but have seen some post say they don’t usually make it past 5

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I would stop feeding for a few days and see if it helps , and when you do start feeding again try food rich in spirilina to help digest, I’ve noticed over feeding in Flowerhorns causes Bloat very easily compared to other American cichlids

 

[Hmontoya93]

Thank you he is going downhill fast and stomach is getting more swollen, I think it might be more humane to put him down. It sucks, love this crazy little guy.
no more hybrids for me, I can’t stand to loose a fish in only a couple of years

 

[Hmontoya93]

here is , looks a lot worse in person, and he was bright red and huge hump

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[anzo1993]

here is , looks a lot worse in person, and he was bright red and huge hump

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Only thing left to do is make sure you do water changes every few days and I would raise the temperature in the tank, I’ve had Flowerhorns go down this road before sometimes they recover other time it’s a never ending problem