Black calvus died of SBD

[Perentie]

My black calvus (Altolamprologus calvus) Showed symptoms of swimm bladder dissorder a few days ago and sadly passed away yesterday.

He was in a 40lt by himself, fed 3 small meals a day and fasted once weekly,PH, amn, nitrates and nitrites were all perfect although my nitrites were a little higher than usual.

I don't know a great deal about SBD but i rememberd a few treatments, de-shelld peas and epsom salts. I tried the peas first with no succsess as he could barely keep himself upright so i tried teaspoon of epsom salts and watched him for a while but had to go out to get some things, when i came back he was gone.....

I know SBD can be coused by overfeeding, poor water conditions, parasites and constipation but what are some affective treatments? maybe the ones i mentiond are affective and i simply didnt catch the condition in time?


cheers-


Darren

 

[Veil-o's]

He was in a 40lt by himself, fed 3 small meals a day and fasted once weekly,PH, amn, nitrates and nitrites were all perfect although my nitrites were a little higher than usual.

Having Nitrites is a clear indication of your tank not being fully cycled. Both Ammonia, and Nitrites should read 0ppm. Nitrates should fall anywhere from 0 - 40ppm. What is your tank water testing at?

 

[Perentie]

The tank is several months old but there has beena spike in nitrate, why? your guess is a good as mine. Im currently working on fixing that starting with a water change ahead of sqedual. I don't overfeed and i seroisly doipt it was parasitic so it must have been an internal injury that led to swim bladder dissorder in witch case there is no cure. Just a shame as he was a beautiful fish, was the fist fish ive ever lost to illness.

 

[Lupin]

I am confused. Which exactly spiked here? Nitrite or nitrate? What were the results?

How did you suspect internal injury? Were you able to do a necropsy on the dead fish? That would have helped you figure out the cause and be able to correct it if possible.

 

[Perentie]

Nitrite was higher than usual but not as bad as Nitrate witch jumped from a little over 10 to 40 ppm, i discussed this with a few other keepers and breeder who themselvs were stumped as to what coused it but it should be pretty simple to fix with a few bigger than ususal water changes.

What led me to think it was internal injury that led to sbd? mate im no expert, far from it but it just seemed to fit, the other common couses are parasitic and constipation and i seriously doupt it was either, all my fish get a veried diet but in small amounts and there is pelnty of fiber.

This calvus was in a tank with a bunch of crazed peacock cichlids before i moved him to his own tank and its a certanty that whilst with them he would have been chased and bullyd witch is why i traded them in for cichlids that were better sueted for the kind of tank i was going for and no longer have any agression witch is great.

Whats your thoughts on the matter?

cheers-

Darren

 

[Lupin]

The only reasons I would think of that internal damage is possible when the fish is unable to adapt quickly to new water conditions, too much rough physical contact by fish or owner, or internal parasites damaging the organs. Only a necropsy would have revealed the exact cause.

 

[Perentie]

The only reasons I would think of that internal damage is possible when the fish is unable to adapt quickly to new water conditions, too much rough physical contact by fish or owner, or internal parasites damaging the organs. Only a necropsy would have revealed the exact cause.

True, there is no way of being 100%. Sure, maybe it was parrasitic but im leaning more towards internal injury due to being chased and pesterd by the crazed peacocks i had.

Hopefully i wont see another case of SBD again but out of interest, is there a cure for it?

Always trying to learn something new from the more experianced keepers/breeders.

cheers-

Darren.