Jack Dempsey bloated belly

[Mchristiansen613]

I have an older jack dempsey about 8 years old. He has a bloated belly and stringy white poop I thought it was bloat so I moved him to a single 20gal to himself with lots of aeration and started treating with api general cure and doing water changes. He will eat and I have been giving him pellets soaked in general cure and Epsom salt also treated water with epsom salt tried peas with no skin. I have been treating him with the metro for about 5 days now with what seems to be no positive results maybe its something else that metro will not help?

 

[Mchristiansen613]

Hard to tell but under his stomach looks like it's peeling or rotting. Should I switch to a fungal med. Or stick to metro? I have no idea what to do

 

[Rocksor]

I would stop feeding. How much epsom salt did you put in? Did the belly grow slowly or quickly? If quickly, like over a day or two, then I suspect either blockage or bacterial infection. For a fish that is not being fed, the first antibiotic I would try is Seachem kanaplex.

 

[Mchristiansen613]

It's a 20gal I put about 2 teaspoons of Epsom salt in. I'll have to see if I can find kanaplex at LFS. It grew quickly over a couple days

 

[Rocksor]

You

It's a 20gal I put about 2 teaspoons of Epsom salt in. I'll have to see if I can find kanaplex at LFS. It grew quickly over a couple days

To purge the fish quickjly, you need 1 tablespoon of dissolved epsom salt per gallon, and the fish should stay in the temporary bath (different container) for 30 minutes. If it starts to show signs of thrashing in between 15-30 minutes, then put him back into the tank.

The dosage for epsom salt at 1 teaspoon per 10 gallon is good for reducing swelling.

At your dempsey's size, he will be fine for not eating at least 3 weeks.

 

[Mchristiansen613]

You


To purge the fish quickjly, you need 1 tablespoon of dissolved epsom salt per gallon, and the fish should stay in the temporary bath (different container) for 30 minutes. If it starts to show signs of thrashing in between 15-30 minutes, then put him back into the tank.

The dosage for epsom salt at 1 teaspoon per 10 gallon is good for reducing swelling.

At your dempsey's size, he will be fine for not eating at least 3 weeks.

So give him a salt bath in a different container. And then try to treat tank with kanaplex. Any other med if I can't find kanaplex. I know lfs has all api meds not sure of seachem. And don't try to feed medicated food?

 

[Rocksor]

So give him a salt bath in a different container. And then try to treat tank with kanaplex. Any other med if I can't find kanaplex. I know lfs has all api meds not sure of seachem. And don't try to feed medicated food?

Assuming the 20g is a quarantine tank. You could try Erythromycin or Furan-2 (ph above 7.5 Triple Sulfa instead of Furan-2), or a combination of Maracyn-1 and Maracyn-2.

How much was this fish fed prior to the bloating? Or was he not fed 2 days prior to bloating?

 

[Mchristiansen613]

Assuming the 20g is a quarantine tank. You could try Erythromycin or Furan-2 (ph above 7.5 Triple Sulfa instead of Furan-2), or a combination of Maracyn-1 and Maracyn-2.

How much was this fish fed prior to the bloating? Or was he not fed 2 days prior to bloating?

Once I seen he was bloating I only fed him peas. Yes quarantine tank is 20gal no substrate. Lots of air. 80 degrees

 

[Rocksor]

Once I seen he was bloating I only fed him peas. Yes quarantine tank is 20gal no substrate. Lots of air. 80 degrees

I would reduce the tank temperature to around ~75F or a little less. This will reduce any chance for columnaris to take hold on a sick fish.

 

[Mchristiansen613]

I would reduce the tank temperature to around ~75F or a little less. This will reduce any chance for columnaris to take hold on a sick fish.

I gave him a salt bath for 30 minutes which he was fine with. Back in quarantine tank did a 40% w.c. and treated with erythromycin we will see if this helps. I also noticed he has what looks like white slim sticking to him. Also his scales are sticking out now