Swollen tinfoil barb

[shami]

Dear Fishkeepers,

I need some urgent help with my tinfoil barbs. I have 150L tank with 3 tinfoil barbs (red eye), and each of them is about 2.5 inches long.

I use borewell water for the tank, and although it does not have chlorine, I use DoAqua (beFine) to treat the water. Last week, I ran out of the DoAqua and and I did water change without it. Few days ago, I noticed one of my barbs had a slightly bloated tummy. I was not concerned then, because sometimes if I overfeed them by mistake, they swell up, but regain to original in couple of hours.

Anyway, when it did not go down by the evening, I decreased the diet. As I read somewhere online that it could be because of constipation and that green peas should be fed in such a case, so I fed them cucumber and green peas. It did not help. So, I increased the temperature to 30 degree celsius and stopped feeding for about two days. Yesterday, I added about 60mg of epsom salt. But I also noticed that the barb has discolored a little in some patches. I am little worried now. It has good apetite, stays with the other two and swims normally (knock on wood!). The other two are okay.

I am assuming it is not bloat, because he is still interested in food. The scales are not really off, so I am ruling out dropsy as well.

But I would like to ask you experts if it is okay to treat fish with Metronidazole even when it may not have bloat?

I also notice brown stringy poop hanging out of each barb's anus. Could this be an internal parasite? Again, is it okay to treat for internal parasite when they may not be suffering from it? I mean can the medicine has side effects?

Appreciate your help!

Shami.
shami_thoke@yahoo.com

 

[dparks87]

Metro is a safe med to use and you should notice no ill effects. My advice on using it would be to add the recommended dosage to a food mixture and freeze it. You can feed this as the sole food option for one week. This should clear the digestive tract of any parasites. The way I make my medicated food is by first mixing flake or pellet food with Garlic guard by Seachem untill it is a paste. I then add the rec. dosage of metro to the paste and freeze the mixture in a sandwich bag in a sheet shape. This allows you to brake off small pieces to feed your fish. This insures the metro is being ingested and gives a much better chance of clearing up anyhting internal.

I have also heard in some cases that Borewell water is not fit for human consumption. Has your well been tested as of late? Do you guys drink this water or boil it befor using it?

 

[Water]

Metro is a safe med to use and you should notice no ill effects. My advice on using it would be to add the recommended dosage to a food mixture and freeze it. You can feed this as the sole food option for one week. This should clear the digestive tract of any parasites. The way I make my medicated food is by first mixing flake or pellet food with Garlic guard by Seachem untill it is a paste. I then add the rec. dosage of metro to the paste and freeze the mixture in a sandwich bag in a sheet shape. This allows you to brake off small pieces to feed your fish. This insures the metro is being ingested and gives a much better chance of clearing up anyhting internal.

I have also heard in some cases that Borewell water is not fit for human consumption. Has your well been tested as of late? Do you guys drink this water or boil it befor using it?

I disagree. With any medication, there is always a danger. Also, with randomly dosing a tank with medication, you do a couple things. 1, stress out your fish, or 2, allow parasites and other organisms to grow immunity to the medication causing them to be harder to fight off.

Now, it seems to me that your fish may be bloated or has internal parasites. I suggest soaking pellets/flakes/whatever foods you're feeding your fish in epsom salt. I've tried this many times with my hybrids since they're more prone to digestive/parasite issues. Works everytime.

Heres a thread that should help out. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=339362

Good luck.

 

[shami]

dparks87, Water,

Thanks for your help!

Yes, the borewell water is hardwater. I do have the normal tap water connection, but people say that it has high chlorine and, moreover, hardwater is "more" natural , so it is better to use borewell water. Well, I have never gotten the water tested by the way.

Initially, I used to fill up my tank with Bisleri (mineral water - that I use for drinking) for first few weeks, and later moved to borewell water.

In fact, I am tempted to treat my fish with Metro to clear any parasites, but at the same time, I do not wish to medicate them unnecessarily. I think I will try the epsom salt treatment that "Water" posted, and then next week I will give them a very low (1/2) dosage of Metro.

What do you guys say?

This morning, I fed them very little food, which they gulped down in no time. So, I am hoping they will eat the medicated (salt/metro) food, too.

Thanks a bunch!
Shami.

 

[Water]

Just follow the Epsom salt link. No need for metro. It's a lot cheaper and far more effective in treating IP than Metro.

 

[dparks87]

The Epsom salt is actually a very good idea. I would also start with that treatment, going a natural route is a better way to start. I have never used Epsom treated food for internals but I will give that a try next time. Metro does work great for internals, if you are worried about an exact dose you can surely call the company and they would be able to give you one.

 

[shami]

Hey Guys,

I started the Epsom salt treatment day before yesterday. I may be wrong, but I feel that swelling has gone down a little. At least, it has not gotten worse.

I have a question on the treatment method - it says:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Use only enough water to saturate the food, with no excess water, so that the water soluble vitamins in the food remain intact
---------------------------------------------------------------

But ultimately the food is put in the water, won't the vitamins dissolve then? So, does it matter if we add excess water or not?

Well, by the way, I am religiously following the treatment prescribed. I was just curious about the above statement. Let's hope my barb recovers soon!

Thanks,
Shami.