plant crab

I have very large, glutonneous, tetra. Earlier this week I purchased a school for him and they are all in my QT tank. All the other guys seems healthy, but when I checked in on them this afternoon, the oldest tetra is incredibly bloated, and he is having severe trouble swimming, (head up, tail down). I don't see any scales protruding. The other guys all seem fine.

If it is dropsy - could he have caught it in two days from them? Would they still all be ok? I saw a recommendation for Epsom salts to cure it... any recommendations?

One other thing it could be... yesterday I gave them peas for the first time, and the oldest tetra swallowed a HUGE piece that was way too big for him. Could this have something to do with it? Is it possible that he's just constipated?

kra-z-fishmumm

HI,,,to double check, did you peel the pea? It is not good for them to have the skin or too big of pieces. This sounds like constipation, so please try to give smaller pieces and keep a eye on him. OH! no epson salt.

plant crab

Yes, I did peel the pea.. I broke it into bits too.. normally with my danios they will grab a chunk and sort of suck on it, swimming around until its small enough to eat (they look like seals with balls on thier noses).. but this was the first time I fed the tetras any peas and the big guy took a montrous piece and really looked like he was having trouble eating it, it was half sticking out of his mouth for a bit, but then he forced it down anyway. Even the new tetras were very "easy going" with the peas, but not this guy. I will def watch the size from now on. Thanks for the advice.
P.S.: Out of curiousity: Why no epsom salts?

plant crab

Also - Should I do a starve day?
Anything I can do to help him? He really looks just so ... well... uncomfortable..

Carah

From what you described my fish is doing the same thing. It seems like his back end is paralized, he moves alittle bit (when he needs to) moving his front fins. I have other fish in the tank and hes the only one that is acting sick. I just got him (& others) on Sunday.
Please help, i dont want to lose him.

Carah

At the store they have his kind labled as a Kenyi Cichlid. I only have one of his kind in my tank. Ive seen some pictures of really beautiful Zebra Cichlids, which resembles him.

kra-z-fishmumm

I have never used it and I hear all the ppl on the forum say it is only good for a very few problems, epson salt that is. I think you should just keep an eye out on him for now. I know some of the disease lists say for constipation you can not feed them for a day. You don't want to feed him too much of the peas. Someone who is more experienced will help,,,

Carah,, try making a thread for yours. My male molly just passed and he had the not moving of the rear end and all. I tried peas, and there wasn't any other signs of disease i.e white stringy poo, bloating, anything. JMO

plant crab

Thanks for your help Debbie, but he passed this morning. His eyes and one side of his stomach were reddish. I have no idea what it was but like I said, between my brother and I we've had him for over a year and he's never had problems. He even went through a tank cycling four months ago (accidental overcleaning on my part). The only thing I can think it could be is that darn pea I watched him choke down on Thursday. All the other guys are still fine.

You know, I have to laugh a little about this... He was alone for so long.. (My brother bought him not realizing he needed company). I had such a hard time finding a school for him but I really wanted to because he seemed so lonely... I finally found his same species... (drove over an hour to get to the store)... and he dies three days later! Ironic...

Sorry, just needed to vent a little...

Good luck with your cichlid Carah, and I'm sorry to hear about your molly Debbie.

kra-z-fishmumm

So sorry, it seems to happen faster than we can do something. It sound like a parasite got him by how you describe his final appearance. This site http://www.klsnet.com which I think I linked from here,, it gives a nice list.

Carah

Sorry to hear about your loss. Its hard not to get attached to pets, even when your kids bring them home. It wouldnt be so bad if the petstores would keep there fish stocked, something other then goldfish or knew more about fish. If your fish died from a parasite, would the other fish get it too?

plant crab

Thanks guys.

It really did happen pretty fast. Less than 12 hours.

Well, I'm watching the new guys closely - I might quarantine them for three weeks instead of two - just in case.

Carah - How is your cichlid?

Thanks again for you help!