Bloated L411

[AndrewC]

I have four L411 (hypancistrus) in a 6ft tank with 5 corys and a couple of spare apistogramma, they have been in the tank for nearly two years.
The four consist of three males and one female i think, they were adult when i got them and there was three large fish and one smaller fish, an old PC id thread ;http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 13&t=18959

There can be some fighting between them, but it's never that bad that i feel i need to seperate them, and they do not seem as bad now, though sometimes i can see scuff marks on there bodies.

When doing some routine maintance on their tank, i found one of them out in the open and looked bloated, the other three look fine and the corys and apistos are fine.
I have moved this one to a hospital tank and was going to treat with Esha 2000, a general bacteria treatment that says it helps with bloat, but i was hoping somebody will have seen this before and be able to recommend a specific treatment for it.
I am currently not treating the hospital tank with any medication.

[MatsP]

I'm afraid that looks like internal bacterial infection.

Edit: That is difficult to treat - if the fish is still eating, you could give it an antibacterial medication in the food, but usually we only see these problems when it's too late to rescue the fish that way and they have already stopped eating.

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Mats

[AndrewC]

Thanks Mat
Will a general bacteria treatment help the fish (ie, Esha 2000), or is there something more specfic i should try to get ?

[MatsP]

This link was posted in another question similar to yours. It recommends a medication called "clout", which I've heard about before in similar circumstances. However, I'm not sure it's available in Europe.

Maybe someone else can suggest something.

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Mats

[Janne]

Flagyl or Metronidazol, I have bad experience of Esha 2000 when using for plecos and would not recomend to use it. You have moved the fish to a hospital tank and thats good, keep the water warm around 29-30 C with good filtration and dont feed the fish at all until he is recovered. It looks like it's in the last second to save him but it's worth a try, I have saved some even looking as bad as yours with treatment of metronidazol. One tablet 500mg per 100 L water, after 8-10 hour's add one more tablett 500mg / 100 L water, next day make 50% water change and add a new tablet and then wait and see how he developes...if he looks better no more medication but it will take some time before he will be fine again...and no food under the whole treatment. If no difference repeat the medication from step one but make a water change before.

And it looks like a L260...just little older and bigger

Janne

[AndrewC]

Thanks Janne
I have ordered some "Fish Zole (Metronidazole)" from Ebay USA, so it probably won't get here until later in the week.

I have some Myaxin by Waterlife and will treat with this http://www.waterlife.co.uk/waterlife/myxazin.htm, until the Fish Zole arrives.

Does it look like a male, i hope it isn't the sole female of the group ?

[Barbie]

It does look like a male, yes. Remember to provide good aeration with the meds and high temperatures. I also try to add a piece of wood from a tank with plecos with healthy gut flora when I'm treating, or immediately after, but that is arguably effective. I just figure it can't hurt.

Barbie

[AndrewC]

Thanks Barbie

It must be aggression between the males that has brought this on, maybe he is a less dominant male and taking a beating at times.
Aggression is the reason they are in my big tank, it has helped a lot compared to the 3ft tank i had them in the beginning, only occasionally see them fighting now, i now just see scuff marks on there bodies from time to time.

[andywoolloo]

those pics make me want to remove the driftwood and slate and actually look at my hypans. Can't see if they are ok from a tail out of a cave.

best of luck with him, keep us posted, Beautiful fish.

[AndrewC]

An update on the L260, he survived alright and went back in with the others after a few weeks.

I only treated with Waterlife's Myaxin in the hospital tank, by the time the "Fish Zole (Metronidazole)" arrived he was looking a lot better and was pooing a lot, and i didn't feed him until he was looking a lot less plump.
So i gave him a second treatment of Myaxin and made sure he was eating and looking healthy before putting him back in with the rest.

Can fish get constipated and bloat up ?