Bloated bagrus?

[Goodeid608]

Could anybody help id this disease that's affecting my Lobiobagrus cyclurus?
He's been like this for weeks and just keeps getting worse, I had a similar issue with a yellow bullhead that went on for months before she finally passed. I really don't want to loose this guy or my other three.

[Birger]

Can you fill us in on your tank you keep these in?

Conditions, tankmates and what you feed them could be very helpful for us to help you.

Birger

[Birger]

By the way it is in the family Claroteidae, not a Bagrid... http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/fam ... amily_id=2

[Goodeid608]

He's in a 40 breeder with 3 juvenile Ophthalmotilapia ventralis "Kipili Village", young group of Pundamilia spec. "Red flank", a young Altolamprologus calvus "Chaitika", an Altolamprologus compressiceps "Dwarf Sumbu", 2 Neolamprologus cylindricus, and three other cyclurus.
I keep the temperature at 78f, pH 8.0, Amonia 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrate is a little less than 20 ppm. They receive weekly 50-60% water changes and I feed a mixture of spectrum, xtreme, new era cichlid veggie, cobalt cichlid & spirulina, and aqeon (got a ton of it for free) 1-2 times a day with 1or 2 fasting days a week. I mix all those foods in the same can.
Everything else in the tank seems to be thriving and the red flanks are spawning like crazy.

[Taratron]

My brevispinnis had this literally three days ago. White blob out the vent like she was eggbound. Died in quarantine overnight.

[Birger]

My first impression is thwat you have a fair number of fish that prefer a small territory...including the catfish.....and all are in an aquarium with a rather small footprint. Are the catfish being attacked at all??

Do you have more then enough caves in the aquarium, and have them spread to maximize the floor space and some divider stones or some object to break up line of sight??

Birger

[Birger]

White blob out the vent like she was eggbound. Died in quarantine overnight.

Eggbound or overeating...did you investigate??


Birger

[Goodeid608]

I've a bunch of coconut caves and stacked rocks. I haven't noticed much aggression towards them but the Altolamps and the cylindricus seem to be a bit territorial with their caves.
Forgot to mention that this catfish seems to be deficating normally.

[Goodeid608]

Well i lost this guy the other night, opened him up to gather some insight and the and what came out was a big yellowish blob, there also seemed to be a bit of fluid in the abdomen.

[bekateen]

Well i lost this guy the other night, opened him up to gather some insight and the and what came out was a big yellowish blob, there also seemed to be a bit of fluid in the abdomen.

Sorry for your loss.

How "solid" was the yellow blob? Was this material located within the gut tube (i.e., stomach/intestinal contents) or was it in the abdominal cavity? If it was in the abdominal cavity, did it appear to be a rotten organ, or did it appear to be extra material filling in between other "normal" organs? Was there any visible structure to the yellow stuff or present inside it? (Was it surrounded by any kind of capsule? Could there have been tiny worms in it?) Was the fluid yellow also? Would you describe the fluid as pus or more like water?

[Goodeid608]

Was relatively solid and didn't fall apart but was squishy and took up just about the entire abdominal cavity, and the fluid was yellowish but clear and seemed to have the consistency of normal fish mucus.

[bekateen]

Was relatively solid and didn't fall apart but was squishy and took up just about the entire abdominal cavity, and the fluid was yellowish but clear and seemed to have the consistency of normal fish mucus.

Did the mass appear to be a diseased organ (e.g., fat body, liver or ovary)? Did the yellow mass appear to have any red blood in it, or a distinct blood supply (like a reticulated pattern of small blood vessels)? Fat bodies and ovaries might naturally have a pale color, perhaps yellowish, but other organs shouldn't be so yellow.

Also, it's normal to have a minute amount of watery fluid (serous fluid) inside the abdomen, which lubricates the internal organs and prevents them from binding/sticking together. But the fluid shouldn't be present in any significant quantity, and it shouldn't be slimy/sticky like mucus; mucus is an external body fluid, not an internal one.

[Goodeid608]

I saw no blood at all. Not entirely sure what it could've been but it was the first thing to come out.

[bekateen]

Sorry, I can't get any further. Without actually seeing what you saw, it's difficult to speculate on what the mass might be - quite likely some kind of tumor (see a dissection of a tumorous fish at http://www.bonniesplants.com/tumor.htm, and note that their tumor was accompanied by a yellowish fluid too); other possibilities include a parasitic cyst, a pathological mass of bound eggs, or even a condensed, hardened deposit of pus.