Bloated fish

[FishGuest5123]

In my opinion, the Hikari is far better than the Tetra. I use New Life Spectrum but you have to order it online. I also feed Rapeshy Solid Gold gel food to my goldfish and they love it. Very easy to make. I use the Hikari brand for my fry and my plecos.

 

[Byron]

On the subject of foods.

Ive got a bit of variety of flake, micro sticks and sinking pellets. Is a certain brand best to get? (A few ive got below)View attachment 92518

Yes, not all fish foods are the same or as healthy. The first thing you look for are additives/fillers/binders like cereals, meal, etc. If the food contains fish, then it should be "whole" fish. If it does not say this, then the "fish" is likely the discarded bits that are not as nutritious.

Omega One foods are whole fish and no meals or cereals. I use their Veggie Flake for upper fish, Veggie Rounds (sinking disks) for substrate feeders, and shrimp pellets (substrate). They also have a shrimp flake.

New Life Spectrum is another quality brand, and I use their basic freshwater flake with garlic.

I know these two are quality, I have looked into them, and they are available locally at online prices so they are my basics. I do also feed Nutrafin's Max Tablets which have cereals but also chopped earthworm and the cories and loaches really go after these, so just once a week to minimize the cereals. Same for their Bug Bites.

There are other reliable brands, other members can advise, as the above are what I can get and all I use. I alternate so the fish get a different food (upper and lower feeding) three days running, then a fast day, then the Omega and NLS, and frozen treat once.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Yes, not all fish foods are the same or as healthy. The first thing you look for are additives/fillers/binders like cereals, meal, etc. If the food contains fish, then it should be "whole" fish. If it does not say this, then the "fish" is likely the discarded bits that are not as nutritious.

Omega One foods are whole fish and no meals or cereals. I use their Veggie Flake for upper fish, Veggie Rounds (sinking disks) for substrate feeders, and shrimp pellets (substrate). They also have a shrimp flake.

New Life Spectrum is another quality brand, and I use their basic freshwater flake with garlic.

I know these two are quality, I have looked into them, and they are available locally at online prices so they are my basics. I do also feed Nutrafin's Max Tablets which have cereals but also chopped earthworm and the cories and loaches really go after these, so just once a week to minimize the cereals. Same for their Bug Bites.

There are other reliable brands, other members can advise, as the above are what I can get and all I use. I alternate so the fish get a different food (upper and lower feeding) three days running, then a fast day, then the Omega and NLS, and frozen treat once.

I also feed Omega One to my bettas. Forgot, sorry.

 

[Essjay]

I have discovered another brand, NorthFin. They tend to use whole fish in their products. They are a Canadian company, there are not many sellers in the UK. But I've just looked at their map and see an LFS not far from me is a NorthFin retailer. I'll have to go and see

 

[Colin_T]

I had a betta sorority that all came down with columnaris. Horrible experience. A close friend of mine who does a lot of aquatic research with universities told me the columnaris could have come from the frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp I fed. I have stopped all frozen foods since then.

Frozen Brineshrimp won't contain Columnaris or anything else that can live in freshwater because the brineshrimp live in salt water.

Frozen bloodworms (Chironomid midge larvae) can be a problem to fish that don't chew their food and if they come from a dirty area. Some companies sterilise them when packing them so they are cleaner. The larvae have a very hard head that cannot be broken down by a fish's digestive tract, and if the fish eats a lot of them, the heads can cause a blockage in the intestine and the fish swells up and dies.

If frozen foods get defrosted and refrozen, they can spoil and make the fish sick. Most new fridge/ freezer combos have an auto defrost cycle that happens at least once a day, and this can cause frozen fish food to spoil and be refrozen without your knowledge. Frozen foods can also be defrosted and refrozen anywhere between the manufacturer and the retail outlet.

Freeze dried foods are cleaner than frozen foods and don't carry any of the bacteria that frozen foods can carry.

 

[Essjay]

Hmmm, according to that NorthFin retailer's website, they don't sell the community flake. Neither do any other retailers with websites, or Ebay or Amazon They sell mainly food for big fish. All my fish are small, the betta is the biggest one.

 

[seangee]

My staples are NLS and Omega One. I also use Dennerle Neon and Co Booster as an alternative to live food. IMO its worth paying extra for fish food that is all fish food and not filler.

I have just ordered my first pack of Fluval's bug bites, but as I've not used them yet I can't comment.

 

[FishGuest5123]

My staples are NLS and Omega One. I also use Dennerle Neon and Co Booster as an alternative to live food. IMO its worth paying extra for fish food that is all fish food and not filler.

I have just ordered my first pack of Fluval's bug bites, but as I've not used them yet I can't comment.

I use the Fluval Bug Bites. Another one I forgot. Lol! My fish love them and they are suppose to be high in protein. I stay away from freeze dried foods and now, frozen too.

 

[AquaBarb]

Are they still pooping?
If yes, what is it like?

Been viewing the 2 rainbows tonight and just noticed a small thin (hair size) clear poop come out the male??

 

[Colin_T]

Are the fish still eating, if yes, then give them plant matter. Cut up or blend up some spinach or other green leafy plants, mash peas, and mix them up together and feed them to the fish. You can add a bit of raw or cooked prawn to the veges to encourage the fish to eat them.

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See if you can get some Metronidazole or another anti-biotic and treat the tank, but monitor the ammonia and nitrite level because they can wipe out filter bacteria.

-------------------------
To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. Do a 75% water change and gravel
clean the substrate. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

 

[AquaBarb]

Are the fish still eating, if yes, then give them plant matter. Cut up or blend up some spinach or other green leafy plants, mash peas, and mix them up together and feed them to the fish. You can add a bit of raw or cooked prawn to the veges to encourage the fish to eat them.

-------------------------
See if you can get some Metronidazole or another anti-biotic and treat the tank, but monitor the ammonia and nitrite level because they can wipe out filter bacteria.

-------------------------
To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. Do a 75% water change and gravel
clean the substrate. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it.

Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.

Right ill get on it. What do you think is the problem Colin? Is it a bacteria infection

I put anti-biotic for fish in google and it shows me anti-internal bacteria solutions. Cant seem to find Metronidazole yet. Furan-2 or Kanaplex i could probably order but i live in the UK so it will take a while to get to me.

Ive got some Anti-internal bacteria solution but not sure if this is the right thing to use for the tank treatment

 

[Colin_T]

Right ill get on it. What do you think is the problem Colin? Is it a bacteria infection

If you can post a short 20 second video of the fish feeding, and pictures of all the bloated fish, I will have more idea. Put the video on YouTube and copy & paste the link here.​

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API General Cure contains Metronidazole. see link below.
https://www.apifishcare.com/product.php?p=details&id=635#.XTMFL_ZuKtU

What are the ingredients in your anti-bacterial medication?

------------------------

Right ill get on it. What do you think is the problem Colin? Is it a bacteria infection

If you can post a short 20 second video of the fish feeding, and pictures of all the bloated fish, I will have more idea. Put the video on YouTube and copy & paste the link here.

 

[Essjay]

Russjw is in the UK. We can't get API general cure here, except as an import from overseas.
Metronidazole is prescription only here. We can only get mild over the counter anti-bacterials as most things are prescription only.

 

[AquaBarb]

I fasted fish yesterday and just blanched some peas this morning and deshelled and mushed up with some raw prawn. Feed the the fish then did some maintance on the tank.

Ill see how they go and if no better ill try some meds i have to treat internal infections. If this dosent work ill have to try something stronger.

Not sure what the ingredients are Colin unfortuntely ive looked on box and online to find them but no joy.

Thank you for all your responces

 

[Essjay]

You won't find those meds in the UK because you need a vet's prescription to get them. A very expensive vet's prescription. No antibiotics are available over the counter.