Please Help - Problems With My Severum

[Wills]

Hi, last night I noticed Lilly my Severum was acting a bit weird and this morning she is showing really stressed stripes and is really un-active, she is moving around and still bossing the other fish in the tank around but she is spending time hidden and she is gasping quite a lot. It looks like she is either constipated or she is egg bound and I am not sure which...
 
She is a true mouth brooding Heros Severus, so one of the smaller species of Severum. All my other fish are healthy, active and their colours are all normal. All other fish are eating fine and none of them are showing any symptoms. Tank spec and other fish are in my signature.
 
Water stats are all clear - I have high nitrate as I have 40ppm in my tap water but other than that Ammonia and Nitrite are 0ppm.
 
She laid eggs 2 weeks ago, but obviously as a solitary fish (in a community tank) they never hatch. She lays eggs by her self about once a month. But it looks like her breeding tube is down now or she is trying to pass a big poop, Im not sure which though...
 
She is quite a fussy fish and I have to feed her a different food to the other fish - I feed Tetra Prima to the tank and then I break up the Tetra pleco wafers into smaller pieces which she then catches as I drop them in... I tried to put whole ones in for my plec and whiptails but Lilly always just gets them all and chases everyone else away from it.
 
The other thing to probably mention is, she is an old fish. I think she is at least 10 years old - her previous owner had her for 4 years and he got her as a wild caught adult and I have had her for 4-5 years.
 
I have done some peas and chopped them up, I have a supply in the fridge. I have fed them one set but Lilly never really eats green food... I think she has taken a few but I'm not 100%
 
Does anyone know anything on how to help egg bound fish?
 
thanks Wills
 
 

 

[star4]

Last spawn were there the normal amount of eggs or did she lay less? I am thinking she didnt release all her eggs she may have a bacterial infection. Does the breeding tube look normal? is there any pink/red tinge to it, is it swollen compared to normal? is there any change to her sides does she look swollen at all, or bloated?
 
With her age it is difficult to be 100%, if you can get hold of some you could try soaking her food in Vitazin with her eating pleco wafers these are excellent for soaking it up. Vitazin is a multivitamin boost I have used it lots of times before with good results.

 

[Wills]

It does look slightly swollen, but shes been fine the past 2 weeks, it was only last night I noticed things had gone badly. I have some internal bacterial meds in do you think its worth dosing?
 
Shes not seem to be that bloated and I have seen her much more bloated - dont know if you remember my problems with Hikari sinking pellets Star?
 
Its not really unusual for her to be a bit grumpy before breeding, I am kind of hoping to see a batch of eggs but I am quite worried about her
 
I agree though, I think her age could be a factor in all this.
 
Wills

 

[DrRob]

I'm guessing the swelling is symmetrical.
 
Might be worth dosing, depending how stressed she is looking, shame that she's not a good pea eater, but then some simply aren't.

 

[Wills]

Just been through to check on her, colours are better less stress bars, she seems subdued but she can see whats going on. Looks like she is passing something now it looks quite thick but sort of like a gel - it might actually be a pea passing through (sorry for the graphic nature of the subject).
 
Ive got big bottles of Protozin and Myxazin in which do you think is worth trying first? Myxazin is more for bacteria but Protozin has more in it that can knock most stuff out.
 
Wills

 

[star4]

I know the sort of thing your describing, my rotkeil passes the same sort of thing from time to time, she does not spawn on her own. If she has lossed her stress bars and seems just quiet I wouldnt go for meds, your water is clean enough not to need them. However if she gets her stress bars back again do (I know its hard on a big tank) small daily water changes, 50 - 70l should be ok.

 

[LyraGuppi]

I heard Epsom salts are a laxative, you could try those.
Here is an Ehow site:
http/www.ehow.com/info_12020658_use-epsom-salts-fish-aquariums.html

 

[Wills]

Ive started a dose of Protozin, I read up on the water life website and while I cant see any specific internal bacterial medicine they do recommend 4 days of protozin 4 days of myxazin to treat similar problems.
 
Thanks for the link Lyra, Ive not used Epsom salts before but I am bearing it in mind.
 
Wills

 

[star4]

Order some Vitazin too (also by waterlife), twice a week soak her food in it  for a couple of weeks.
 
Best of luck

 

[Wills]

Ok bit of an update this morning - her swelling seems to have gone totally now, and her breeding tube is going back in. However her colours are still off, her base colour is really pale and washed out and her stripes are very black. Her tail looks like the edge is fraying so she is obviously quite stressed still.
 
I think its just keeping on top of the water and meds that will give her the best chance.
 
Wills

 

[star4]

That is all you can do really.

 

[Wills]

Unfortunately, I checked on her about an hour ago, she had lost all buoyancy and though reactive was just flat on the floor of the tank, her fins had started to deteriorate and her tail section looked like it had dropped. I sort of noticed her back end was lower a few days ago but tried to ignore it, though Im sure we all know what this is a sign of. 
 
Seeing her like this and based on the deterioration of the past few days I took the decision to put her down. I am more than prepared to put the "fight" in to save a fish but I also know when it is just a fishes time and this is what this felt like. I think realistically I knew that a few days ago but just wanted to cling on.
 
I separated her into a bucket and used an overdose of clove oil. Knocking her out with a small dose first before adding the additional solution.
 
Loosing Lilly is a massive blow to me and my partner. We have had her since the start of November 2009 and she has been the center piece fish in all my tanks since.
 
Thanks for your help above
Wills