Crosshatch constipated and hasn't eaten in 9 days

[ColtonNelly]

Hi Everyone,

About three weeks ago I started feeding my crosshatches silversides to help them put on a little more weight. They loved them. After about a week and a half of this, my male stopped eating and started hiding more than usual. I figured it was the diet change and it might need to take a few days to work through him. I tried to get him to eat algae and even tried the pea trick. He may have gotten a tiny amount of food over the last week, but I can't be sure. I was able to transfer him into my QT tank. I heard that Epsom salt can help with blockages, so I dosed one tablespoon per 10 gallons yesterday. He was swimming around yesterday, but today isn't swimming nearly as much and looks uncomfortable. He is starting to get skinny, and I don't know how much longer he can go without eating. He has a slight bulge near his rear, and his skin looks a little discolored.

When I initially got him, I thoroughly quarantined and treated him with prazi pro as well as metranitozole for internal issues. Nothing new has been added to the tank for the last few months.

Any other ideas on how I can get him to pass this? A few days ago he was interested in food but didn't seem to eat any. Today he hasn't seemed interested in food at all.

Also, the Epsom salt has been in there for about 20 hours, do I need to do a water change, or can I leave it?

Thank you in advance for the help.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

IME metro treated a blenny that had the same issue..not eating, constipated and bloated. Were the silversides fresh or frozen? You said you haven't added anything new does that include inverts and corals?

 

[ColtonNelly]

IME metro treated a blenny that had the same issue..not eating, constipated and bloated. Were the silversides fresh or frozen? You said you haven't added anything new does that include inverts and corals?

Metro was going to be my next choice. The silversides were frozen, and yes that includes inverts and corals.

 

[Dmorty217]

Epsom salt can be dosed at 1 tablespoon per 5g, I personally would try that before the metro. Don't have to worry about water changes with Epsom salt, and it can be dosed daily. I would make up some white fish based food if your trying to get the trigger to put on weight. Silversides always seem to cause problems for one reason or another

 

[ColtonNelly]

He actually had a little white stringy feces come out late last night. Which is a new thing for any of my fish. He looked slightly better this morning, but recently started looking rough and is not swimming much. He now hasn't eaten for 10 days and I think it is really affecting him. I have been doing several small water changes now just incase there is a water quality issue.

Really not sure what to do at this point. Should I consider force feeding him? Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated. He is a much loved fish by my entire family.

 

[Dmorty217]

White stringy poop sounds like internals. Dose with PP. Force feeding isn't as easy as it sounds and I'm not sure you have what you need to properly do it. Try PP

 

[ColtonNelly]

Update:

He has had some discoloration and patches on his belly, because of this I decided to medicate the tank with Furan. I have been researching force feeding since he was able to excrete at least something, however minimal it was. I may have missed a more significant bowel movement during the day.

I really need some advise. He has lost a tremendous amount of weight, and I'm thinking will need some type of nourishment pretty soon. Any ideas out there??

 

[ColtonNelly]

White stringy poop sounds like internals. Dose with PP. Force feeding isn't as easy as it sounds and I'm not sure you have what you need to properly do it. Try PP

Oops, lost patience and didn't see this. I know that white stringy poop usually means some type of internal parasite, however prior to this incident it was never like that (and haven't seen it from any of my other fish). I'm wondering if there was an obstruction, and whatever had been digested just sat in there for a while and resulted in the tiny amount of white stringy feces that I saw. Could that be possible?

I'm not sure how much time he has left to wait and see if he eats... I'm sure force feeding is difficult. I've been researching it quite a bit, and have read and watched just about everything alprazo has posted on it. I'm still not sure if it would be too traumatic. I just can't sit here and watch him waste away though...

 

[Dmorty217]

The biggest issue with force feeding is getting everything you need to do it. Tricaine-s for sedation, stat and pedialyte to force feed, and a angiocatheter with 1-3cc needle. Obviously you would want to try it on something like a goldfish before moving on to your 600$ trigger. Where do you live, anywhere near me? I have everything to do the force feeding along with a goldfish I have had for weeks now living in a empty calcium reactor. Alprazo helped me get what I needed to force feed and also suggested force feeding a goldfish 7-8 times before moving on to a saltwater fish. I have successfully fed small 1.25" goldfish and medium size feeders. I also have killed 2 small feeders from putting the angiocatheter too far down their throat

 

[ColtonNelly]

The biggest issue with force feeding is getting everything you need to do it. Tricaine-s for sedation, stat and pedialyte to force feed, and a angiocatheter with 1-3cc needle. Obviously you would want to try it on something like a goldfish before moving on to your 600$ trigger. Where do you live, anywhere near me? I have everything to do the force feeding along with a goldfish I have had for weeks now living in a empty calcium reactor. Alprazo helped me get what I needed to force feed and also suggested force feeding a goldfish 7-8 times before moving on to a saltwater fish. I have successfully fed small 1.25" goldfish and medium size feeders. I also have killed 2 small feeders from putting the angiocatheter too far down their throat

Wow, really appreciate the offer, but I live in Los Angeles. I have access to medical supplies, I just don't know about the sedative. Also it's quite the ordeal to try on my big male trigger, even if he acts like a puppy.

 

[Dmorty217]

I agree its no small task. Like you said if push come to shove that maybe the only option. I can try and give you direction on how to do it if you would like to pm me. You can get the Tricaine-s off the net from a few places.